DBRS Morningstar Confirms Ratings of Mortgage Loans Made to Paramount Apartments Limited, Removes UR-Dev. Status

DBRS Limited (DBRS Morningstar) confirmed the ratings on the following mortgage loans made to Paramount Apartments Limited by a major Canadian financial institution:

-- 3.510% Mortgage Loan due February 1, 2025 at BBB (low)
-- 3.530% Mortgage Loan due February 1, 2025 at BBB (low)

All trends are Stable. The ratings have been removed from Under Review with Developing Implications, where they were placed on November 14, 2019.

On March 1, 2020, DBRS Morningstar finalized its “North American Single-Asset/Single-Borrower Ratings Methodology” (the NA SASB Methodology), which presents the criteria for which ratings are assigned to and/or monitored for North American single-asset/single-borrower (NA SASB) transactions, large concentrated pools, rake certificates, ground lease transactions, and credit tenant lease transactions. For further information on the NA SASB Methodology, please see the press release dated March 1, 2020, on the DBRS Morningstar website at www.dbrsmorningstar.com.

Prior to the finalization of the NA SASB Methodology, the DBRS Morningstar ratings for the subject transaction and all other DBRS Morningstar-rated transactions subject to the methodology in question were previously placed Under Review with Developing Implications, as the proposed methodology changes were material.

The subject rating actions are the result of the application of the NA SASB Methodology in conjunction with the “North American CMBS Surveillance Methodology,” as applicable. Qualitative adjustments were made to the final loan-to-value (LTV) sizing benchmarks used for this rating analysis.

The mortgage loans are secured by Paramount Apartments, a 174-unit apartment complex that also includes 3,800 square feet of street-level commercial space. The property is located at 1545-1551 South Park Street in downtown Halifax. The DBRS Morningstar net cash flow (NCF) derived at the initial rating was re-analyzed for the subject rating action to confirm its consistency with the “DBRS Morningstar North American Commercial Real Estate Property Analysis Criteria.” The DBRS Morningstar NCF figure applied as part of the analysis represents a -8.6% variance from the borrower’s YE2018 reported net operating income (NOI), primarily driven by higher vacancy, inflated 2018 operating expenses, normalized capital expenditure, and leasing costs for the retail component. DBRS Morningstar applied a cap rate of 6.55% (a blend of 6.50% for the multifamily component and 9.00% for the ground-floor retail component) to the resulting NCF to derive a DBRS Morningstar Value that indicated a variance of -6.0% from the 2014 appraised value. The DBRS Morningstar Value implies an LTV of 84.9%, as compared with the LTV on the appraised value of 79.8%.

The cap rates applied are at the lower and higher end of the range of DBRS Morningstar Cap Rate Ranges for multifamily and retail properties, respectively, reflective of the property’s age and quality and market fundamentals. In addition, the 6.55% cap rate applied is slightly lower than the implied cap rate of 6.74% based on the borrower’s 2018 reported NOI and the 2014 appraised value.

DBRS Morningstar made positive qualitative adjustments to the final LTV sizing benchmarks used for this rating analysis totalling 3.50% to account for property quality and market fundamentals.

A description of how DBRS Morningstar considers ESG factors within the DBRS Morningstar analytical framework and its methodologies can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/357792.

All ratings are subject to surveillance, which could result in ratings being upgraded, downgraded, placed under review, confirmed, or discontinued by DBRS Morningstar.

Notes:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodologies are the North American Single-Asset/Single-Borrower Ratings Methodology and North American CMBS Surveillance Methodology, which can be found on dbrsmorningstar.com under Methodologies & Criteria. For a list of the structured-finance-related methodologies that may be used during the rating process, please see the DBRS Morningstar Global Structured Finance Related Methodologies document, which can be found on dbrsmorningstar.com in the Commentary tab under Regulatory Affairs. Please note that not every related methodology listed under a principal structured finance asset class methodology may be used to rate or monitor an individual structured finance or debt obligation.

For more information regarding rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/357883.

For more information regarding structured finance rating methodologies and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), please see the following DBRS Morningstar press release: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/358308.

The related regulatory disclosures pursuant to the National Instrument 25-101 Designated Rating Organizations are hereby incorporated by reference and can be found by clicking on the link under Related Documents or by contacting us at info@dbrsmorningstar.com.

This rating was initiated at the request of the lender.

The rated entity or its related entities did not participate in the rating process for this rating action. DBRS Morningstar had access to the accounts and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities in connection with this rating action.

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit www.dbrsmorningstar.com or contact us at info@dbrsmorningstar.com.

DBRS Limited
DBRS Tower, 181 University Avenue, Suite 700
Toronto, ON M5H 3M7 Canada
Tel. +1 416 593-5577