REAL ESTATE NEWS

Comps are the foundation for underwriting commercial real estate assets, but obstacles arise when these are simply unavailable.

It’s rare, but in the case of a new Autograph Collection hotel at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif., the luxury property, developed by Dr. Kali P. Chaudhuri — one of California’s most influential healthcare and commercial real estate developers — is the only hotel permitted within the 300-acre mixed-use development surrounding SoFi Stadium.

It received a structured $195 million in financing with Bank of America, one of the largest hospitality loans arranged through CommLoan’s platform. The project carries an estimated $450 million valuation. Construction topped out in September, with completion expected in fall 2026.

The 13-story, 300-room hotel — part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection — will feature spa wellness facilities, rooftop dining and 20,000 square feet of meeting space.

CommLoan’s CUPID™ platform matches borrowers and originators with hundreds of lenders nationwide.

“Lenders rely heavily on comparable assets to validate value, and in this case, there simply weren’t any,” Robert Shaar, vice president of sales at CommLoan, told GlobeSt.com.

“We weren’t working with a stabilized property or an operating history — this was a ground-up luxury hotel in a market that hasn’t supported anything similar within a five- to 10-mile radius.”

Without comps, lenders typically fall back on conservative valuations and with a project approaching $200 million, that would have stopped the deal entirely, Shaar said.

A detailed valuation framework was built from scratch to help the lender become comfortable with the projections, the unique market dynamics, and the asset's long-term value.

“Deals like this don’t come together without a lender willing to lean in, but they also don’t come together without CommLoan doing the heavy lifting upfront,” Shaar said.

“With no comps and no stabilized performance history to rely on, we had to build a narrative and valuation framework from scratch. Our technology narrowed the field to lenders who could actually structure around that complexity, and our relationships opened the door."

“From there, the lender engaged deeply, meeting with the sponsor and touring the site, but it was our infrastructure that made it possible for them to see the opportunity clearly.”

Source: GlobeSt/ALM