Colliers Arranges $175M Loan for Granada Highlands in Malden, Mass.

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Colliers International has arranged $175 million in financing through JP Morgan Chase for Granada Highlands, a gated multi-family community in Malden, Mass., owned by Metropolitan Properties of America, Colliers announced Monday.

The loan proceeds will be used to pay off existing debt, complete an existing unit renovation/upgrading strategy and construct an additional 236 units at the site.

Colliers’ senior vice president John Broderick and executive vice president Kevin Phelan exclusively represented MPA in securing the new financing.

“There were many moving pieces to contend with on this deal,” Broderick said in the announcement. “We were paying off existing debt, funding renovation dollars to complete the last third of the unit renovations and were in need of new construction dollars to expand the asset with two new buildings and 236 additional units. MPA has done a remarkable job in revitalizing this asset since its acquisition in 2007. This financing is the final step in completing the process.”

Completed in the 1970s, Granada Highlands is just off Route 1 five miles from downtown Boston. It currently consists of 919 units in 13 buildings on 41 acres and will be expanding to 1,155 units in 15 buildings. Amenities include a fitness center, business center, media room, outdoor resort-style pool with cabana, basketball courts and tennis courts.

It features studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 480 to 1,490 square feet, according to the property’s website.

Occupancy at Granada Highlands is in the mid-90 percent area, a Colliers spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive.

Metro Boston’s growing employment (up 1.6 percent this year) is driving “the highest level of inventory additions in more than 10 years,” according to a second-quarter report from Marcus & Millichap, with builders expected to complete 7,000 units this year. New supply, the report notes, will be strongly weighted toward luxury rentals aimed at higher-income tenants.

Even with a total of 10,800 units currently under construction (with delivery dates stretching into 2015), the vacancy rate is expected to remain under 5 percent, allowing owners to inch average rents up by about 2 percent, Marcus & Millichap concluded.