Wells Fargo Dishes Out More Substantial Loans in Boston

Wells Fargo is continuing to bet on Boston.

The national bank provided $190 million to refinance a pair of multifamily properties in Boston’s South End neighborhood, the Commercial Observer reported. The financing takes the form of a floating-rate loan.

National Development and its undisclosed institutional capital partner are the latest beneficiaries of the bank’s presence in the New England market. They control the 315-unit Ink Block at 300 Harrison Avenue as well as the 180-unit 7INK at 217 Albany Street.

CBRE’s Tom Rugg, Tom Traynor and Peter Griesinger were part of the team to arrange the loan. CBRE declined to comment, while Wells Fargo and National Development did not respond to the Observer’s inquiries.

Ink Block opened first, launching in 2021 with 78,000 square feet of retail space, which today includes a Whole Foods Market. Approximately 13 percent of the residential units are designated affordable.

Next door, 7INK opened a year later. The 15-story building features a number of notable amenities, including a community kitchen, work stations, a fitness center, a roof deck and a backyard patio.

For Wells Fargo, the loan is chump change compared to a couple of deals it’s made in Boston in recent months.

In October, a conglomerate including Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley issued a $465 million, 5.5-year fixed-rate, interest-only mortgage note to BXP and Delaware North to refinance a portion of the Hub on Causeway. The applicable portion included a seven-story 210,000-square-foot retail podium and a 31-story 842,000-square-foot office building that was 98 percent leased at the time.

And in May, Wells Fargo and Bank of America led the lending group for the $650 million refinancing of One Congress Street, a 43-story, fully occupied office tower owned by Carr Properties and National Real Estate Advisors.

— Holden Walter-Warner