INWOOD, WV—Distribution Centers of America secured a $21.85 million CMBS loan for a Class A warehouse facility here. UBS Securities provided the ten-year, fixed-rate financing at a 75% LTV.

Cushman & Wakefield's Gideon Gil, Sridhar Vankayala, and Suraj Ravi arranged the financing, representing Distribution Centers of America in the deal.

It is rare for a warehouse sale to be secured by CMBS financing, Gil tells GlobeSt.com. In this case, though, a number of factors lined up perfectly to attract not only UBS to the deal but other CMBS lenders as well.

For starters, the property is fairly large at 763,371-square feet. Located at 4925 Tabler Station Rd., it is just off Interstate-81and occupied by a single tenant that has an eight-year term left on the lease at a below market rent. The building was constructed in 1999 and expanded in 2005 to support state-of-the-art distribution technology and processes.

Part of the reason CMBS isn't used for warehouse assets is because these facilities tend to be smaller and multi-tenanted, Gil explained. Also the loan size is usually smaller as well, with borrowers turning to banks instead.

"This asset is a single-use warehouse and it was large enough to interest CMBS providers," he says.

Also, there is a stronger appetite for industrial assets in general in the market, which is also reflected in the CMBS community.

"It wasn't just one lender interested in this loan – it was a very competitive process," Gil says. "A year ago I would have had a different perspective but now it is clear there is increased appetite for both this product and leverage level."