Ares, Makarora In Line For $1.5B Refi

February 13, 2026

Three lenders will co-originate the note.

Less than a month after paying $2.1 billion for Plymouth Industrial, Ares and Makarora are on track to refinance the purchase with a nearly $1.5 billion CMBS loan, according to a KBRA report.

Citi Real Estate, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are set to co-originate the debt on Feb. 26. The note bears an initial two-year term with three one-year extension options, requiring interest-only payments at a rate of 1.70 percent above SOFR.

Proceeds will refinance the balance sheet debt originated by Citi when the joint venture bought Plymouth. The duo also contributed $660 million in equity for the acquisition, capital not covered by the current CMBS refinancing deal.

The note’s collateral consists of 145 properties encompassing 32.1 million square feet across 11 states, including Ohio (36.9 percent of allocated loan amount), Tennessee (15.4 percent), Indiana (12.4 percent), Georgia (11.2 percent) and Florida (11.0 percent), among other states.

The properties comprise a total of 227 individual buildings averaging roughly 141,400 square feet. The facilities average to a vintage of about 38 years, having clear heights of approximately 24 feet.

Plymouth Industrial’s portfolio

An industrial campus in Jacksonville, Fla., is set to receive $60.3 million, the largest share of the debt. Dubbed Liberty Business Park, the property includes nine buildings encompassing 561,544 square feet. Second in line is Center Point Business Park, an 11-building campus including 541,132 square feet, also in Jacksonville, for which the sponsors earmarked $49.3 million.

While this metro in the Sunshine State includes the top two properties by debt share, the market itself accounted for 11 percent of the allocated loan amount, below Memphis, Tenn. (15 percent), which ranked second. Notably, the highest amount went to 13 tertiary markets including 19 properties.

As of December, the portfolio was 92.3 percent leased to more than 500 unique tenants. While the collection presents a granular and diversified roster, about 32.8 percent of the aggregate allocated loan amount backs single-tenant properties.

The majority of the properties, 74.1 percent by square footage, operate as distribution centers, while 15.7 percent serve as light manufacturing hubs. Shallow bay industrial properties make up 7.8 percent and flex industrial facilities include the remaining 2.4 percent.

CMBS, industrial debt originations keep rising

U.S. CMBS issuance went up 8 percent year-over-year in 2025, according to the latest MBA quarterly report. This moderate growth follows the 150 percent surge registered in 2024.

Industrial debt origination, regardless of source, was also up 20 percent across the nation last year, the same report shows. This increase continued the momentum of 2024, which witnessed the industrial loan issuance increase by 73 percent compared to 2023.

One such industrial loan to close in 2025 was Blackstone’s $1.6 billion CMBS note backed by a 94-property portfolio totaling 14.7 million square feet across seven states. Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Natixis and Wells Fargo originated and sold the debt.