Blackstone Nears $465M Refi On 5-Property Multifamily Portfolio
A week after its last big play in the CMBS game, Blackstone has lined up a $465M refinancing backed by a handful of multifamily properties.
The firm landed a $435M interest-only, floating-rate CMBS loan and $30M in floating-rate mezzanine debt. The CMBS loan has an initial two-year term with three extension options, each for one year, according to Fitch Ratings.
Securing the loan is a five-building multifamily portfolio across Massachusetts, Georgia and Florida. The portfolio totals 1,717 units, has seen $44.6M in capital expenditures since 2020 and is cross-collateralized and cross-defaulted.
Along with $7.7M in equity, Blackstone plans to use funds from the financing to put $386.2M toward paying off existing debt, take care of a $79.6M mezzanine loan and pay $6.4M in closing costs.
Morgan Stanley and Natixis are originating the loans, and KeyBank is the special servicer. The deal is expected to close Oct. 15.
The portfolio is 92% occupied and was purchased between 2019 and 2021. The 528-unit Massachusetts property will be receiving 56% of the loan, while three Florida assets and the Georgia community will receive 35.4% and 8.5%, respectively.
Blackstone has been an active player in the CMBS market this month. The investment manager and Starwood Capital Group refinanced the debt on 220 extended-stay hotel properties in 33 states with a $1.9B CMBS offering announced last week.
The CMBS market itself has never been hotter since the Global Financial Crisis — or more delinquent. Nearly $59B in CMBS loans were issued in the first half of the year alone, setting a post-GFC record. Thirteen of those were $1B or more, like Blackstone and Starwood’s hotel deal.
Most of the issuances are led by office loans. At the same time, as of August, 11.7% of office CMBS loans are delinquent, an all-time high.
