The Motto
Opportunity
Modus Hotels and Parkway Corporation completed construction of their hotel only a few months prior to the outbreak of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, which caused unprecedented disruption to the hospitality industry. In 2021, the owners of the Motto by Hilton needed to refinance their maturing construction debt with bridge financing and sought the expertise of Nuveen Green Capital for this assignment. The Nuveen Green Capital team provided $8.1MM (10% LTC) in retroactive C-PACE financing to fund previously installed energy efficient and water conservation construction costs that exceeded Philadelphia’s minimum IECC standard. The Nuveen Green Capital team also arranged for Access Point Financial, a hospitality financer, to provide a first trust bridge loan of $48MM (61% LTC) alongside Nuveen’s C-PACE financing to seamlessly recapitalize the maturing construction debt.
Property Summary
The Motto by Hilton Rittenhouse Square is an 11-story, 252-room, new construction micro-hotel located in the highly desirable Center City district in the heart of downtown Philadelphia, PA. The hotel, located at 29-31 S. 19th Street, is conveniently situated two blocks from Rittenhouse Square and within a half mile of LOVE Park, the Franklin Institute, and the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The hotel has three convenient onsite food and beverage venues including a lively and attractive ground-floor restaurant, Condesa, a grab-and-go café, El Café, as well as a rooftop bar & restaurant, El Techo, which offers expansive Philadelphia skyline views with a state-of-the-art retractable glass roof for year-round dining. The hotel was developed in partnership between Modus Hotels, a veteran Washington, DC-based developer and operator of upscale lifestyle hotels, and Parkway Corporation, a Philadelphia-based family-owned and operated real estate development firm established in 1930.
“Nuveen Green Capital was an instrumental and steadfast partner in structuring and arranging the recapitalization of our newly constructed hotel during the unprecedented volatility of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nuveen delivered compelling C-PACE financing terms, sourced competitive bridge financing, and obtained a vital closing extension from the City of Philadelphia C-PACE Administrator which allowed our deal to successfully close.”
– Conrad Cafritz
Managing General Partner – Motto by Hilton Rittenhouse
“Nuveen Green Capital is a trusted partner of our firm and we look forward to working with them on future development projects throughout the country. We appreciate Nuveen’s recognition of the importance we place on sustainable initiatives in our commercial developments, and we value their commitment to financing green projects with attractive well-structured capital.”
– Robert Zuritsky
President and Chief Executive Officer – Parkway Corporation
C-PACE Financing ($)
Term (Years)
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