CMBS

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.

Freddie Mac has priced its first credit-risk transfer securities backed in part by tax-exempt loans used to finance affordable multifamily rental properties.

The $500 million commercial mortgage that serves as collateral was underwritten by Deutsche Bank and Citigroup; it allowed the building's owner, Alexander's, to cash out $187 million of equity.

This type of lending is in high demand, but most of it is being done on balance sheets by banks and insurers; transactions like this are still relatively rare.

Insurance companies surveyed by CREFC and Trepp continued to boost their allocations to commercial real estate in 2016, albeit at a slower rate than in 201.