Meridian Arranges $80M in Financing for 11-Property M-F Portfolio in Chicago

By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

Diversey, one of the Chicago buildings

Even though the existing loans weren’t maturing for another one to three years, the owner of an 11-property multi-family portfolio in Chicago decided to refinance now, obtaining $80 million in permanent financing with the help of Meridian Capital Group L.L.C.

Meridian, a national commercial real estate finance and advisory firm headquartered in New York City, said it negotiated a 10-year mortgage with a competitive fixed rate of 4.40 percent for the unidentified property owner. The financing was provided by AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. through its advisor, Quadrant Real Estate Advisors, L.L.C., and arranged by Meridian Managing Director Max Herzog and Vice President Jacob Schmuckler, both based in New York City.

The refinancing covers a 583-unit multi-family portfolio comprised of 11 properties between five and 25 stories tall. The properties have been owned by the current sponsor for more than 10 years.

“Quadrant was able to provide a long-term, fixed-rate balance sheet loan at close to 75 percent of the portfolio’s value,” Herzog said in a news release. “This allowed the borrower to rate-lock a lower interest rate on several of their core assets with significant flexibility during the term of the loan.”

“This deal did not have any major challenges given the quality of the assets and the track record of the sponsor,” Herzog told Commercial Property Executive. “An achievement of this transaction was obtaining full proceeds from a life insurance company for older multi-family properties at rates that were competitive with those of agency leaders.”

Also this week, Meridian placed new mortgages totaling $55.8 million on 10 multi-family buildings in New York City. The properties have a total of 213 units and 14 ground-floor retail stores that total 15,000 square feet. The loans, which were negotiated by Executive Vice President Aaron Birnbaum and Vice President Carol Shelby, featured rates of 3.38 percent and 12-year terms, according to a company press release. Meridian also arranged $60 million refinancing for the owner of South Independence at The Shipyard, a 13-story, 150-unit luxury multi-family property in Hoboken, N.J. The 12-year loan with a fixed rate of 3.6 percent was secured by Meridian Senior Vice Presidents Russ Drebin and David Cohen of the Iselin, N.J., office.

Founded in 1991, Meridian also has offices in Maryland, Illinois, Florida, Arizona and California. The firm arranges financing for transactions ranging from $1 million to more than $500 million across all commercial real estate asset classes.

In November, Meridian teamed up with mortgage banking company Beech Street Capital L.L.C. to arrange $90.4 million in refinancing for the owner of a 982-unit multi-family portfolio in Orange County, Calif., looking to take advantage of low interest rates. A month earlier, the firm secured $150 million in acquisition and permanent financing for Matrix Realty Group to buy an 11-community manufactured housing portfolio in Michigan and Alabama.