The deal: Lakeland Commons, the apartments-over-shops development on Highway 70, has new financing. Greystone, a national commercial real estate lender, said Oct. 20 that it arranged a $26.5 million floating-rate loan through Benefit Street Partners to refinance the property.

What’s being refinanced: Lakeland Commons’ Phase II, per Greystone:

  • 121 apartments.
  • 23,419 square feet of commercial space.
  • A pool and clubhouse, plus on-site retail.

Where the money goes: The loan, plus equity from the owner, will:

  • Pay off the existing construction loan.
  • Fund an “allowance reserve” and a “shortfall reserve.”
  • Cover closing costs.

In plain English, the owner is swapping the loan that paid to build the place for a new one that supports its “continued operations,” as Greystone put it.

What we don’t know: Greystone didn’t name the borrower. It also didn’t disclose the interest rate, the loan term or how much went into each reserve.

Where is it? The southwest corner of Highway 70 and Seed Tick Road. A 2018 economic impact plan, posted on the city’s website, says Lakeland Commons, LP owns about 41 acres there, at 9768 Highway 70. That plan pitched a walkable town center with shops, restaurants and offices on the ground floors and apartments above. It said later phases could bring more retail, including a grocery store. It also proposed tax increment financing through Lakeland’s Industrial Development Board to help pay for roads, parking and utilities. Total investment was estimated at $48.9 million.

What they said: “Lakeland Commons offers an attractive combination of modern residential living and convenient retail amenities in a growing Tennessee market,” Greystone Director Jesse Yodice said in the announcement. Yodice and Senior Managing Director Eric Rosenstock arranged the loan.

Sources: Greystone press release, Oct. 20, 2026 (also on GlobeNewswire); Industrial Development Board of the City of Lakeland, Economic Impact Plan for Lakeland Commons (2018).

Photo: An apartment pool and clubhouse at Dallas Baptist University, not Lakeland Commons. Regrothenberger / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0), cropped.