PALM BEACH, FL—The dust hasn’t quite settled on Flagler’s move to sell off 33 of its industrial assets to AEW Capital Management for $340 million. People are still talking about the inner workings of the deal, including the financing piece.

Attorney Daniel Kaskel, a partner with Sachs Sax Caplan, served as Florida counsel to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, which financed AEW Capital’s purchase of Flagler Station. The deal included the assignment of a $72.1 million existing mortgage, along with a new $85 million Mass Mutual credit facility.

Although Sachs Sax Caplan was engaged long after Mass Mutual was in place as the lender, Kaskel tells GlobeSt.com that the overall credit facility would have narrowed the field of potential lenders. As he sees it, the deal is an indication that lenders are returning to the playing field. Significant financings like the Flagler Station deal, he says, add confidence to the markets, establish pricing and benchmarks, and facilitate other transactions.

“On many levels this transaction is an indicator that both the South Florida real estate market and particularly the industrial submarkets are on the upswing,” Kaskel says. “This transaction will have a stabilizing effect on the industrial market, and the sale of such a large, landmark property will help re-establish values by providing a meaningful comparable value for other transactions.”

Miami’s industrial market posted a 44.2% year-over-year gain, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest report. Demand is currently outpacing supply in may key markets in the U.S. and is especially hot in South Florida. Flagler Station is one perhaps the hottest industrial market in the state.

“This area, just west of Miami International Airport, is once again being viewed as a growth area,” Kaskel said. “Its relative proximity to the Port of Miami is among the reasons for the growing strength of the industrial markets in South Florida and particularly the Doral area.”