Axos Bank Refis IOS Portfolio With $132M Loan
By Andrew Coen August 3, 2023 1:20 pm
reprints![](https://commercialobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/08/criterion.png?w=755)
Criterion Group and Columbia Pacific Advisors have sealed a $132.3 million debt package to refinance a 22-property industrial outdoor storage (IOS) portfolio spread across nine states, Commercial Observer can first report.
Axos Bank provided the five-year, floating-rate loan for the sponsorship’s IOS properties, which span 230 acres. The sites average roughly 10.5 acres each along the Interstate 95 corridor in the Northeast and Southeast, as well as in Texas. Specific property locations could not be immediately confirmed.
“The broad geographic scope of this portfolio positions it to increase in value as last-mile logistics drive increased demand for parking and outdoor storage space,” Shibber Khan, principal at Criterion Group, said in a statement. “The portfolio offers the opportunity for powerful near- and long-term rent growth.”
Demand for IOS properties surged last year but softened in 2023 due largely to higher borrowing costs, according to a report from Marcus & Millichap (MMI) released last month. The sector still boasts one of the lowest vacancy rates of any property type due to strong supply/demand fundamentals, the Marcus & Millichap research shows.
JLL (JLL) arranged the transaction with a capital markets debt advisory team led by Christopher Peck, Peter Rotchford and Christopher Pratt.
“With the growing necessity of last-mile logistics due to the continued growth of e-commerce, leasing for industrial outdoor storage assets has started to shift from typically non-credit, local tenants to national credit tenants, thus attracting a more institutional investor set as well,” Rotchford said in a statement.
Officials at Axos Bank and Columbia Pacific Advisors did not immediately return requests for comment.
Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com