A real estate investment company refinanced a loan for its Palm Beach Gardens apartment community and locked in a low fixed interest rate.

Advenir Inc., based in Aventura, secured the $79.5 million refinancing for its Turnbury at Palm Beach Gardens with help from Berkadia brokers.

The deal refinances an $80 million floating-rate loan from February 2018 that helped pay for the Turnbury acquisition and ongoing improvements.

The new loan paid off the principal of the $80 million loan and secured a fixed rate for the remainder of interest payments.

The original loan was for three years, but the new $79.5 million is for seven years with three years of interest only.

“When the market for Libor rose and at a moment in time, which is continuing today, Treasuries made a sudden drop, our client decided to transition the loan early from a floating rate loan to a permanent loan,” said Charles Foschini, Berkadia's senior managing director who closed both loans. Advenir “not only secured the money for the improvements but also secured the cost of interest to create a higher return for his investors.”

Foschini didn't disclose the new interest rate but said it's very low and eliminated risk to investors from the floating rate.

Foschini worked with managing director Christopher Apone and analyst Lourdes Carranza-Alvarez, all based in Miami, to close the refinancing April 30.

The three also worked to secure the original loan last year along with senior managing director Mitch Sinberg and associate director Matt Robbins, both in Boca Raton.

Advenir is a value-add multifamily investor, which buys apartment communities with upside potential and renovates them, pushing up rents and generating higher profits in the process.

Turnbury, a 540-unit garden-style apartment community, fits into this strategy. Its 33 buildings are spread across 21 acres at 4120 Union Square Blvd. at the southwest corner of Interstate 95 and PGA Boulevard.

The complex was built in the 1970s, making it a relatively older product likely poised for upgrades, Palm Beach County property records show.

Advenir has completed $2.9 million of renovations of a budgeted $6.4 million, according to a Berkadia media representative. Completed work includes $1.4 million in landscaping, painting and new signs. Advenir has renovated 51 units, achieving a monthly premium of $75 per unit.

“It's typically upgrading the countertops and the appliances, providing hard surface flooring and giving the residents a very high-value, high-quality unit standard,” Foschini said.

The Turnbury offers one-bedroom units that have a square footage in the 700s and 800s, two bedrooms that have a square footage in the low 1,000s and three bedrooms that have a square footage of about 1,300, according to the complex's website.

Monthly rents vary based on floor plans, but some of the one bedrooms start at $1,269 and the two bedrooms range from $1,412 to $1,766, the website said. A three-bedroom unit available later this week costs $2,053. Nearly 95% of the Turnbury units are leased.

Both the original loan and the refinancing were obtained from Freddie Mac.

“Advenir has been an exceptional buyer of value-add properties in specific submarkets of Florida, Texas, Colorado and occasionally other areas in the Southeast. They look for assets that are extremely well-located that can benefit from their approach to both improving the property and running the property,” Foschini said. “Because they have over 20,000 units and are additionally a select sponsor with Freddie Mac, they look for assets where they can partner with Freddie Mac and provide not only the best opportunity to improve the asset base for its residents but to create a high-level of return for its investors.”

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