SASB loans
By Brad Beattie, Director, Capital Markets, Janover Capital LLC · Published
A SASB (single-asset, single-borrower) loan is a commercial mortgage securitized alone in its own CMBS trust instead of pooled with other loans. Bond investors underwrite one property or one borrower’s portfolio directly. SASB financing suits large, trophy or specialized assets and big portfolios; it is rarely the answer for a loan under $50 million.
How SASB differs from a conduit loan
| Conduit loan | SASB loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Collateral behind the bonds | Dozens of loans from many borrowers | One loan: one property or one portfolio |
| What investors analyze | The pool’s diversity | The single asset and sponsor |
| Typical loan size | A few million to the low hundreds of millions | Large, often hundreds of millions or more |
| Rate | Fixed | Fixed or floating |
| Term | Usually 5 or 10 years, no extensions | Fixed: often 5 to 10 years; floating: short initial term with extension options |
| Governing agreement | Pooling and servicing agreement | Trust and servicing agreement |
| Leverage structure | First mortgage; mezzanine only if allowed | First mortgage often paired with mezzanine loans at closing |
| Who it fits | Private owners of stabilized property | Institutional sponsors, trophy assets, portfolios |
A real example: The Spiral
The Spiral is a 66-story, Class A office tower of about 2.8 million square feet in New York. Its $2.08 billion whole loan is made of 15 senior and 4 junior pari passu notes. The loan “is serviced pursuant to the trust and servicing agreement for the Hudson Yards 2025-SPRL securitization”, its own single-borrower deal, while some of its senior notes were sold into the BANK5 2025-5YR14 conduit pool. The sources and uses also show $773.3 million of subordinate debt and $990.9 million returned to the sponsor (BANK5 2025-5YR14 prospectus). That hybrid is common for the largest loans: a SASB trust controls the loan and conduit investors buy slices of it.
Why a sponsor chooses SASB
- Size. A loan too large for any single conduit pool, which needs diversity, can be financed in full in one execution.
- Tailored structure. Investors are pricing one asset, so the bond classes, mezzanine debt and reserves can be built around it.
- Floating rate and flexibility. Floating-rate SASB lets a sponsor with a business plan prepay more easily than a fixed-rate conduit loan, at the cost of rate exposure and a required interest rate cap.
- Portfolios. A single borrower’s portfolio (industrial, hotels, self-storage) can be financed together with release prices for selling individual properties.
What SASB costs the borrower in flexibility
The trade-offs are the same family as conduit loans, sometimes sharper:
- Servicing. A master and special servicer act under the trust and servicing agreement; the borrower does not deal with the originating lender after closing.
- Concentration. Bondholders own exposure to one asset, so a default gets intense attention from the controlling class and the special servicer. Special servicing.
- Disclosure. Many SASB deals are sold privately to institutional investors, so less is public than for a registered conduit deal, but bondholders receive detailed reporting on your property.
- Modifications. If the trust is a REMIC, the same limits on modifying a performing loan apply (26 CFR 1.860G-2(b)). What a servicer can modify.
Is SASB relevant to your loan?
For most private owners, no. If your loan is between $2 million and $50 million on a stabilized property, the conduit market is where CMBS lenders will quote you. Conduit loans explains that market, and CMBS loan requirements shows the leverage recent loans received.
SASB matters to you in two other ways. First, a property type that is moving into SASB at scale (industrial portfolios, large hotels) can affect what conduit lenders want to add to their pools. Second, if your loan is a pari passu note of a large loan, its servicer may sit in a SASB trust. Who is my special servicer? helps you find out.
Where SASB fits among other large-loan options
| Option | When it fits |
|---|---|
| SASB CMBS | Large stabilized or transitional assets and portfolios where capital markets pricing beats balance sheet lenders |
| Life company loan | Low-leverage, high-quality assets where the sponsor wants a long fixed rate and a relationship. CMBS vs life company loans |
| Bank club or syndicated loan | Sponsors with banking relationships who accept recourse or covenants. CMBS vs bank loans |
| Debt fund or mortgage REIT bridge loan | Transitional plans needing future funding. CMBS vs bridge loans |
Market data on who is lending in public CMBS deals is on CMBS lenders, and rates on recent fixed-rate conduit and SASB notes are on CMBS loan rates.
Questions people ask
What does SASB stand for?
Single-asset, single-borrower. The CMBS trust holds one loan, secured by one property or by one borrower's portfolio of properties, instead of a pool of unrelated loans from many borrowers.
How large does a loan need to be for a SASB deal?
There is no rule, but SASB deals carry the full fixed cost of a securitization (offering documents, rating agencies, underwriters) for a single loan, so they are used for large loans, typically well beyond the size of a single conduit loan. Most owners with a $2 million to $50 million loan should look at conduit lending instead.
Are SASB loans fixed or floating rate?
Both exist. Floating-rate SASB is common for transitional assets and portfolios, usually with an interest rate cap and extension options; fixed-rate SASB is used for stabilized trophy assets. Conduit loans, by contrast, are fixed rate.
Can a SASB loan also sit in a conduit deal?
Yes. A very large loan can be split into notes, with some in its own SASB trust and others sold into conduit pools. The Spiral in New York is an example: its lead servicing sits in the Hudson Yards 2025-SPRL trust, and other notes are in the BANK5 2025-5YR14 conduit.
Get a CMBS quote
Buying or refinancing stabilized commercial property? Send the deal to Janover Capital LLC and a capital markets advisor will reply within one business day.