Castlelake Prices $1.1B Debut Commercial Real Estate CLO

Castlelake has priced its first commercial real estate collateralized loan obligation, CLCRE 2026-FL1, totaling about $1.1 billion.

The initial pool includes 26 floating-rate senior loans secured by 26 commercial properties. The portfolio consists of bridge loans on multifamily and industrial properties, as well as hospitality, self-storage and student housing assets.

The deal includes six offered note classes totaling about $948 million. The largest, $636.51 million of Class A notes, received AAA ratings from Fitch and Moody’s. The remaining classes, rated by Fitch, range from $109.74 million of AAA-rated Class A-S notes to $19.21 million of BBB- rated Class E notes.

“We see attractive opportunities to provide bridge financing solutions to credible commercial real estate assets as borrowers navigate an evolving lending environment,” said Alan Gearing, partner, North American commercial real estate at Castlelake.

The CLO follows Castlelake’s first residential mortgage-backed security, issued in August. Including both deals, funds and accounts managed by Castlelake have issued about $11 billion in asset-backed securities across commercial real estate, residential mortgages, specialty finance and aviation since 2014.

Santander served as sole structuring agent and co-lead manager, with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as co-lead managers and joint bookrunners. Situs will serve as servicer and special servicer.

Founded in 2005, Castlelake manages about $40 billion in assets. In 2024, Brookfield Asset Management completed a $1.5 billion strategic partnership with Castlelake, acquiring a 51% stake in its fee-related earnings.