Dealmaker: HFF Closes 16 Retail Properties Financings Totaling $663M
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, Houston, closed 16 financings totaling $663 million secured by 15 retail properties and one industrial property with 4.6 million square feet in New York and New Jersey.
The HFF team worked for borrower Urban Edge Properties, New York, to secure the 16 separate loans with two commercial mortgage-backed securities lenders, three life company lenders and one bank. The loans include 14 fixed-rate and two floating-rate facilities with terms ranging from seven to 13 years.
Loan proceeds will defease existing CMBS debt and create additional proceeds while lengthening the duration of the borrower’s maturity schedule.
The HFF debt placement team representing Urban Edge included Managing Director Scott Aiese and Senior Managing Directors Jon Mikula and Mike Tepedino.
Aiese said the Class A portfolio included 98-percent-leased retail centers anchored by grocery stores including ShopRite, Stop & Shop and Aldi. Home Depot, Lowe’s, Costco, BJ’s Wholesale Club and Walmart anchor other centers. A multi-tenant warehouse property in East Hanover, N.J. was also refinanced.
“This retail financing proves that the capital markets remain highly liquid for assets in dense markets operated by best-in-class sponsorship,” Aiese said. “As lenders remain focused on diversifying their portfolios by asset type and geography, we experienced significant interest in the 15 retail term loan opportunities.”
HFF also secured $100 million for Merritt 7, a six-building, 1.4 million-square-foot office park in Norwalk, Conn. A life company supplied a five-year fixed-rate loan to a Clarion Partners affiliate.
Merritt 7’s six Class A buildings on 22 acres along Route 7 are less than three miles north of Interstate 95. Tenants including General Electric, Factset Research Systems, Datto and Frontier Communications occupy 97 percent of rentable square feet.
The debt placement team included HFF Senior Managing Director Riaz Cassum and Senior Director Lauren O’Neil.
