October – Briefs/Finance

Newport Tower Lands $200M Refi

Newport Tower

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. has arranged a $200 million refinancing for Newport Tower, a 1.1 million-square-foot, Class A office asset located in Jersey City, N.J. The mortgage banking firm worked exclusively on behalf of MEPT Newport Tower L.L.C., a subsidiary of Multi-Employer Property Trust advised by Bentall Kennedy, to secure the seven-year, 3.5 percent fixed-rate loan through Prudential Mortgage Capital Co.

Completed in 1990, Newport Tower is a 36-story LEED Gold-certified property with a direct skywalk connection to the 1.2 million-square-foot Newport Centre Mall. The building is 90 percent leased, with a tenant roster including AXA, BNP Paribas, Brown Brothers Harriman, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Computershare.

Archstone Plans $100M IPO

Archstone Inc. is planning to go public. In August, the apartment owner, developer and manager filed a registration statement with the SEC for a potential public offering of its common stock with a proposed maximum offering price of $100 million. Officially formed on July 19, 2012, Archstone is the successor of Archstone-Smith, a leading public apartment REIT until October 2007, when the company became a private entity. Archstone-Smith’s portfolio of owned and partially owned properties totaled 181 communities featuring an aggregate 59,149 residences in various states across the country. Along with the IPO, Archstone plans to acquire substantially all of Archstone-Smith’s assets, adding to its current portfolio totaling 434 properties across the United States and Europe.

Sabal Financial Picks Up $96M CRE Loan Portfolio

Sabal Financial Group L.P. has acquired a $96 million collection of non-performing and performing loans from The Bank of the West. The group of assets is located in California, Colorado, Arizona, Oklahoma and Iowa. Sabal has been on a bit of a buying spree. In mid-August, the group purchased a $69 million loan from BB&T, with assets located in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. August also saw the firm’s acquisition of a $121.5 million portfolio of 44 loans spanning states in the South, Southeast and Midwest from a Southeast-based regional bank.

Prudential Huntoon Paige Provides $31.5M Refi

Prudential Huntoon Paige, the FHA-insured lending business of Prudential Mortgage Capital Co., has closed a $31.5 million loan for the Towbes Group to refinance the Sumida Garden Apartments, a 200-unit asset in Goleta, Calif. Built in 2008 to 2009, the property includes 34 affordable housing units. Johnson Capital Group Inc. acted as the mortgage broker on the transaction. The new 35-year, fully amortizing loan replaced the construction loan used by Towbes Group to develop the property.

U.S. Bank Closes $70M for Atlanta Outlets

U.S. Bank and CBL & Associates Properties Inc. have closed on a $70 million construction loan that will finance The Outlet Shoppes of Atlanta, a 370,000-square-foot outlet center that will feature more than 80 retail outlet stores. The CBL project is being developed in a joint venture with Horizon Group Properties Inc. The outlets represent the second CBL retail project that has been financed by U.S. Bank, as the institution provided nearly $49 million in construction financing for The Outlet Shoppes in Oklahoma City, which opened in August 2011.

CBRE Arranges $112.8M for Three M-F Properties in Texas

CBRE Group Inc. has reeled in an approximately $112.8 million financing package on behalf of Abbey Residential L.L.C. The services firm’s Capital Markets Orlando group secured loans for Abbey Residential’s refinancing of three Texas apartment properties that total 1,381 units. The group of assets includes two Class A communities that Abbey Residential developed in 2009: Abbey on Lake Wyndemer is a 360-unit property that spans 25 acres in The Woodlands just outside of Houston; Abbey at Grande Oaks is a 261-unit community located on 10 acres in San Antonio. Rounding out the portfolio is Houston’s Abbey at Eldridge, a 760-unit community that Abbey Residential acquired in 2008.

Acadia Realty Trust Closes $541 Million Fund

Acadia Realty Trust has completed the final closing of Acadia Strategic Opportunity Fund IV L.L.C., which has received total capital commitments of approximately $541 million since its initial closing on May 16, 2012. This is the fourth in a series of institutional funds dedicated to opportunistic and value-add retail investments. With leverage, Fund IV has approximately $1.5 billion worth of buying power.