How would you value a single tenant office building with the tenant being AAA rating versus BB rating?

Hey guys, I am trying to value a single tenant office building but the tricky part is the value would be very much different if a AAA rating tenant comes in versus a BB rating tenant comes in. So I need to present two scenarios. What would be a reasonable way to value it in real world?

Now I have three thoughts: 1. Cap two scenarios in different rate. The questions is how to determine the gap between the two cap rate?
2. Apply a higher general vacancy rate for BB rating tenant. The question is how high can it be? 3. Use DCF to get the property's value first and then apply a discount rate for BB rating tenant? But again, how to determine what the discount rate is.

This is my first time dealing with this problems so any thoughts/comments is welcomed. Thank you!

6 Comments
 
Most Helpful

It would depend on how the potential leases are structured. Whether or not the AAA tenants have a way out of their lease. Typically owning a AAA lease is like owning a AAA bond. The cap rate should mirror the going interest rates on the corresponding bonds. Traditionally, vacancy is underwritten to 3% in single tenant scenarios (unless tenant is complete junk) and to 0% if the tenant is credit.

 

Thanks for your comments. I totally agreed with you. The ownership think they can get a AAA tenant thus they are asking an unreasonable price. I am trying to show a trading range if they end up get a non-AAA tenant and BB would be the worst case scenario. As far as I know, it would be a 15-year lease but not sure if the tenant can go other places until we know who is coming in.

 

Bear in mind yes def look at as a credit rating spread to a bond of the debtor but not a lease is an UNSECURED loan in the eyes of the lessor whereas a normal creditor would be secured by collateral this of course assuming the lease is non-recourse to any parent entity. Thus if you goto the debt markets and get a bond spread of the AAA tenant you would have to adjust that for the risk of it being unsecured no different than any unsecured non-recourse loan to the lessee.

 

Unde ipsum placeat ipsam quas molestiae id vitae. Est sed magni id aut et. Adipisci in possimus ut.

Ea natus error reiciendis nisi quod et. Incidunt error nostrum eos facilis earum. Incidunt quo quos et quos nesciunt doloribus. Ad quia molestiae voluptas illo ducimus est consectetur. Nam aspernatur nulla necessitatibus eligendi qui.

Voluptas sunt iusto iure. Sit harum magni sed in cupiditate incidunt minima ipsa. Et qui et qui eaque ex unde et. Iusto dolor adipisci perferendis mollitia omnis voluptatem. Distinctio necessitatibus distinctio aut id culpa.

Free Real Estate Modeling Course: https://streetwisemodeling.thinkific.com/

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”