Phelan and Black of Colliers International secure $38 million refinancing for AmCap; Goldman Sachs was lender

Colliers International has secured a $38 million loan to refinance AppleTree Business Park located at 2875 Union Rd. Kevin Phelan and Jeffrey Black of Colliers International's Boston office represented the borrower, AmCap, Inc., in the transaction. The lender was Goldman Sachs Commercial Mortgage Capital, L.P. The ten-year, fixed-rate loan closed on June 28, 2011. According to Black, "AmCap was sensitive to future take-out risk but the hyper-amortization mechanism of the existing first mortgage loan was no longer a viable option. It was of paramount concern that the refinance loan be structured in a manner that not only protected AmCap's interests but was also attractive to b-piece buyers on the secondary market. Our team at Colliers," said Black, "was able to work closely with Goldman to devise a failsafe covenant that capped the springing hyper-amortization period at 12 months, thereby providing a definitive principal repayment date to b-buyers while simultaneously affording us a failsafe extension option that was critical to closing the deal." "AmCap is a first-class operator," said Phelan, "and we were thrilled to obtain a customized, permanent loan that not only facilitated their long-term business plan but reduced annual debt service by nearly 300 basis points. This was a challenging assignment and Goldman delivered a competitive deal that suited both sides by recognizing the long-term quality of both the asset and the sponsor. It remains an opportune time for borrowers to recapitalize and lock-in long-term rates while the low interest rate environment persists." Originally built in 1972 as a shopping mall, AppleTree Business Park was converted to office use by AmCap in 1991. The 426,950-square-foot, four-building park located in Cheektowaga, New York off of Interstate 90 is currently 95 percent leased and features 3,500 on-site parking spaces as well as an on-site Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) Metro station. Major tenants include General Services Administration, TimeWarner NY Cable, AT&T Mobility, Catholic Health Systems, and Empire State College. AppleTree is one mile from the Walden Galleria and three miles from Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.