OREANDA-NEWS. S&P Global Ratings today assigned its preliminary ratings to BBCMS 2016-ETC Mortgage Trust's $512.5 million commercial mortgage pass-through certificates series 2016-ETC (see list).

The certificate issuance is a commercial mortgage-backed securities transaction backed by a $512.5 million portion of a $700.0 million whole commercial mortgage loan secured by a first-priority mortgage on the borrowers' fee-simple interest in Easton Town Center, a 1.8 million-sq.-ft. (1.3 million-sq.-ft. collateral) outdoor shopping center located in Columbus, Ohio.

The preliminary ratings are based on information as of Aug. 3, 2016. Subsequent information may result in the assignment of final ratings that differ from the preliminary ratings.

The preliminary rating our view of the collateral's historical and projected performance, the sponsors' and manager's experience, the trustee-provided liquidity, the loans' terms, and the transaction's structure. We determined that the $700.0 million whole loan balance has a beginning and ending loan-to-value of 93.3% based on our estimate for the long-term sustainable value of the collateral backing the transaction.