Nuveen Green Capital (NGC) has closed on the financing of $190 million in C-PACE capital for the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The project marks the first C-PACE financed deal in Clark County, as well as the largest in Nevada and second-largest C-PACE-financed deal in the country to date.
Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, a Curio Collection by Hilton property, is a resort and casino in Paradise, NV, just one mile east of the Las Vegas Strip and less than a mile from Harry Reid International Airport. The 29-acre property features 1,503 rooms and suites, more than130,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor meeting and convention space, a day spa, outdoor pools, 24-hour gaming, 12 restaurants and bars and The Theater.
C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) provides flexible financing solutions for new, ongoing, or recently completed commercial real estate projects. Available in 40 states and Washington, DC, C-PACE has grown in popularity in the commercial real estate market as an attractive financing mechanism, particularly in a capital constrained market.
C-PACE financing was used to recapitalize recently completed improvements to the hotel, including HVAC upgrades, LED lighting upgrades, window replacements, water-saving plumbing upgrades, building control system, pool and spa improvements and desert landscaping. The borrower was motivated to use C-PACE to refinance existing senior and mezzanine loans in order to de-lever the property.
“We could not be prouder to have partnered with HRHH PropCo LLC to recapitalize the impressive Virgin Hotel Las Vegas,” said Cory Jubran, senior director, originations, Nuveen Green Capital. “As the C-PACE industry continues to scale exponentially, both in how often it is being utilized, as well as in deal size, this underscores how impactful and cost-efficient it can be to finance projects pre-, mid- or post-construction.”
Cliff Atkinson, president, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, said, “This was an important part of our go-forward strategy. C-PACE decreased our cost of capital, which will provide tremendous value to all stakeholders, and the Nuveen Green Capital team was a pleasure to work with.”