$101.2M financing secured for Class A Nashville apartment building

MIAMI, Nov. 6, 2023 – JLL announced today that it has arranged the $101.2 million refinancing for Kenect Nashville, a 420-unit, Class A, 2020-vintage, high-rise apartment building located in Nashville’s Midtown neighborhood.

JLL worked on behalf of the borrower, Akara Partners, to secure the loan through MF1.

“We’re extremely pleased to secure additional capital to power the vision behind Kenect. Our thanks to the MF1 team for their confidence in Akara and the Kenect brand,” said Rajen Shastri, CEO of Akara Partners/Akara Living. “We understand that the way people live, work and entertain is ever changing; it is our mission to meet and service our customers in every possible way in the high-speed, on-demand world we live in to help them thrive in and out of our communities.”

“We are excited to be a lending partner to Akara Partners for the Kenect Nashville asset, a newly built, Class-A, mixed-use asset in Nashville, which serves the growing demand for tenants seeking a live, work, play environment,” adds Michael Squires, who led the origination team for MF1. “We also appreciate the professionalism of the JLL Debt Advisory team on being able to clearly articulate the specific financing needs for the borrower and its business plan for the asset. MF1 was able to quickly identify the strength of the asset and location within the market and its offering to its community.” 

Akara Partners’ mission is to reshape the way people live, work and connect through innovative and urban living experiences, and Kenect Nashville demonstrates their cutting-edge approach to integrated spaces. Kennect Nashville’s dynamic branding and diverse demand generators, including its multi-housing, retail and coworking elements, enable the property to succeed through various market cycles.

Situated at 800 19th Ave. South, Kenect Nashville benefits from a highly desirable location at the intersection of Division Street and 19th Avenue South and allows walkability to a myriad of restaurants, nightspots, parks and entertainment venues. The property is just steps to Vanderbilt University and Music Row and is also proximate to Belmont University. Additionally, residents are surrounded by 18 million square feet of office space occupied by prominent employers, including Amazon, Meta, Oracle, General Motors and more.

The JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team was led by Managing Director Jesse Wright, Director Kenny Cutler, Senior Managing Director Brian Dawson, Associate Joshua Odessky and Analyst J.J. Hovenden.

“Rajen and the Akara Team have built a beautiful property in Nashville’s Midtown neighborhood, and we’re excited about the potential of this highly dynamic asset and the future of the Kenect platform,” said Wright. “MF1 is an excellent lender partner for Akara as they immediately understood the quality of this asset and strength of the Kenect strategy.”

JLL’s Capital Markets group is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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Akara Partners is a real estate firm combining investment, development, and operating platforms that employ opportunistic strategies to generate superior risk adjusted returns. Founded in 2013, Akara’s innovative approach is designed to capitalize on investment opportunities across the real estate value chain and believes that real estate should be treated as a service, not just a commodity, to address the growing demands of real estate occupants in the 21^st century. Akara is engaged in utilizing and creating new disruptive technology to fulfill the “on-demand” dynamic lifestyles of today’s tenants. The firm’s investment process centers around a fundamental understanding of macro trends including economic factors, demographics, changes in technology and human behavior.

MF1® is a multifamily lending platform led by seasoned professionals from Limekiln Real Estate (“Limekiln”) and Berkshire Residential Investments (“Berkshire”). MF1 has grown to become the largest provider of Multifamily bridge capital in the industry, having executed on over $19B of financing since its inception.