Barings and CounterpointeSRE Provide $165 million in Construction Financing for The Corbin District – Phase II

July 15, 2024 at 09:00 AM EDT

Barings, one of the world’s largest diversified real estate investment managers, announced today that it has provided a $102 million construction loan alongside $63.3 million in C-PACE financing from Counterpointe Sustainable Real Estate for the development of The Corbin District – Phase II in Darien, Connecticut. Baywater Properties, which completed Phase I of the project in 2022, has launched the second phase of construction to further enhance Darien’s downtown core.

“We are excited to partner with the exceptional local team at Baywater Properties that’s transforming downtown Darien for the better and we’re pleased with our team’s ability to move quickly, customize a capital stack, and leverage our in-house construction team to position The Corbin District for success in this next phase,” said Ryan Naumes, Managing Director with Barings. “We continue to see tremendous opportunity in the construction lending space, especially as it relates to C-PACE structures.”

“We are excited to be working with the Barings and Counterpointe SRE teams as our debt capital partners for the second phase of The Corbin District,” said David Genovese, CEO of Baywater. “The construction experience and financial structuring expertise of the Barings and Counterpointe teams, coupled with their ability to execute this financing in a seamless manner, made the decision to work with them an easy one. My team and I are looking forward to bringing new life to downtown Darien in the next two years, and we are grateful for the support of Barings and Counterpointe in our efforts.”

The Corbin District consists of over six acres in downtown Darien situated between I-95, the Darien Metro North Train Station, and Poston Post Road. Phase II is expected to be complete in 2026 and will feature 11 new buildings, including 112 apartment units, 105,968 square feet of office space, and 78,810 square feet of retail space. The commercial components of the property are nearly 80% pre-leased and will add a mix of new tenants, including professional service company Aon, Crestwood Advisors and Janney Montgomery Scott.

The financing from Barings has a five-year term and the C-PACE funding from CounterpointeSRE has a twenty-five-year term. The New York JLL Capital Markets team led by Michael Gigliotti, Evan Pariser, and Robert Tonnessen advised sponsorship on the financing.

“The Corbin District’s sponsorship utilized C-PACE funding to lower the overall cost of capital by efficiently funding the project’s sustainable infrastructure”, said Christopher Hoeffel, President of CounterpointeSRE. “The transaction also represents the largest C-PACE assessment ever closed in Connecticut, taking advantage of a recent state law amendment to expand the program.”

This financing expands Barings’ $28.4+ billion* real estate debt platform, which leverages the team’s broad direct origination capabilities and deep credit expertise to invest in loans secured by institutional-quality commercial real estate in strategic locations in North America and Europe.

About Barings

Barings is a $406+ billion* global asset management firm that partners with institutional, insurance, and intermediary clients, and supports leading businesses with flexible financing solutions. The firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, seeks to deliver excess returns by leveraging its global scale and capabilities across public and private markets in fixed income, real assets and capital solutions.

*Assets under management as of March 31, 2024

About Counterpointe Sustainable Real Estate

Since 2013, Counterpointe has had a major impact in reducing the commercial building sector’s carbon footprint and in providing resiliency to the nation’s infrastructure. A majority-owned affiliate of MassMutual, Counterpointe Sustainable Advisors invests at the intersection of commercial real estate and energy industries through diversified sustainable infrastructure investments including mortgages, PACE and other energy financial tools.

About Baywater Properties

Baywater Properties is a full-service commercial real estate company serving Fairfield County, Connecticut, and Westchester County, New York. The company owns and actively manages a large portfolio of commercial real estate assets and continues to seek value-added real estate investment opportunities which complement its expertise in ground-up development and asset repositioning.