Life Cos., Agencies Most Active in Providing Debt

Earlier this month, Hines secured $182 million to refinance Intersect, a four-building office campus in Orange County. The deal offers some insight into how the debt markets are working. Life companies and the agencies have been the most active in providing debt during the pandemic, and this deal was no different. Hines, along with its joint-venture partner, placed the three-year, interest-only financing with MetLife Investment Management. JLL secured the funding on behalf of the borrower.

“Capital availability does not seem to be an issue, but valuation, underwriting, pricing discovery, and human capacity constraints have all been headwinds to lending the past several months,” Kevin MacKenzie, executive managing director at JLL Capital Markets, tells GlobeSt.com. “On the debt side, life companies and agencies have been the most active throughout this time, and the appetite has continued to strengthen in recent weeks. Bank and debt fund activity has been more selective but for the right opportunity there is interest, and we also see that increasing.”