Pru Mortgage Touts CRE Mezz Fund

Prudential Mortgage Capital Co., Newark, N.J., has announced the formation of a $250 million closed-end fund designed to offer first-mortgage bridge and mezzanine financing for multifamily and commercial properties.The fund, PREFII Preferred Income Joint Venture Fund, was launched on behalf of investors by the company's debt funds management business, Prudential Real Estate Fixed Income Investors. It will specialize in providing structured financing for unstabilized or "situational" properties, the company said. "The overall debt market has become very commoditized, with lenders primarily only wanting to finance stabilized properties and not wanting to assume any type of property risk, such as lease-up or repositioning risk," said Doug Vikser, managing director of PREFII. "The fund has been designed to capitalize on this opportunity and realize the yield premium that could be achieved for taking on this risk. The fund has the ability to quantify the risks associated with a transaction and devise loan structures that mitigate the risk to investors." Prudential Mortgage Capital, the commercial mortgage lending business of Prudential Financial, can be found online at http://www.prudential.com/mortgagecapital.