FirstBank Florida, headquartered in Doral, FL, awarded a $13.5 million refinance loan to Salomon Hanono, owner of Shops at 107^th LLC. The borrower owns a single-tenant retail property at 10760 N.W. 17^th St. in Doral, which is leased to Best Buy. The loan will be used to cash out of the property, as well as nearby real estate projects.

FirstBank Florida’s Mahesh Pattabhiraman oversaw the loan, and acknowledged that the size of the loan meant most community banks were automatically out of the running. In addition, “big banks likely would not award a loan to refinance the retail property, with Best Buy’s lease soon up for renewal in 2019,” Pattabhiraman said. He went on to say that the financing made sense, due to Doral’s rapid growth and “nearby synergistic opportunities.”

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