Lenders are on the precipice of doling out a $1B loan so Blackstone can refinance a portfolio of 109 industrial properties.

The portfolio encompasses 8.5M SF across nine states. Citi Real Estate Funding is leading the team of lenders that also includes Bank of Montreal, Barclays Capital Real Estate, German American Capital and Wells Fargo, CoStar reports.

Occupancy and net cash flow have improved since Blackstone acquired the portfolio in 2019. Rents are also considered below market rate, which means Blackstone will have an easier time with renewals and could market the properties to new tenants at a higher rate once leases roll, according to an analysis by Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Proceeds from the floating-rate loan, which is expected to be the third $1B, single-borrower commercial mortgage-backed security of 2023, will be used to pay off $863.9M of existing CMBS debt while returning roughly $98M of equity to Blackstone. The loan is scheduled to close Friday, CoSar reported.

Blackstone has in recent months doubled down on its commitment to industrial real estate in the U.S. and beyond.

The firm acquired a 1.4M SF warehouse portfolio in Dallas-Fort Worth from Stockbridge earlier this week, and in October, the company announced it had secured a sustainability-linked loan of about 1.5B Australian dollars to finance the development of logistics facilities in Australia.