Courtesy of Lee & Associates An artist's rendering shows the $60 million Patriot Commerce Center now under construction in Moorpark.

Often described as a sleepy commuter town, Moorpark has attracted the attention of a developer who sees it as a desirable market and persevered to obtain financing.

A $60 million loan closed Tuesday for Patriot Commerce Center, a 20-acre industrial and office park near where highways 23 and 118 intersect. Construction started the same day.

The project includes 10 buildings totaling 306,000 square feet. It is just south of the Target-anchored Moorpark Marketplace. Two buildings are designed for office or medical space, while the remainder is meant for industrial, office condominium and research and development space.

More than a third of the space is already in escrow, said Mike Tingus, president of Lee & Associates of LA North/Ventura, who brokered the deal. Space ranges from 742 square feet to 55,000 square feet, which is available for lease or purchase from $300,000 to $30 million, depending on size.

Some buildings are expected to be completed by the end of the year, while others are targeted for late next year.

Tingus described the development as a "self-contained office environment," a walkable distance from a vast number of amenities, including retail stores, restaurants and residences.

Financing was secured "against the odds," Tingus said. Because of the meltdown in the housing market, many national lenders left the market. He said the project was presented to 40 different lenders, but only a handful were interested.

"We spent six months getting financed on this deal," said Mark Ossola, president of M.W. Ossola & Associates and owner-developer of the site. "A lot of lenders just said, We're out of the game, we can't even give you a quote.' "

It was challenging, said Peter Smyslowski, managing director for Holliday, Fenoglio Fowler L.P., the mortgage broker on the deal.

"A few short months ago, the project would have attracted a lot of capital attention," he said, "but the market became so adverse to risk, there was a limited amount of capital providers that would entertain speculative developers."

Pacific National Bank in Chicago was the senior construction lender, while Hillwood Investment Properties was the equity partner that provided supplemental financing.

Pacific National Bank was willing to keep the whole loan on its balance sheet, where a lot of banks don't have that capacity or risk tolerance, Smyslowski said.

"The reason this deal got capitalized where others have struggled goes to the quality of the developer and the fundamental soundness of that marketplace," he said. "There's just good demand out there. It's a market that's not big on the radar screen for a lot of capital providers, but the people who take the time to understand it, get it."

Ossola purchased the 33-acre parcel for $26 million two and a half years ago. It was the last big tract to be built on in that area, Smyslowski said.

After researching the market, Ossola found that office and warehouse space is something that was needed in Ventura County.

Dave Bobardt, planning director for the city of Moorpark, agreed.

"Right now, we are a housing-rich community," he said. "We have a number of residents who have to leave town and even leave the county for jobs."

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 34.1 percent of Moorpark residents 16 and older work outside the county, with a mean travel time of 28.7 minutes.

The development will provide an opportunity for jobs for people who live in town, Bobardt said.

On the Net:

http://www.patriotcommercecenter.com