Blackstone Nears $550M Refi on Sun Belt Multifamily Portfolio

Blackstone is nearing a huge refinancing for a Sun Belt multifamily portfolio.

The firm is circling a $550 million CMBS loan secured by 10 apartment buildings, seven of which are in Texas. The fresh debt will combine with about $83 million in cash equity to refinance $618 million in debt and pay off closing related costs of around $15 million.

Together, the buildings have 3,406 units, and all were built between 2020 and 2022. Blackstone bought the portfolio in a series of deals with the same developer at a reported cost of $833.2 million, according to Fitch. Entities that previously owned several of the buildings trace to Davis Development, an Atlanta-based builder.

The deal is expected to close on Feb. 15. The debt would work out to $161,500 per unit.

While some segments of Sun Belt multifamily have struggled with slowed rent growth and a supply surge, the buildings in this portfolio have filled up under Blackstone’s ownership. From late 2021 to December 2023, the portfolio’s vacancy rate fell from 41.3 percent to 5.3 percent.

Four of the properties in the portfolio are in north Dallas suburbs, including Richardson, Frisco and Allen. Another three are in west Houston, near Katy. The remaining three are in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The largest building in the portfolio is Cyan Cinco Ranch, a 433-unit property in Richmond, a suburb southwest of Houston. Inkwell Watters Creek in Allen has the highest appraised value of the bunch, at $92.7 million.

Blackstone, thought to be the largest commercial landlord in the world, recently teamed up with Rialto Capital and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire a stake in Signature Bank’s commercial loan pool. The team bid $1.2 billion for 20 percent of the joint venture that holds the failed bank’s commercial debt.