Done Deals: $960M Loan Arranged by HFF for iStar Portfolio of Office, R&D and Industrial Properties

Monday, May 5, 2008

$960M Loan Arranged by HFF for iStar Portfolio of Office, R&D and Industrial Properties

BOSTON, MA – The Boston and New York offices of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced today that they arranged a $960 million loan for a portfolio of 34 single-tenant office, R&D and industrial properties on behalf of iStar Financial Inc.

HFF directors Janet Krolman and Greg LaBine and executive managing director John Fowler (New York) worked exclusively on behalf of the borrower to secure the adjustable-rate, interest only, cross-collateralized and

cross-defaulted loan with GE Real Estate.

The 34-property portfolio is located in 12 states with a strong concentration on both coasts and is currently 99.6% occupied with an average lease term of 9.2 years. Nearly half of the approximately 11.9 million-square-foot portfolio is leased to tenants who are rated investment grade.

“Historically, iStar would have obtained financing on an unsecured basis by utilizing the Company’s BBB, investment grade credit rating. However, the current market conditions are such that it was more efficient and cost effective to finance a subset of their existing single tenant portfolio on a secured basis,” said Krolman.

“There were a number of ways to accomplish this including putting together a club deal to financ

e the portfolio, splitting the portfolio into smaller sub-portfolios or financing the whole portfolio with one source,” LaBine added.

“iStar concluded that a one-stop-shop alternative with GE was the best fit for their needs, as it was a simpler, cost-effective alternative that was accomplished in a very short time frame,” Fowler said.

Additional information on iStar Financial is available on the Company's website at http://www.istarfinancial.com/.

CONTACTS:

Laurie Fish McDowell

HFF Associate Director, Marketing