VyStar Closes $26 Million Loan for Orlando Hotel
Commercial real estate production rises at VyStar and other credit unions so far this year.
VyStar Credit Union closed a $26 million hotel loan Nov. 30 — one of its largest commercial real estate loans ever, the Jacksonville, Fla., credit union announced Thursday.
The deal came as NCUA data released Thursday showed VyStar and credit unions across the nation have continued to see growth in commercial lending — even as loan originations fall in other sectors.
Vystar’s loan provided funds for Everwood Hospitality Partners of Columbus, Ind., to buy and renovate the Wyndham La Quinta Inn & Suites at 8504 Universal Blvd. in Orlando. The 183-room, seven-story hotel was built in 1999 and covers about 105,000 square feet.
Everwood Hospitality’s website indicated it owned 12 other hotels, including five in Indiana and two others in Florida. The website stated the company typically invests in hotels in the top 50 metro areas with at least 110 rooms. It said it prefers “well respected franchisors such as Hilton and Marriott.”
VyStar ($13.2 billion in assets, 847,497 members) has been following a pattern among many credit unions in building their commercial lending business in the last few years.
VyStar produced $33.3 million in commercial real estate loans in the three months ending Sept. 30, up 23% from a year earlier — about on par with the national 22% growth rate for credit unions in the quarter. Vystar’s total loan originations grew 34% to $804.3 million in the quarter.
From January through September, VyStar produced $146.1 million in commercial real estate loans, nearly double its production in the first nine months of last year. Its average loan was $611,314 so far this year, up from $465,563 in 2021.
VyStar’s total year-to-date loan originations rose 24% to $2.3 billion.
In October, the Mortgage Bankers Association forecasted total commercial real estate production to rise 14% to $766 billion this year, and 11% to $848 billion in 2023.