In other KBS news, the company last month debuted KBSDirect.com, an online portal for accredited investors and advisors to invest in KBS Growth & Income REIT, a $500-million offering conducted under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D. Through the new portal, KBS will be “one of the first institutional-grade sponsors to offer investors and advisors the opportunity to invest directly, through KBS' online portal, in real estate investments similar to those that have been made available to KBS institutional investors for more than 25 years,” Schreiber said in October. “These include public pension funds, corporate pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.”

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—KBS Real Estate Investment Trust III said Tuesday that it had closed on a three-year, $1.01-billion financing. It's the largest financing in the 25-year history of the KBS family of companies, which was launched in 1992 with the formation of KBS Realty Advisors.

The financing commitment consists of a $757.5-million term loan that was funded at close and a $252.5-million revolving loan of which $222.5 million remains unfunded. Proceeds from the new loan facility will be used to replace existing debt agreements and for other KBS REIT III liquidity needs including capital improvement and capital expenditures on office properties held by the non-traded REIT.

“This new financing facility, the largest single financing transaction in KBS history, allows us to take advantage of favorable conditions in the debt markets, while providing new capital to further enhance the properties in the portfolio,” says KBS CEO Chuck Schreiber, who co-founded KBS with chairman Peter Bren. “The 29 properties held by KBS REIT III are valued in excess of $3.5 billion and this loan encumbers eight of the 29 properties.

“We believe leveraging a lower cost of capital to ensure that these class A buildings remain attractive and competitive to tenants will serve our investors well in the long-term,” Schreiber adds. For the $1.01-billion facility, Bank of America is acting as joint lead arranger and administrative agent for a group of financial institutions providing the debt, including joint lead arrangers Wells Fargo and US Bank.

In other KBS news, the company last month debuted KBSDirect.com, an online portal for accredited investors and advisors to invest in KBS Growth & Income REIT, a $500-million offering conducted under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D. Through the new portal, KBS will be “one of the first institutional-grade sponsors to offer investors and advisors the opportunity to invest directly, through KBS' online portal, in real estate investments similar to those that have been made available to KBS institutional investors for more than 25 years,” Schreiber said in October. “These include public pension funds, corporate pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.”