Philadelphia Student Housing Obtains $35.8M Refi

The Edge

Grandbridge Real Estate Capital has facilitated a $35.84 million loan secured by The Edge, a student housing property in Philadelphia. Freddie Mac supplied the floating-rate loan for a private borrower.

Built in 2006, the property is situated on a 1.7-acre parcel immediately south of Temple University’s main campus. The 602-unit, 12-story student housing community contains 1,067 beds. The building has ground-floor retail space occupied by quick-serve restaurants.

Shared amenities include a two-story fitness center, study rooms, grill stations and laundry facilities. The property recently underwent a $2.5 million renovation to its common-area spaces, including a redesigned and enlarged lobby, the creation of a public kitchen, new furniture and an Amazon-compatible mail center.

The growing appeal of refinancing

Grandbridge’s Houston-based Vice Presidents Gill Dolan and Blake Willeford originated the deal. The non-recourse financing was structured with an initial interest-only period, followed by a 10-year term and 30-year amortization.

The refinancing comes at a time of rising interest rates, though they are still historically low. Later this month, the federal funds rate, which sets the pattern for the somewhat higher rates of commercial real estate borrowers—is expected to rise again by 25 basis points, and that might happen again later in 2018.

“The client requested a floating-rate loan to facilitate the refinance of its existing CMBS mortgage,” said Dolan. “Freddie Mac was able to provide the structure the borrower was looking for to refinance the asset.”

Grandbridge recently facilitated another refinancing of a CMBS mortgage through Freddie Mac, for 320-unit apartment community near Atlanta.