CMBS

A joint venture between Paramount Group and a wealthy New York family is tapping the commercial mortgage bond market to refinance a 52-story trophy office building in midtown Manhattan.

BANK 2017-BNK6 is a transaction backed by 72 fixed-rate commercial property loans covering 189 properties, including midtown Manhattan's iconic General Motors Building.

The two firms jointly obtained three separate loans totaling $706.7 million from Citigroup and Morgan Stanley on 52 retail properites with a combined 7 million square feet.

It's the largest increase in five years; the percentage of securitized commercial mortgages behind on payments is now 5.75%, according to Trepp.

The Blackstone Group is tapping the commercial mortgage bond market to help finance the purchase of 11 multifamily properties from IMT Capital, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Lea Overby was formerly managing director, research; she replaces Charles Citro, who left the credit rating agency to pursue other opportunities.

The transaction is backed by apartment properties, hotels and office buildings in a state of transition.

Wells Fargo relies on a portion of the loan on the Manhattan office building, along with another high-quality loan, to offset the overall leverage in the transaction.

The office market in Arlington, Virginia has taken a big hit from cutbacks at the Department of Defense, but Goldman Sachs is making a sizable bet on a comeback.

The REIT obtained a $2.3 billion loan on the 50-story office and retail property from four banks; a $1.3 billion portion serves as collateral for BXP Trust 2017-GM.