Bank OZK wrote down almost $17M on its loan to a subsidiary of Chicago developer Sterling Bay for a section of the land at the Lincoln Yards megadevelopment just months after recording a roughly $21M charge-off on the same loan.
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The bank recognized a charge-off of $16.9M on a loan made to Alloy Property Co., a subsidiary of Sterling Bay, during the fourth quarter. The loan is tied to a large chunk of land for the proposed Lincoln Yards development bound by the Chicago River to the west and south, North Kingsbury Street to the east and West Dickens Avenue to the north, according to Cook County property records.
The loan was 20 days past due as of the end of the year, according to management comments. The current loan balance after both write-downs is $88.4M, which is 74.2% of the June 2024 appraised value.
Bank OZK agreed to the loan in December 2019. Since then, it has been modified six times, according to property records.
“We all are committed to the transformative vision of Lincoln Yards and are in active discussions,” a Sterling Bay spokesperson told The Real Deal.
Sterling Bay has been on the hunt for a new major player to back its Lincoln Yards development after J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Lone Star Funds said they would sell their stakes at significant discounts. Kayne Anderson Real Estate was reportedly mulling a capital injection last March, but it is unclear where that proposal currently stands.
Bank OZK CEO George Gleason didn't mention the land loan on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. But on its Q3 call, he said that the bank continues to be engaged in ongoing discussions with a Sterling Bay subsidiary about putting up additional reserves to give the developer time to recapitalize the project.
“We are growing less patient with the progress that our sponsor is making,” Gleason said during the company's Q3 earnings call. “The progress has been slow, despite the sponsor's serious and hard work toward accomplishing it.”
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