Commercial real estate lending powered by the public debt markets exuded strength in 2025 with several large deals across multiple asset classes nationwide.
Unsurprisingly, when it came to the big-ticket loans, the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) sector took the lion’s share of the headlines.
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The year’s largest loan priced in November with a $3.46 billion single-borrower CMBS deal for Blackstone to refinance 10 data centers across the country. The BX 2025-VOLT transaction was one of four data center CMBS deals in the top 10 for 2025.
CMBS lenders also displayed heavy confidence in the retail sector led by a $2.8 billion BX 2025-ROIC deal in February backing a 93-asset portfolio of largely West Coast grocery-anchored shopping centers owned by Blackstone. A month later, Brookfield Properties secured a $2.4 billion CMBS debt package via the ALA 2025-OANA deal to refinance Ala Moana Center, a super-regional mall in Honolulu.
Here is a list of the year’s biggest CMBS financings nationwide. They involve data center, retail, industrial, office and hospitality deals, and are based on Morningstar data. All were refinancings, and half of the transactions contained Blackstone as the borrower.
Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com.
Blackstone’s Data Center Portfolio
$3.46 billion
The BX 2025-VOLT deal refinanced 10 of Blackstone’s data center center properties in six markets. The 3.2 million-square-foot portfolio comprises 214.9 megawatts with nine multi-tenant data centers and one hyperscale facility. The loan, which was led by Citi, refinanced $3.41 billion of outstanding debt from the BX 2021-VOLT transaction.
Blackstone Retail Deal
$2.78 billion
Blackstone secured a $2.78 billion refi through a BX 2025-ROIC deal in February for a 93-property retail portfolio encompassing 10.5 million square feet in California, Washington and Oregon formerly owned by Retail Opportunity Investment Corporation (ROIC). The transaction closed on the heels of Blackstone completing an acquisition of ROIC and underscored lender appetite for retail assets involving grocery-anchored shopping centers.
Tishman Speyer’s Spiral Refi
$2.85 billion
Tishman Speyer, which ignited a late-year CMBS surge in 2024 with its $3.5 billion refi for Rockefeller Center office complex, kick-started 2025 with another large loan of $2.85 billion for The Spiral. The five-year, fixed-rate loan for the 66-story Hudson Yards office tower was originated by a lending consortium led by J.P. Morgan Chase along with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.
Aloha to Hawaii Mall
$2.4 billion
The retail sector got an early year boost in the public debt markets with a $2.4 billion CMBS debt package priced for Brookfield Properties’ Ala Moana Center, a super-regional outdoor mall in Honolulu. The ALA 2025-OANA deal for the 2.4 million-square-foot property was structured as an interest-only loan with an initial two-year term and three one-year extension options.
Nevada Data Center Loan
$2.4 billion
Data center operator Switch sealed a $2.4 billion CMBS issuance in March for three facilities in Las Vegas and Reno. The deal, which was described by Switch as the largest green data center CMBS transaction, was led by Citigroup, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, RBC Capital Markets and Wells Fargo.
Blackstone Southern Data Center Refi
$2.05 billion
Blackstone inked a $2.05 billion CMBS deal in February securitized by three data centers in Virginia and one in the Atlanta region. Proceeds from the BX Trust 2025-VLT6 deal led by Goldman Sachs refinanced $1.76 billion of outstanding debt and funded reserves to expand capacity at the facilities.
Extended Stay Gets Welcome From CMBS Market
$1.95 billion
The ESA 2025-ESH deal was secured by 220 Extended Stay America-branded hotels totaling 24,560 keys in 33 states owned by ESH Hospitality, a joint venture between affiliates of Blackstone and Starwood. The October transaction marked the largest for the lodging sector in the CMBS market for 2026.
MetLife Building CMBS Deal
$1.5 billion
The CMBS market showed its continued investor appetite for well-leased office assets with the IRV 2025-200P deal that priced in February for Irvine Company’s MetLife Building on 200 Park Avenue. Bank of America and Wells Fargo were lead originators for the 10-year refi of the 58-story building that was 98 percent leased at the time of issuance.
Another Blackstone Data Center Loan
$1.5 billion
The BX 2025-VLT7 floating-rate loan issued in July, refinanced two of Blackstone’s new single-tenant data centers in Atlanta and Sandson, Va. The loan had an initial two-year term with three one-year extension options.
Blue Owl Industrial Deal
$1.45 billion
The BX 2025-JDI deal originated for Blackstone in November is secured by a 14.7 million-square-foot portfolio that includes 81 industrial assets and three outdoor storage facilities. The properties are in seven states with 52.4 percent of the collateral situated in California.
