Corus loan Crossing $100m mark for CA project.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: SNK Realty and MacFarlane Partners announced that Corus Bank, a subsidiary of Corus Bankshares, Inc., has closed a $116,415,000 loan to finance the construction of Phase III of The Crossing | San Bruno, a 350-unit, luxury multifamily residential development in San Bruno, Calif., that will feature both for-sale condominiums and rental apartments.

The property is being built by a joint venture between SNK Realty, a full-service, integrated real estate operating company, and MacFarlane Partners, a real estate investment manager specializing in urban properties and other high-yielding assets.

Construction of the $163 million project is expected to begin immediately, with completion scheduled for the second quarter of 2010. SNK Development will manage the development of the property on a day-to-day basis.

Located 12 miles south of downtown San Francisco, The Crossing is an award-winning master-planned community that is transforming 20 acres of former U.S. Navy property into a new downtown for San Bruno, a city with approximately 40,000 residents on the densely populated San Francisco Peninsula.

"We are looking forward to developing the final phase of this heralded property, which adds much-needed housing to an area with a growing population and a thriving employment base," said Hal Watson, chief executive officer of SNK Realty. "This investment proves that, no matter what the macro market conditions, great developments in the right locations can and will thrive."

Phase III of The Crossing will consist of two five-story residential buildings, each with two subterranean levels of garage space, designed by HDO Architects-Planners. One building will feature 187 for-sale condominiums, including oneand two-bedroom flats, and two-and three-bedroom town homes. The other building will house 163 one-and two-bedroom rental units.

Residential unit sizes are estimated to range from 700 to 1,800 s/f in size. In addition, the community will feature lush landscaping with spacious interior courtyards, a prominent entry fountain, and two pools and fitness centers servicing each of the buildings.

"We started talking with Hal Watson and Don Peterson at SNK two years ago about their development plans in Texas and California. We have stayed in touch since then, and finally put together this transaction. They found a good site. They designed the right product, at the right price point for the area. They have strong investors behind them. They have proven to be assiduous in working through planning and contracting, also in their negotiations with us. Despite the large loan size, the Bank closed the transaction without participants, and we do not intend to syndicate it. We are very pleased to be in this deal with strong sponsors," said Dwight Frankfather, Corus Bank senior vice president.

MacFarlane Partners originally invested inPhase III on behalf of MacFarlane Urban Real Estate Fund II, a newly formed, closed-end real estate commingled fund that invests in development, redevelopment and repositioning projects in urban and high-density suburban areas nationwide.

When fully developed, The Crossing will feature more than 1,000 residential units--including senior, market-rate and affordable housing--along with hotel, retail and restaurant space. The master-planned community is within walking distance of the newly renovated Shops at Tanforan regional mall, as well as a BART light-rail transit station that provides public-transit service to San Francisco and much of the East Bay, and a Caltrain private-rail station which connects San Francisco with San Jose. San Francisco International Airport is located approximately one mile to the southeast.