Marc Tropp of Eastern Union Secures $7 Million in Financing Toward Acquisition of Shopping Center in Birmingham, Alabama

Citywide Properties Will Add 299,707-Square-Foot Crestwood Festival Centre To Its Real Estate Portfolio

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Marc Tropp, a senior managing director with Eastern Union, has arranged $7,040,207 in financing for Baltimore-based CityWide Properties toward its acquisition of Crestwood Festival Centre, a 299,707-square-foot shopping center in Birmingham, AL. The purchase price for the center was $9,386,943.

Eastern Union, based in New York, is one of America's largest providers of commercial mortgage brokerage and capital markets advisory services. Mr. Tropp oversees the firm's Mid-Atlantic Region office in Bethesda, MD.

Founded by Steve Verstandig in 2001, CityWide Properties is a real estate investment and management company that presently owns more than 75 properties in seven states. The company manages and leases a total of 2,145,000 square feet of retail space. CityWide Properties specializes in value-add assets that have been impacted by vacancies or mismanagement.

"Despite the widely recognized pressures facing America's retail sector today, keen-eyed investors and managers are able to attract financing on good terms," said Mr. Tropp. "I've had the privilege of representing CityWide Properties for many years, and the lending community has long stood behind the wisdom of their investment strategy."

"CityWide Properties is proud of our record of success in renovating and leasing historic, mixed-use and commercial properties," said Mr. Verstandig, president of CityWide Properties. "Over the years, we've forged a productive partnership with Eastern Union that has consistently secured the financing required to make our business formula work."

Crestwood Festival Centre, a 41-acre shopping plaza built in 1989, is shadow-anchored by a Home Depot outlet. It includes 44 retail suites and 980 parking spaces.

Mr. Verstandig said that CityWide Properties plans to invest $1.5 million in capital improvements at Crestwood Festival Centre within the next year-and-a-half. The company will undertake enhancements to the property's façade and parking lot, as well improvements in overall aesthetics and other ameliorative measures.

When CityWide Properties assumed ownership of the site last month, the property had fifteen vacancies. Mr. Verstandig reports that three of those spaces had been filled within 30 days of taking possession of the venue. He also said CityWide Properties is in "serious talks" with a local grocery store chain over potential occupancy of 20,000 square feet of space.

Mr. Tropp secured a five-year mortgage with an interest rate fixed at 4.6 percent. The financing allows for one year of interest-only payments.

Founded in 2001, Eastern Union is a national commercial real estate firm that provides both financing services and capital markets advisory services. It employs more than 90 real estate professionals and closes an average of $4 billion in transactions annually. Eastern Union leverages its relationships with lenders and its marketplace knowledge to secure the best available rates and terms.

Headquartered in New York, Eastern Union secures financing for transactions of all sizes across the United States. Transactions, which can include multi-state and multi-site portfolios, encompass conventional commercial mortgages, structured debt, healthcare, hospitality, mobile home parks, single-family rentals, investment sales, and -- handled in conjunction with company affiliate Eastern Equity Advisors -- equity placement.

For more information, visit www.easternunion.com.

Media contact:
Steve Vitoff
Eastern Union
[email protected]
516 652 0785

SOURCE Eastern Union