UC Funds and Gold Crown Properties Complete East 9 at Pickwick Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri

After a year-long partnership, UC Funds and Gold Crown Properties debut a much anticipated mixed-use redevelopment

UC Funds, a vertically integrated commercial real estate specialty finance firm, and Gold Crown Properties, Inc., announced today the grand opening of East 9 at Pickwick Plaza, a premier apartment and retail community in Kansas City, Missouri. East 9 at Pickwick Plaza has over 35,000 square feet of retail on the first floor, located directly under 260 apartments. The luxury building offers smaller sized units with top-end finishes and a first-class amenity package.

UC Funds worked with Gold Crown Properties to structure and fund a $57 million capital solution for the project, which included a $30 million first mortgage loan, federal and state tax credits, and equity. This covered the redevelopment of four buildings covering an entire city block. The four original buildings included an 11-story hotel, originally constructed in 1930 and known for its popularity among presidents who visited the city, a former bus terminal, a former office building, and a former parking garage. UC Funds also helped the borrower arrange federal tax credits for redevelopment through the National Park Service.

"We partnered with Gold Crown Properties for over a year to structure this highly innovative capital solution that allowed such a tremendous redevelopment to reach completion," said Joel Pecoy, senior vice president of asset management at UC Funds. "The borrower came to us because they knew about our track record of getting many other deals done in the same market."

After 22 months of construction, all four buildings are now completely renovated. Their amenities pay homage to the hotel experience, taking a concierge approach reminiscent of years past. Offerings include a fitness center, community rooms, a swimming pool, a business center, wine lockers, and a tasting room. All amenity areas provide free WiFi. The lobby of East 9 at Pickwick Plaza is elaborately decorated with ornate chandeliers and sconces, designed and built by local artist Joe Munson, who also created the exterior blade sign and all commercial retail signage. The units are already above 60 percent leased, with an average of 10 units a week leased. The units are expected to be fully leased by the end of 2017. The asset has attracted a diverse group of renters, many of whom are millennials looking to move to downtown Kansas City.

"UC Funds has been extremely active in Kansas City and many other urban downtowns throughout the country, bringing millennials together to ‘live, work, and play,'" said Jeremy Ross, chief credit officer at UC Funds. "This asset is likely to spur increased development in its growing corner of the city."

Providing over $2 billion of capital solutions to date, UC Funds is known as the "go to" commercial real estate capital provider and the most sophisticated financial ally in the industry dedicated to developing and maintaining long-term relationships with its borrowers and has earned a strong reputation for providing extensive reliability, standing by borrowers through completion. Those interested in learning more about UC Funds can visit www.UCFunds.com.

About UC Funds

Founded in 2010 by Dan Palmier, UC Funds is a vertically integrated commercial real estate specialty finance firm that originates, structures, underwrites, and asset manages its estate investments. A national balance sheet provider of both debt and equity capital solutions, UC Funds has provided over $2 billion of capital solutions to date. UC Funds offers quick and customized financial solutions throughout the entire capital stack, including joint venture equity. One of the nation's most entrepreneurial lending institutions, UC Funds focuses on multifamily, retail, office, hotel, industrial/warehouse, adaptive reuse, and construction assets nationwide. The firm has developed strong relationships with past and current borrowers through their renowned customer service, creativity, speed, and reliability. For more information, visit http://UCFunds.com/ or https://DanPalmier.wordpress.com/.

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