- Berkshire Residential Investments is buying Limekiln’s 50% stake in MF1, becoming sole owner of the multifamily lender.
- MF1 originated about $32B of apartment loans during the eight-year joint venture and became a major CLO issuer.
- The lender has faced elevated watchlist and distress metrics tied to a floating-rate bridge loan book that was pressured by rising rates.
Bisnow reports that Berkshire Residential Investments is buying Limekiln’s 50% stake in multifamily lender MF1. Berkshire will become the platform’s sole owner. The deal ends an eight-year joint venture that originated about $32B of apartment loans. MF1 also became a leading issuer of collateralized loan obligations during that period.
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Floating-Rate Lending Built the Platform
Most MF1 originations were floating-rate bridge loans. That strategy became harder to manage after borrowing costs rose. Several borrowers later encountered financial stress. Tides Equities was among MF1’s prominent clients. At least $425M of MF1-issued loans in the Tides portfolio landed on servicer watchlists after missed interest payments. The Real Deal reported that figure in August 2023. At that time, MF1 had almost $11B of loans outstanding. Nearly half of the deals were watchlisted or delinquent.
The Details
MF1 remained active in securitization as distress metrics rose. In Q1 2025, the lender completed $5.6B of CLO volume across six transactions, according to Commercial Observer. At the time, 69% of loans on its books were on the special servicer watchlist. The platform also reported a 13.7% overall distress rate. Only 23.4% of MF1’s loans had been modified. The lender then began moving into fixed-rate products. Earlier this year, it closed its first fixed-rate CMBS transaction, a $734M deal, according to CoStar News. Waynebern said MF1 wanted to be ready when borrowers showed more demand for fixed-rate debt.
Why It Matters
The ownership transfer follows a period when multifamily credit distress repeatedly surfaced across MF1’s own portfolio. It also lands as broader multifamily CMBS stress has increased. Cred iQ data reviewed by GlobeSt. put the sector’s balance-weighted distress rate at 13% in July. That was up from 6% in February. Berkshire is therefore taking full control of a large lending platform with deep origination history and securitization capability. It is also inheriting a book that has required close credit monitoring and workouts.
What’s Next
Limekiln founder Scott Waynebern will remain MF1’s CEO after the sale. Berkshire said he will also build a new real estate strategy outside multifamily credit. MF1 has already positioned itself for possible fixed-rate demand, even though borrowers shifted more slowly than Waynebern expected. Under Berkshire’s sole ownership, the platform can continue that product expansion. At the same time, management still has to work through legacy bridge-loan risks and the broader pressure affecting multifamily credit.
