Refi Alert: $56M for Honolulu Multi-Family, $47.5M for Renaissance Raleigh

September 21, 2011
By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

The Oasis at Waipahu

Lenders are slowly but surely becoming less shy about doling out commercial real estate loans, and the Oasis at Waipahu apartment community near Honolulu and the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel in Raleigh, N.C., and are among the latest to benefit from the defrosting of the capital markets. In separate transactions, the properties recently garnered an aggregate $103.5 million in financing.

Acting on behalf of Oasis’s owner – a joint venture led by The Bascom Group – commercial real estate and capital markets services provider Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. orchestrated a $56 million refinancing deal for the 406-unit townhome-style rental complex located approximately 16 miles outside of downtown Honolulu in Waipahu. The property originally opened in 1965; however, it has stood the test of time with the implementation of multiple upgrades, including substantial renovations in 2008 and 2009. Oasis is presently 97 percent leased, a factor that certainly played a positive role in obtaining the 36-month, floating-rate loan from national balance sheet lender Prime Finance.

If any commercial real estate sector is a particular favorite among lenders these days, it’s the apartment sector. By mid-year, the national vacancy rate had dropped to 5.9 percent, marking a year-over-year decline of 190 basis points, as per a report by commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield “The continued improvement in apartment market fundamentals has led to easing of underwriting requirements and improved access to financing for apartment transactions,” the report said.

The lending community has not been quite as keen on the hotel sector, but deals are certainly getting done – if the property is right. The Renaissance Raleigh was re-financed to the tune of $47.5 million with the assistance of real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis’ debt and equity finance group. Tapped by property owners Concord Hospitality and Kane Realty Corp., CBRE secured the fixed-rate first mortgage for the 229-room full-service hotel through RBS Commercial Real Estate.

The property, which made its debut at the mixed-use North Hills Lifestyle Center in 2009, comes with all the bells and whistles, including 8,000 square feet of meeting space, an upscale restaurant and an adjoining spa and $10 million fitness facility. “The hotel financing market remains difficult, but well-located hotels with a proven track record, like the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel, will always be attractive to sophisticated investors and lenders,” Concord president/CEO Mark Laport noted in a prepared statement.