Blackstone secures $1.1B refi on Sun Belt multifamily portfolio

CMBS loan led by Wells Fargo, BofA, SocGen will refinance 13 properties comprising 5,450 apartments

Blackstone secures $1.1B refi on Sun Belt multifamily portfolio
Blackstone CEO/Chairman Stephen Schwarzman (Getty, Photo Illustration by Priyanka Modi)

Blackstone’s real estate investing arm is following up its record third quarter with a massive refinancing package.

Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust nabbed close to $1.1 billion in debt to refinance a 13-property multifamily portfolio, spanning 5,450 apartments across nine markets, most of which are in the Sun Belt.

The two-year, interest-only and floating-rate commercial mortgage-backed securities loan was originated by Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Société Générale, the Commercial Observer reported.

The loan is set to mature in October 2023, although there are three one-year extension options available, according to the Observer.

The portfolio includes market-rate units in garden-style communities and mid- to high-rise apartment buildings. Four of the properties are in Florida, three in Georgia, two in Texas and one each in Colorado, Nevada, California and Ohio.

S&P Global Ratings reports that the occupancy rate of the portfolio had risen to 96 percent as of September, up from 91 percent last year. The average monthly rent across the portfolio is $1,578, slightly below average for the properties’ submarkets, according to the Observer, which cited a report from S&P Global Ratings.

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Blackstone is coming off the best third quarter in its 36-year history, fueled in no small part by the performance of its real estate holdings. The firm’s real estate investments swelled to $230 billion in the third quarter, appreciating 36 percent year-over-year and bringing in distributable earnings of $2.6 billion.

Overall, the firm’s earnings more than doubled year-over-year to $1.28 per share, blowing away the average estimate of $0.91 per share.

Private-label CMBS issuance rose to over $100 billion for the first three quarters of 2021, putting it on pace to beat the record $115 billion set in 2019, according to a report by Trepp.

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[CO] — Holden Walter-Warner