Brookfield snags $2B refi for massive mobile home portfolio

Investment in sector jumped 32% to $4.2 billion last year

Redwood Estates in Thorton, Colorado and Brookfield Asset Management's Bruce Flatt. (Bayshore Home Sales, Brookfield)
Redwood Estates in Thorton, Colorado and Brookfield Asset Management's Bruce Flatt. (Bayshore Home Sales, Brookfield)

UPDATED, 8:09 a.m., April 8, 2021: An affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management snagged a $2.2 billion refinancing on its portfolio of 124 mobile home communities and RV sites across the U.S.

The portfolio consists of 29,000 mobile home sites — also known as manufactured housing — and 771 RV sites across 13 states, according to a report from Kroll Bond Ratings Agency. The two largest assets are Pine Lakes Ranch and Redwood Estates in Thorton, Colorado, which make up nearly 10 percent of the loan balance. Other large properties are in Florida and Texas.

The debt was provided by Citi Real Estate Funding, DBR Investments, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, according to Kroll. It has a two-year term with three one-year extension options. The lenders are planning to securitize the loan as CMBS debt to sell off to investors. Proceeds will be used to refinance $1.07 billion of existing debt as well as pay off $248.8 million of preferred equity. It will also pay $92.7 million of prepayment penalties. The deal will return about $760.4 million of cash to Brookfield. 

Read more

Investment in mobile homes jumped to $4.2 billion in 2020 from $3.2 billion the year before, according to JLL.

Large firms like Brookfield, Blackstone Group and Sam Zell’s Equity Lifestyle Properties have invested in the space in recent years, won over by the sector’s high returns and limited supply.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

There were about 45,000 mobile home and RV parks in the U.S. as of 2019, according to the Mobile Home Park Home Owners Allegiance.

Brookfield acquired the portfolio as part of a slightly larger deal in 2017 for $2 billion from NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. and RHP Properties, according to Kroll.

Toronto-based Brookfield recently reached an agreement with its real estate arm, Brookfield Property Partners, to take the company private in a deal worth $6.5 billion.

Brookfield did not immediately return a request for comment.

Correction: A previous version of this article provided an incorrect number of mobile home and RV parks in the U.S.