Empire Lands $65.5M Refi on Phoenix BTR Community

Värde Partners closed on a $65.5 million loan to refinance Village at Sonoran Vista, a newly delivered build-to-rent community in Phoenix, Arizona.

The financing was provided to the Empire Group to support the lease-up of the 240-unit community of single-family rental homes, which was completed in January 2026. The floating-rate loan, has a three-year initial term with two one-year extension options.

Village at Sonoran Vista comprises approximately 34 acres in the Deer Valley submarket, within a three-mile radius of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (“TSMC”) Arizona semiconductor campus, part of a wave of large-scale investment fueling housing demand across the region. The community offers single-story detached homes with private garages and carports, as well as community amenities that include a resident clubhouse, swimming pool, fitness center, car wash and dog park. 

Empire’s Randy Grudzinski added, “With 30-year mortgage rates nearing 7%, many would-be homebuyers are finding luxury, highly-amenitized build-to-rent communities like Sonoran Vista to be a superior, more flexible option for getting into a new home.”