$13,500,000 Industrial Warehouse, Savannah, GA

Overview

Commercial Lending Solutions arranged $13,500,000 in permanent financing for a bulk distribution warehouse in Savannah, Georgia, positioned within the logistics corridor serving the Port of Savannah. The transaction required careful timing, a credit narrative built around durable lease coverage, and lender selection that matched both the asset profile and the sponsor's capital objectives.

The Deal

The borrower owned a purpose-built bulk distribution facility designed to institutional big-box specifications: clear heights competitive with current tenant requirements, ESFR sprinkler systems, and dock and trailer ratios that meet the demands of e-commerce and automotive supply chain occupiers. The property sits within one of the more active industrial corridors in the Southeast, directly tied to port throughput at a facility that has become one of the fastest-growing container ports in the country.

The objective was a permanent loan takeout, fixed rate, with a term and amortization structure that reflected the long-duration nature of the tenancy rather than short-term bridge economics. The borrower needed proceeds sized to meaningfully refinance existing construction or bridge debt without leaving a significant equity gap, which meant the underwriting had to perform at a loan amount that justified the exercise.

The Challenge

Savannah industrial is a compelling story on paper, and lenders know it. The problem is that the same demand fundamentals that support the credit have also pulled a substantial wave of speculative bulk distribution product into the corridor over the past several years. When every lender in the room has seen three other Savannah warehouse deals that month, the underwriting conversation shifts quickly from market opportunity to credit specifics.

The first technical hurdle was timing. Permanent lenders underwriting bulk distribution at this loan size want to see rent commencement behind them and a season of paid rent on the books before they'll size proceeds at the debt yield and DSCR levels that make a takeout pencil. Getting to market too early meant either reduced proceeds or a lender pass. Getting the timing right required coordinating the credit package around actual operating history rather than pro forma assumptions.

The second pressure point was tenancy. Lenders were asking hard questions about tenant concentration, the relationship between remaining lease term and loan term, and whether the rent roll reflected durable occupancy or a lease structure that would roll uncomfortably inside the loan maturity. One or two large occupiers in a bulk distribution building is entirely normal, but it also means the credit lives or dies on the strength of those specific covenants, and lenders pressed accordingly.

The third issue was functional specification. Not every warehouse in a hot corridor is the same warehouse. Lenders with active industrial exposure have watched older product face functional obsolescence as tenant requirements for clear height, fire suppression, and yard depth have moved. The deal had to be presented in a way that demonstrated the physical asset matched current big-box specs rather than leaving that question open for a lender to answer conservatively on their own.

The Solution

The framing decision that unlocked the transaction was building the credit narrative around sustainable lease coverage rather than cap rate assumptions that reflected peak cycle pricing. Positioning the request around what the debt service looks like across a range of realistic rent scenarios, rather than what a market observer might say the asset is worth on a given day, shifted the lender conversation from valuation risk to coverage durability. That is a more comfortable place for a permanent lender to sit.

The request was structured for a fixed-rate permanent loan, targeting a term in the ten-year range with a 25 to 30 year amortization schedule, sized to land in the range of 60 to 65 percent loan-to-value against a stabilized appraisal. The credit package addressed tenant covenant quality directly, laid out lease term relative to loan term with specificity, and documented the physical specifications of the building against current market requirements rather than leaving it to interpretation.

The deal was brought to regional banks with commercial real estate permanent programs, a life insurance company correspondent program appropriate for this loan size and asset type, and credit unions that have been active buyers of industrial permanent debt in the Southeast. Each channel required a slightly different emphasis: life company execution leaned on the credit quality of the tenancy and lease structure, while bank and credit union conversations involved more direct dialogue around debt yield floors and local market familiarity.

The Outcome

The transaction closed with permanent financing from a lender whose execution matched the structure the borrower needed: fixed rate, full term without near-term repricing exposure, and amortization that reflected the long-duration nature of a leased industrial asset. The borrower retired the interim debt, achieved proceeds that reflected stabilized performance rather than a discounted takeout, and moved the asset onto a capital structure appropriate for a hold position in a corridor with genuine long-term demand drivers behind it.