Morgan Stanley Provides $78M CMBS Refi on Bronx Rental Portfolio
By Mack Burke February 10, 2020 6:06 pm
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Morgan Stanley (MS) has refinanced another portfolio of multifamily assets in the Bronx that is owned and operated by Eastchester, N.Y.-based Finkelstein Timberger East Real Estate (FTERE), Commercial Observer has learned.
The investment bank provided $77.7 million to FTERE to refinance previous debt from Customers Bank and Valley National Bank encumbering a portfolio of eight rental assets in the borough, a source said. This marks at least the third Morgan Stanley financing that FTERE has nabbed for a Bronx rental portfolio since the start of this year.
The 10-year, fixed-rate financing will pay interest-only at a rate of just over 3.6 percent, sources told CO. The portfolio loan is in line to be securitized in a commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) conduit deal, although information about that deal, and when it will be issued, could not be gleaned.
The financing was arranged on behalf of FTERE by Black Bear Capital Partners (BBCP), the real estate debt and equity advisory arm of Black Bear Asset Management (BBAM). BBCP’s Bryan Manz, Rob Serra, Phil Bowman, and Emil DePasquale led the sourcing and origination of the debt.
Built in the 1920s, the eight properties comprise 537 units — 528 residences and nine commercial spaces, a source said — and span around 510,500 square feet, according to information from CoStar (CSGP) Group. The assets are located at 1299 Grand Concourse; 2500 University Avenue; 2785 Sedgwick Avenue; 3018 Heath Avenue; 1576 Taylor Avenue; 2505 Aqueduct Avenue West; 1264-1270 Gerard Avenue and 1945 Loring Place South.
At least five of the eight properties were previously included as part of the Deutsche Bank (DB)-led, $1.3 billion COMM 2012-CR2 CMBS conduit transaction, which was originally issued in August 2012, according to information from Trepp.
In the same breath as this FTERE Bronx financing, BBCP also secured a $19.5 million, 10-year, fixed-rate loan from Morgan Stanley to refinance previous debt from Ladder Capital on three rental buildings, totaling 56 residences, on Forsyth Street in the Bowery section of Manhattan — at 72 Forsyth Street, 74 Forsyth Street and 104 Forsyth Street, near the site of Essex Crossing. The loan was provided to BBCP’s parent, BBAM, and will also be securitized alongside FTERE’s portfolio deal.
Last month, FTERE nabbed multiple financings from Morgan Stanley on its rental holdings in the Bronx. On January 13, CO reported that the firm got a $50.4 million loan from Morgan Stanley to refinance a group of five Bronx multifamily properties, and then a couple weeks later, it got $43.8 million in permanent financing from the investment bank on six mid-rise and rent-stabilized buildings in the borough, as CO previously reported.
A representative for Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to a request for comment. FTERE could not be reached.
