Berkadia Closes on Apartment Refinance Deals
The New Jersey office of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC recently closed two deals totaling $89.5 million in financing for multifamily properties located in Rhode Island and New Jersey.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
Providence, R.I.—The New Jersey office of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC recently closed two deals totaling $89.5 million in financing for multifamily properties located in Rhode Island and New Jersey. The refinancing is the latest in a string of deals for the company inspired by low interest rates and the fact that a lot of loans made in the 2000s are maturing.
The larger of the two deals was $48 million in financing through Freddie Mac for Regency Plaza, an apartment complex in downtown Providence, R.I. Berkadia senior vice president Robert Lipson worked with borrower Chestnut Hill Realty to originate the 10-year, fixed-rate loan to help refinance an existing mortgage on the 444-unit property, origin ally provided by Berkadia and Freddie Mac in 2008.
Regency Plaza is comprised of three high-rise buildings, offering studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The property is currently 96 percent occupied.
The other refi deal involved a $41.5 million loan through Freddie Mac for Barclay Square at Princeton Forrestal, an apartment property in Princeton Township, N.J. Lipson worked with Kenneth Pizzo Sr., principal of the borrowing entity, to originate the 10-year, fixed-rate loan, which was used to refinance an existing loan originally provided by Berkadia and Freddie Mac in 2003.
The property, which totals 220 units, features two- and three-bedroom units with up to 3,000 square feet in ranch-or townhome-style residences. Each residence also includes a one- or two-car heated garage and access to the 1900 Club. The apartments are currently 99 percent occupied.
Refinancing of multifamily properties has boomed in recent years, with borrowers taking advantage of historically low interest rates, but the wave of refi might not be quite so pronounced this year. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, about $119.5 billion, or 8 percent of the outstanding balance, of commercial and multifamily mortgages held by non-bank lenders and investors will mature in 2013, a 21 percent decline from the $150.6 billion that matured in 2012.
