AMLI Refinancing Windbrooke for $20 Mil

BUFFALO GROVE, IL-AMLI Residential Properties Trust is in the process of refinancing its mortgage on the 236-unit AMLI at Windbrooke multifamily rental complex in this northwest suburb of Chicago, trading an $11-million mortgage on the 98.1%-occupied property for a $20-million debt. That is in addition to the Chicago-based REIT’s $20-million private placement last week of $20 million of convertible preferred shares to The Equitable Life Assurance Society.

Chief Financial Officer Robert J. Chapman says AMLI has received a commitment from an institutional lender for a 10-year mortgage on AMLI at Windbrooke, built in 1987 and acquired by the REIT in 1995, at 6.43%. The current mortgage on the property, where average rents are $1,161 a month, is due in early 2002, he adds.

Besides being the best-occupied complex in AMLI’s Chicago portfolio, Windbrooke’s occupancy rate is matched only by AMLI at Midtown in Houston in the REIT’s entire portfolio, according to its third-quarter supplemental report.

Meanwhile, AMLI issued 800,000 shares of convertible preferred stock at $25 per share, resulting in net proceeds of $19.3 million that the REIT plans to use for acquisitions and development opportunities. The convertible preferred’s initial yield is 8.65%. The issue comes at a time when the company is buying back common shares, most recently selling at $23.49 a share.

“There are points in time that say it’s time to issue and there are points in time that say it’s time to buy,” says President and CEO Allan J. Sweet. “We believe the convertible preferred that we issued is an attractive piece of paper for us. At the same time, if we can buy stock at the prices we’re buying it at, that’s an attractive use of cash.”

AMLI has a $69 million balance on its lines of credit, with $55 million on its own balance and $14 million on the books of its subsidiaries, Chapman says.