Morningstar Credit Ratings Assigns Preliminary Ratings for COMM 2014-BBG Mortgage Trust, Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates (COMM 2014-BBG)

NEW YORK, March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC today assigned preliminary ratings for the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) transaction COMM 2014-BBG Mortgage Trust, Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates (COMM 2014-BBG). The preliminary ratings are based on information known to Morningstar as of March 10, 2014.

The key characteristics of the COMM 2014-BBG Mortgage Trust transaction are:

• A $300 million first-mortgage loan, which is secured by the fee simple interest in two office condominium units located at 731 Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan;
• The collateral includes a total of 904,573 square feet of office and storage space. All of the office space is leased to and occupied by Bloomberg L.P., which operates its world headquarters from this location;
• The borrower on the loan is 731 Office One LLC, which is a Delaware limited liability company indirectly owned by Alexander's, Inc. Alexander's, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that is engaged in the leasing, managing, developing, and redeveloping of its properties; and
• The loan provides for a three-year initial term and four 12-month extension options. Debt service is interest-only throughout the loan term and interest is paid as a spread of 0.95 percent over the one-month LIBOR.

Based on information provided on the arranger's website, Morningstar's analysis of the loans yielded the following Morningstar metrics:

• Net cash flow (NCF) of approximately $56.05 million, which is lower than the arranger's NCF by 4.0 percent;
• Debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) of 3.72x based on the 0.95 percent interest rate spread and a stressed LIBOR rate of 4.0 percent;
• Capitalization rate of 6.5 percent; and
• Morningstar's valuation of the asset is $847.8 million, which is 30.8 percent lower than the appraised value. Morningstar's value reflects a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 35.4 percent.

For complete details about the preliminary ratings of this transaction, Morningstar's Pre-Sale analysis package, including the Pre-Sale Report, Summary of Financial Results, and the Representations, Warranties, and Enforcement Mechanisms, is available under the "Ratings Reports" tab on https://ratingagency.morningstar.com. Information subsequently received could result in the assignment of final ratings that differ from the preliminary ratings.

About Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC and Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC is a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) that specializes in structured credit research and ratings, and offers a wide array of services including new-issue ratings and analysis, operational risk assessments, surveillance services, data, and technology solutions.

Morningstar Credit Ratings, LLC is a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Morningstar, Inc. offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on approximately 446,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 10 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its registered investment advisor subsidiaries and had approximately $159 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Dec. 31, 2013. The company has operations in 27 countries.

Morningstar, Inc. is not an NRSRO and its credit ratings on corporate and municipal issuers are not NRSRO credit ratings.

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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.