A new nontraded multifamily REIT was born this week as part of a $617M recapitalization of more than 60 properties, including an under-construction apartment tower in Manhattan. 

Grubb Properties’ 8 Carlisle St. multifamily project is expected to top out this month.

Charlotte-based Grubb Properties consolidated several legacy funds into Link Apartments REIT, a newly formed managed REIT with more than 5,600 apartments in its portfolio.

The rollup of high net worth funds and rebranding to create the single entity occurred as Grubb also secured a $240M credit facility for the new REIT and its Link Apartments Opportunity Zone REIT, which was formed a few years ago and isn’t part of the consolidation. 

Grubb also secured a $300M senior construction loan from Maxim Capital Group and a $77M mezzanine loan co-originated by GreenBarn Investment Group, Skylight Real Estate Partners, Axonic Capital and Meadow Partners that fully capitalizes its Manhattan multifamily project called 8 Carlisle. 

“The REIT was created partially to have a vehicle with a bigger balance sheet that’s going to allow us to get bigger financing. But at the same time, it was also a move towards simplicity and efficiency,” Emily Ethridge, a spokesperson for Grubb, said in an interview Tuesday morning. 

Grubb values the new 45-property REIT at roughly $1.9B. It includes 8 Carlisle, a 64-story tower with 462 apartments that is set to top off construction this month, Ethridge said. The OZ REIT, which was also created through the merger of several funds a few years ago, has a 17-property portfolio, and fewer than 10 of Grubb’s other assets are still individually owned outside either entity, Ethridge said. 

The fund isn’t open for new investment, and there are no plans to pursue a public listing, she said. 

Grubb collectively secured the $617M in financing across the portfolio recapitalization with help from several teams at JLL, according to a release from the global brokerage. 

“By coordinating our M&A, Corporate Banking and Debt & Equity advisory expertise, JLL was able to sequence the series of transactions appropriately to ensure a seamless structure,” JLL Managing Director Stephen Van Leer said in a statement. 

Grubb’s refinancing move comes as the multifamily sector broadly emerges from a supply-driven malaise, with second-quarter apartment absorption hitting 124,600 units, among the highest in 25 years, and helping to push vacancy lower. 

A slowdown in new housing construction adds another tailwind to the back of multifamily developers. But the sector is also facing a demographic challenge, with the pace of U.S. population growth rapidly declining as President Donald Trump cracks down on illegal immigration. 

UPDATE, JULY 22, 10:23 A.M. ET: This story has been updated to clarify what assets are covered under the new $240M credit facility. 

A four-team joint venture is seeking a low-interest federal loan to convert a downtown Atlanta office building into residential units. The Integral Group, The Atlantic Cos., T. Dallas Smith & Co. and Lalani Ventures are teaming up to transform the 1960s-era 2 Peachtree office building into 600 apartments, retail space, and office space. The loan, in the amount of $250 million, will take some of the risk of the project, one the city wants to meet its affordable housing needs. The project costs are expected to exceed $400 million.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the project would be among the first office-to-residential conversions in the U.S. to leverage the loan program.

Originally a bank headquarters, the 44-story 2 Peachtree was later a state government building. Now, it is mostly vacant. At least 200 new affordable housing units would fill the tower.

An Amtrak train in Los Angeles

Amtrak is on the verge of significant expansion to as many as 160 new communities thanks to the new trillion-dollar federal infrastructure bill.

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed late Friday by the House of Representatives, will deliver more than $100B in investment to passenger and freight rail, Construction Dive reported. Of that amount, $19.2B specifically will be earmarked for Amtrak investment, the American Public Transit Association said. 

By 2035, the nation’s passenger rail service could reach more cities with 30 new routes and establish more frequent service on at least 20 existing lines. Major projects include a new $11B Hudson River Tunnel between New Jersey and New York that could begin construction in 2025.

Amtrak over the summer projected a $117B price tag for massive expansion by 2035, including shoring up the important Northeast Corridor, which it said was overdue for renovation.

“The Northeast Corridor is such a massive part of the Northeast economy, and the Northeast economy is such a huge driver of the national economy,” Real Estate Board of New York Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Reggie Thomas told Bisnow earlier this year.

Plans to upgrade the 450-mile corridor from Washington, D.C., to Boston by 2035 could spur $195B in economic activity and support more than 26,000 permanent jobs, Amtrak’s study earlier this year found.

Amtrak could also introduce service between thriving Southeast metros like Atlanta to Charlotte and Atlanta to Nashville, as well as farther north between Cleveland and Detroit. The nation’s largest metro without Amtrak service, Columbus, Ohio, could also get service with a new Cincinnati-to-Columbus-to-Cleveland route. 

The routes would reach previously underserved communities, which could come alongside improved public transportation and transit-oriented development, William Murdock, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, told Construction Dive. 

The trillion-dollar infrastructure bill will also send $110B toward roads and bridges and $39B for public transit improvements. Biden said he would sign the bill once lawmakers return from a weeklong recess, Time reported.