HOUSTON-A joint venture partnership between an Urdang investment fund and Griffin Partners has obtained an $81 million fixed-rate loan from MassMutual Financial Group with a term of seven years for an 800,000-square-foot office building that includes a data center. The refinance takes out an $80.8-million securitized loan.

“The refinancing of the Houston building at 1301 Fannin St. was particularly significant for our Urdang Value Added Fund II LP in that this is one of the larger refinancings that have been completed in the current business climate, where lenders have been highly selective,” says David Spoont, senior vice president of finance and dispositions for Urdang Capital Management, which manages the fund.

An Urdang spokesman tells GlobeSt. that it took several months to refinance the property. Both CMBS originators and portfolio lenders were interested in the deal. Paul House with CBRE Capital Markets and Tom Melody with Jones Lang LaSalle arranged the financing.