A 5.70% fixed office refinance on Ventura Boulevard.

Ask the headlines and office is unfinanceable. Ask a credit officer about a well-leased building on Ventura Boulevard and you get a different answer.

Piccard Financial arranged a $2,700,000 permanent refinance of an office property at 19634 Ventura Boulevard in Tarzana. The loan closed with a bank in September 2025 at 65% loan-to-value and a 5.70% fixed rate, underwritten to a 1.25x debt-service coverage ratio — forty days from application to closing, with minimal lender fees and no depository relationship required.

The office that banks still want

The office story that dominates the news — half-empty towers, collapsing values, lenders heading for the exits — is a story about a specific kind of office: large-floor-plate, commodity space dependent on corporate tenants who no longer need it. Small-balance, boulevard-front office in established neighborhood corridors is a different asset with different demand. Its tenants are medical groups, law practices, accountants, and local firms who serve the surrounding community and need to be near it. Vacancy in one suite is a leasing problem, not an existential one, because the rent roll is granular rather than concentrated in a single corporate decision.

Ventura Boulevard is the archetype. It is the commercial spine of the San Fernando Valley, with dense residential neighborhoods on both sides generating demand no downtown submarket can replicate. Lenders who have pulled back from office as a category will still lean in on a specific building with specific tenants and a coverage ratio they can verify — if someone puts that case in front of them.

The terms, and why they mattered

The headline numbers were strong for the asset class: 65% loan-to-value and 5.70% fixed, at a time when much of the market assumed office debt was priced for distress if it was available at all. Two quieter terms mattered as much.

First, the bank required no depository relationship. Many banks will only lend to borrowers who move their operating accounts over, which is a real cost hiding outside the rate — cash tied up, banking relationships disrupted, and leverage the bank holds over you for the life of the loan. Part of lender selection on this assignment was identifying a bank whose pricing stood on its own without that string attached.

Second, the process was fast and clean: forty days from application to closing, with minimal lender fees. On a $2.7MM loan, fee drag matters proportionally more than it does on a $30MM loan, and a bank that closes on schedule without re-trading is worth identifying in advance. Knowing which banks execute the way they quote is a large part of what a capital markets advisor is actually selling.

What makes an office loan bankable in this market

• Coverage first. A verifiable 1.25x debt-service coverage ratio on in-place income is the entry ticket; pro forma hope is not.
• A granular rent roll. Many smaller tenants with staggered expirations beats one large tenant with a looming decision.
• Location with its own demand story. Boulevard-front space serving surrounding neighborhoods underwrites differently than commodity space competing citywide.
• Honest leverage. At 65% of a current valuation, the lender has real protection and knows it.
• The right lender list. Some banks have a categorical no on office. Approaching them wastes weeks; knowing who is actually quoting office, and on what terms, is the difference between a decline and 5.70% fixed.

The lesson generalizes beyond office. Asset classes fall out of favor in cycles, and when they do, the lender universe narrows but rarely closes. The owners who refinance well through those cycles are the ones who present a specific, verifiable credit case to the specific lenders still writing that business — instead of accepting the market narrative as their own appraisal.

Terms described are specific to this transaction, reflect market conditions at the time of closing, and are not an offer or a commitment to lend. Lender identity is withheld for confidentiality.