CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) cit.com, a leading provider of commercial lending and leasing services, today announced that CIT Real Estate Finance provided a $60 million senior secured credit facility to a joint venture between Rockwood Capital and The Muller Company, two real estate investment firms. Financing was provided by CIT Bank, the U.S. commercial bank subsidiary of CIT. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Proceeds from the facility will be used to refinance existing debt and fund the renovations of Torrey Pines Court, a five-building Class A office campus consisting of 206,128 square feet situated on 9.24 acres directly adjacent to the 10th hole of the world famous Torrey Pines Golf Course in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, CA.

“We’re pleased to provide this funding and establish these new relationships with Rockwood Capital and The Muller Company,” said Matt Galligan, President of CIT Real Estate Finance. “La Jolla offers some of California’s most scenic Pacific Ocean views along with convenient access to restaurants and retail shops, established residential communities and an excellent school system. This deal further demonstrates CIT’s ability to use our local real estate market expertise to create a tailored financing solution for our customers.”

Chris Niederpruem, Managing Director, CIT Real Estate Finance, added: “La Jolla is considered one of the nation’s leading office submarkets for biotech and life sciences research, led by the presence of the Scripps Research Institute, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the University of California, San Diego. There are 21 national biotech companies and research institutes with headquarters or significant operations located within a six-mile radius of the Property. Furthermore, the Torrey Pines community is home to twelve of these organizations. We’re pleased we could provide this financing to fund the next renovation phase of Torrey Pines.”

David Streicher, Partner at Rockwood Capital, said: “We are excited to begin renovations that will complete our repositioning of Torrey Pines Court with state-of-the-art office space and amenities. We expect that the renovations, coupled with the project’s picturesque setting, will solidify Torrey Pines Court’s position as the preferred office destination in the submarket. We thank CIT for working with us to create a sound financing package that will take this project to the next level.”

George Derrington, Chief Financial Officer of The Muller Company, said: “Torrey Pines is included within the North San Diego market, which is considered to be San Diego’s strongest performing Class A office market led by a high concentration of biotech and technology-oriented tenants that include Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and Qualcomm. We’re pleased to partner with Rockwood Capital and look forward to building on our relationship with CIT.”

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About Rockwood Capital

Rockwood Capital, LLC is a real estate investment firm that provides equity capital combined with real estate expertise for repositioning, recapitalization, development and redevelopment of retail, hotel, residential, office and research and development space in key markets throughout the United States. Since 1990, Rockwood and its principals have invested on behalf of their clients in approximately $16.1 billion of real estate through nine funds and four separate accounts. Today, Rockwood is an 85 person real estate investment firm with offices in New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA, and Seoul, Korea that manages a portfolio of approximately $2.6 billion of net equity value in approximately $8.1 billion of gross real estate value. Rockwood’s investors include public and private pension funds, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, funds of funds, high net worth individuals and family offices.

About The Muller Company

Founded in 1979, The Muller Company is a full-service real estate development, management and investment company headquartered in Irvine, CA. Muller acquires and manages office, industrial and retail assets throughout the western United States. Muller’s current portfolio contains 35 assets consisting of over 6.1 million square feet. Muller’s office investments total 4.6 million square feet and comprise nearly 75% of the property’s square footage. themullercompany.com

About CIT Bank

Founded in 2000, CIT Bank (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender) is the U.S. commercial bank subsidiary of CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT). It provides lending and leasing to the small business, middle market and transportation sectors. CIT Bank (BankOnCIT.com) offers a variety of savings options designed to help customers achieve their financial goals. As of June 30, 2014, it had approximately $14 billion of deposits and more than $18 billion of assets. cit.com/CITBank

About CIT

Founded in 1908, CIT (NYSE:CIT) is a financial holding company with approximately $35 billion in financing and leasing assets. It provides financing, leasing and advisory services to its clients and their customers across more than 30 industries. CIT maintains leadership positions in middle market lending, factoring, retail and equipment finance, as well as aerospace, equipment and rail leasing. CIT’s U.S. bank subsidiary, CIT Bank (Member FDIC), BankOnCIT.com, offers a variety of savings options designed to help customers achieve their financial goals. cit.com