Aimco Lands $114M Pru Loan for Boston MF

BOSTON-Prudential Mortgage Capital Co. said Tuesday it has provided a $114-million construction loan to Apartment Investment and Management Co. to develop One Canal, a 12-story apartment community in Boston's Bulfinch Triangle. Aimco is developing the 310-unit property in partnership with locally based Trinity Financial.

“The Bulfinch Triangle/North Station area is one of the top residential locations in Boston because of its location between the West End and the North End,” said PMCC's Kip Kimble, a principal with the firm's multifamily originations team. “It is within walking distance of the Financial District, Massachusetts General Hospital, Government Center and Beacon Hill. Those factors, combined with the strength and experience of Aimco and the quality of the property, made this an extremely attractive transaction for us.”

In early October, Aimco announced that it had entered an agreement with Trinity to develop the $190-million One Canal, which will include 21 affordable units and 22,000 square feet of retail. The property is directly above the Big Dig project, which re-routed I-93 underneath the city through a 3.5-mile tunnel and created several plots of land open to developers. Under the terms of the agreement, Trinity and its development team will be responsible for construction of the building, which Aimco will own and operate after its completion.

The alliance with Trinity followed Aimco's acquisition of Charlesbank Residences, a 44-apartment asset in Watertown, MA. Terms were not disclosed; the apartment REIT said at the time that it expected to finance the Charlesbank buy with proceeds from the sale of a 262-unit property in Florida, and to achieve free cash flowing IRR on Charlesbank of about 150 basis points higher than it would receive from the Florida property.

“Aimco's recent investment activities in Boston are an important step to achieving our stated goal of upgrading our locations in that market,” Terry Considine, the company's chairman and CEO, said last month. “While we like our allocation to the area, we seek to own and operate properties at a higher price point than that of what has been a primarily suburban portfolio. By adding the stabilized Charlesbank community to our portfolio and partnering with Trinity to develop the One Canal Street location, we are better positioned to serve our target customers in Boston.”