TODAY’S DEALS: Berkadia Arranges $146M for First Seniors Housing Early Index Lock Deal

Horsham, Pa.—Berkadia Commercial Mortgage has arranged the first-ever Freddie Mac Seniors Housing Early Index Lock transaction by providing $146 million for a portfolio of 19 seniors housing properties located across 10 different states. Vice presidents Christopher Fenton and Heidi Brunet of Berkadia’s seniors housing and healthcare group arranged the financing.

Borrower Brookdale Senior Living landed a seven-year, fixed-rate loan to refinance the 19 assets which are located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. The financing features a 4.76 percent interest rate and 60 percent loan-to-value ratio, as well as a 30-year amortization schedule. As an Early Index Lock transaction, the loan provides protection against potential increases in interest rates.

“This is the third large portfolio transaction Berkadia has closed on behalf of Brookdale in the past year,” says Fenton. “As a long-term partner to Brookdale, we seek to identify the best possible financing solutions to help facilitate their long-term growth plans. Our experience in the seniors housing sector and our strong relationship with Freddie Mac were both essential to closing this unique transaction.”

The properties were 90 percent occupied at closing. Brookdale’s current portfolio includes 648 communities in 36 states that serve 66,000 residents.

Investors Bank Closes 80 Deals in 1Q14

Short Hills, N.J.—It was a strong first quarter with strong multifamily business for Investors Bank’s Commercial Real Estate Lending Group. The firms closed 80 deals ranging from $1 million to $47 million, and large portion of those were significant multifamily transactions.

“Based on our current financing projects, which includes transactions in the pipeline, we believe demand for commercial mortgage loans will remain strong through the first half of this year,” says Joseph Orefice, senior vice president and head of CRE lending at Investors Bank. “We are also seeing a broadening of loan requests to include office property purchases and more construction of multifamily housing as well as mortgage refinancings.”

Multifamily highlights include:

• $26.9 million, fixed rate commercial mortgage to purchase a multifamily property with 102 units in a 113,479-square-foot building on Banner Avenue in Brooklyn, N.Y.
• $18.5 million, adjustable rate commercial mortgage to purchase a multifamily building with 200 units in 159, 996 square feet of space on Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn, N.Y.
•  $16 million, fixed rate commercial mortgage to refinance a multifamily property with 456 units in a 1,075,932-square-foot building on Swarthmore Court in Pemberton, N.J.
• $14.5 million, fixed rate commercial mortgage to construct a multifamily property with 112 units in a 228,564-square-foot building on Montgomery Ridge-Orchard Road in Skillman, N.J.
• $12.5 million, fixed rate commercial mortgage to refinance a multifamily building with 230 units in 185,165-square-foot building on West Union Boulevard in Allentown, PA.
• $11.85 million, adjustable rate commercial mortgage to refinance a multifamily property with 80 units in 103,410-square-foot building on Brookside Road in Pleasant Valley,

Cohen Financial secures $16M equity investment for South Florida condominium

Miami—Cohen Financial announced that it has secured a $16 million equity investment for Azure, a 348,902 square-foot luxury condominium community. The property features 113 units, a wealth of high-end amenities and is adjacent to a marina that caters to large yachts and smaller boats, alike. Azure is located at 2700 Donald Ross Road in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Daniel R. Sheehan, senior managing director of Cohen Financial’s Miami Office, originated the investment with Wanxiang America Real Estate Group, a domestic real estate arm of Chinese auto parts manufacturer Wanxiang Group Inc. The developer is Frankel Enterprises, a full service real estate development company based in South Florida and Philadelphia. The transaction closed on April 15, 2014.

“The combination of the locational value, the basis in the property and the track record of the developer generated a great deal of interest from a number of institutional equity investors,” Sheehan says. “We chose to work with Wanxiang as their investment outlook was congruent with ours.”

Azure is surrounded by both mature and newly developed luxury communities that enjoy great success in attracting affluent buyers.