Starwood Asset Management, led by Barry Sternlicht, has secured a Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) loan worth $482.5 million. This financing is for the refinancing of an almost fully leased portfolio of single-family homes spread across ten states in the United States.
The floating-rate, interest-only financing, arranged by Nomura Securities from Japan, is backed by 1,749 properties, according to Fitch Ratings. The debt is due in August 2028, with the option for three twelve-month extensions.
The portfolio had an occupancy rate of over 96 per cent in April. The homes have an average area of 1,812 square feet and date from 1992. Starwood Asset Management acquired the properties between 2021 and 2022 for a total price of $674 million. Geographically, almost a third of the properties are located in Georgia, followed by just under a quarter in Arizona and just under 12 per cent in Florida.
Within Palm Beach County, there are 27 of these homes, most of which are located in Lake Worth, according to property records. This refinancing runs in parallel with other Starwood activities in the multifamily segment; for example, the company acquired four affordable housing properties in Miami-Dade County for a total of $115 million just last week.
For Nomura, this transaction represents a significant loan since the company re-entered the US market last year after a 27-year hiatus. As a division of Nomura Group, one of Japan's leading financial institutions, the firm played a key role in establishing the CMBS system in the 1990s. Representatives from Starwood declined to comment, while representatives from Nomura did not immediately respond to enquiries.
