Meridian Under Investigation; Inside the Signature Loan Sale; and Major Refis

Meridian Under Investigation; Inside the Signature Loan Sale; and Major Refis This week, you can take comfort in the fact that as hard as things may be, you likely haven’t had a worse week than Meridian Capital Group. On Tuesday, Freddie Mac barred Meridian from placing deals through lenders that are Freddie Mac special servicers until an investigation into violations of information tied to Meridian originations is completed. Yikes. But it’s not all bad news on the financing front: A lending syndicate of major banks provided $215 million in refinancing for the largest hotel in Philadelphia; MF1 provided $101 million to refinance a popular mixed-use multifamily complex in Downtown Nashville; and Pennybracker lent $42 million on a Texas apartment property. Moreover, Commercial Observer hosted its annual Fall Finance Forum, which allowed numerous CRE luminaries the opportunity to share their wisdom on the state of capital markets — our reporting team covered each of the six panels and summarized all the pertinent points. We alsoe got the scoop on the nitty-gritty of the upcoming Signature CRE loan portfolio sale (marked at $33 billion), as former Signature Bank CRE Chair George Klett offers his wisdom on how to make it work best for the market, shareholders and the FDIC. Finally, Matt Windisch, president of Kennedy Wilson, and Thomas Whitesell, who headed up PacWest’s real estate group for four years, discuss the major acquisition Kennedy Wilson made of PacWest’s $2.6 billion construction loan portfolio earlier this year. There’s a lot of information out there, but only one place to read it! Freddie Mac Halts Dealmaking for Meridian Capital, Launches Probe Freddie Mac has put Meridian Capital Group under the microscope after a loan brokered on behalf of the government-sponsored entity was called into question. [Read More](   Top Deals Of The Week   - Barclays, Wells Fargo, Chase Syndicate $215M Refi for [Philly Hotel]( - [MF1 Capital]( Provides $101M Refinancing for Nashville Mixed-Use Multifamily - Argentic, Hillcrest Lend $78M on [Boston Industrial Portfolio]( - [Pennybacker Capital]( Lends $42M on Texas Apartment Property - Horizon Group [Lands]( $48M to Build Mixed-use Development in North Miami - Newmark Refis [Arizona Apartments]( With $19M Loan   Guest Column   Why Signature Bank’s CRE Loan Sale Should Be a Bonanza for Shareholders The FDIC has been trying to come up with a plan to sell the commercial real estate loan portfolio totaling $33 billion. [Read More](   Q & A   Terra’s David Martin On South Florida Development Now and Then David Martin’s Terra portfolio is a well-diversified and enviable one, with residential, commercial, multifamily and mixed-use assets spanning South Florida’s most coveted hot spots. [Read More](   People Moves   Greystone Hires Capital One Pair to Lead Atlanta Multifamily Lending Team Greystone announced Tuesday that Charlie Mentzer and Brad Waite, who were both senior vice presidents at Capital One, will work in close collaboration with Cushman & Wakefield in their new roles. [Read More](   Other Stories From This Week   CMBS Loan Backed by RXR’s Iconic Helmsley Building Sent To Special Servicing The $670 million single-asset, single borrower CMBS loan secured by 230 Park Avenue — also known as The Helmsley Building — transferred to special servicing on Nov. 2 due to “an imminent maturity default,” according to a report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency . [Read More]( Kennedy Wilson Expanding Debt Platform Reach With PacWest Loan Acquisition Kennedy Wilson’s close proximity to PacWest's Los Angeles office helped expedite the acquisition of 2.6 billion in construction loans, but it was more than geography that made this marriage a commercial real estate finance match. [Read More]( NYC’s New Commercial Real Estate Owners: Private Equity and Building Users Firms like GO-RE Partners epitomize a certain kind of owner in the new CRE epoch: private, opportunistic buyers with a lot of equity to deploy and a long-term investment strategy. [Read More]( Commercial Real Estate Financing Experts Look Beyond Borrowing Costs Commercial real estate lenders and brokers that Commercial Observer assembled for its eighth annual Fall Finance Forum voiced hope for some clarity from the central bank that would in turn spark a revival in transaction volume. [Read More]( Fannie Mae Subjects Broker-Involved Agency Loans to Pre-Review The brokerage industry is facing increased scrutiny from the nation’s capital. Washington-based Fannie Mae alerted lenders on Tuesday that all agency-backed loans involving brokers are now subject to pre-review. [Read More]( Podcast: The WeWork Shake-Up & The Release of Owners Magazine This special double-feature episode of “The Back Story” takes listeners behind the scenes of two major events in the real estate world. First, join hosts Max Gross, Nicholas Rizzi, and Tom Acitelli as they dissect the meteoric rise and fall of WeWork. In the second half, we shift gears to mark the much-anticipated release of Commercial Observer’s annual Owners Magazine. [Read More](   What We're Reading This Week   - Big Banks Cook Up New Way to Unload Risk [WSJ] - Former NYSE President in Talks to Reboot [FTX Exchange]( [WSJ] - [China’s Banks]( and Property Sector Threaten a Growing Economy [NYT]   [View in Browser]( | [Advertise]( | [Forward to a Friend]( [Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe]( [Share your thoughts: Help us improve with our quick feedback survey!]( [Commercial Observer]( © Copyright 2023 [Observer Media]( 1 Whitehall Street, Floor 7, New York, NY 10004 This newsletter was published 11/09/2023