www.REBusinessOnline.com February 2021 • Volume 19, Issue 6 WHY LENDERS REMAIN BULLISH ON MULTIFAMILY Apartment property fundamentals remain intact, agency activity is high and re nancing levels are through the roof. By Kristin Hiller amie Woodwell, vice president of commercial real estate research for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), says that one of the most strik-ing characteristics of the pandemic is how differently it has affected various property types. Multifamily and industrial lending have held up far better than of ce, re-tail or hotel lending. Going forward, Woodwell says “there might be more J room for bounce-back among some of the property types.” But overall, mul-tifamily and industrial will continue to see the greatest interest from lend-ers, he believes. In 2021, MBA is forecasting loan origination volume to increase by 11 percent across property types com-pared with 2020. Borrowing and lend-ing in 2020 was 30 percent lower than in 2019, according to MBA. All major see LENDERS page 22 JLL arranged $44 million in construction nancing for University & Raymond, a new apartment project in St. Paul. Principal Real Estate Investors provided the loan. PANDEMIC HASN’T SHAKEN INDUSTRIAL ACQUISITION PLANS By Kristin Hiller Owners continue to hold long-term, opportunistic view on asset class, particularly in Midwest region. F In partnership with PCCP , Midwest Industrial Funds recently purchased a 25-acre site in Palatine, Illinois. Plans call for a $50 million industrial redevelopment project. or real estate owners active in the industrial space, the COVID-19 pandemic has had little impact on their overall business strategies. The asset class is fueled by demand for warehouse and distribu-tion facilities as Americans purchase more goods online to be delivered to their homes. Aaron Martell, executive director of the central region for Logistics Prop-erty Co. (LPC), says that, if anything, the pandemic has caused his compa-ny to be even more aggressive in its acquisition pursuits as “demand re-mains at an all-time high.” In late 2020, LPC closed a $1 billion fund with equity commitments from several global institutional investors. The fund focuses on ground-up de-velopment opportunities in markets nationwide. As of mid-December, LPC had allocated approximately 90 percent of the fund. Similarly, Justin Fierz, founding principal with Midwest Industrial Funds (MIF), says he’s seeing more interest today from equity and debt capital providers to partner on proj-ects than ever before. “We are opti-see INDUSTRIAL page 29 Destination Indianapolis: the Midwest Market Attracting National Interest page 19 Want to receive this magazine at home? Visit www.francemediainc.com/ publications to temporarily change your address today.