New York, NY, April 21, 2006 – GE Real Estate announced today it provided three floating rate mortgage loans totalling $89.5 million to the Archon Core Plus Real Estate Fund 2005, L.P. (the Fund), a new fund sponsored by Whitehall and Archon focused on investments in multi-family properties throughout the U.S. The new fund will use the capital to acquire three Class A apartment complexes located in Oceanside, CA, Scottsdale, AZ and Austin, TX.
The on-book, three-year loans were creatively structured to provide the fund with two, one-year extension options. Its pricing reflected the opportunity fund’s 25-30 percent equity contributions on each acquisition.
This deal was originated by GE Real Estate’s Strategic Capital Group (SCG), which primarily works with opportunity funds, REITs and other institutional borrowers on large, complex portfolio acquisitions. “We appreciate the opportunity to further our relationship with Archon, which has a stellar reputation for assessing and optimizing the underlying value of real estate assets,” said Skip Wells, Managing Director of the SCG business unit. “Archon has been a valued client for many years, and we are excited about closing new business with their new Core Plus fund vehicle.”
"We were looking for on-book financing that would give us ease of execution combined with pricing comparable to that available through long-term agency loans,” said Tabb Neblett, Director of Investment Management. “GE provided an innovative solution that was ideally suited to our needs.”
GE Real Estate is a leading global resource for commercial real estate capital. Archon Group, L.P., an affiliate of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., has completed, on behalf of the Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds and other Goldman Sachs affiliates, more than 100 portfolio and single-asset transactions in a dozen countries.
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About GE Real Estate
GE Real Estate (
www.gerealestate.com) is a world leader in commercial real estate capital solutions. Formed in 1972, the business has more than US$35 billion in core assets with 44 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. GE Real Estate, backed by its parent company's AAA rating, offers a broad range of financing, equity and servicing solutions including: intermediate and long-term mortgage financing, restructuring and acquisition capital, niche equity investment, joint ventures, capital markets securitization and placements, and asset management. As one of the fastest growing units within GE Commercial Finance, Real Estate has experienced annual growth of more than 10% for the last ten consecutive years.
GE Commercial Finance (
www.gecommercialfinance.com) offers businesses an extensive array of financial services and products. With over US$260 billion in assets and an expertise in the mid-market, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs and innovative structured capital to help customers grow. GE Commercial Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of the General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.
