Urban Catalyst has landed financing to recapitalize the land site and pre-construction costs for the Icon/Echo, Urban Catalyst’s mixed-use redevelopment project planned for downtown San Jose, California. Gantry provided the $10.5 million bridge loan.
After the demolition of the existing buildings and a parking lot on the approximately 2.1-acre site is complete, Urban Catalyst can get underway on Icon/Echo’s two towers. The developer’s current plans are for a 21-story office tower with street-level retail and a 27-story multifamily residential tower. The two will be connected by a shared podium on floors one through four.
Gantry Principals Jeff Wilcox and Robert Slatt, of the firm’s San Francisco production office, represented the borrower in securing the short-term, interest-only financing through a private real estate investment company.
Urban Catalyst will use the financing to recapitalize the project’s land acquisition and entitlement costs while providing additional proceeds to support final technical programming and site preparation, according to a company statement.
Perhaps understandably, the Icon/Echo project has not been racing forward. It was in November 2022 that the San Jose Planning Commission approved the development by unanimous vote.
Still, the transit-oriented project is indeed a major undertaking. Sited at Santa Clara Street at Fourth Street, it’s directly across from San Jose’s city hall and very close to a planned BART station.
Urban Catalyst is a leading real estate firm specializing in private equity placement into existing ground-up development projects and income-producing properties. Our fund portfolio includes tax-advantaged Opportunity Zone funds, a traditional real estate private equity fund and a Delaware Statutory Trust (1031 like kind exchange) fund.
