Morningstar DBRS Confirms Credit Ratings on All Classes of Citigroup Commercial Mortgage Trust 2013-GC15

DBRS, Inc. (Morningstar DBRS) confirmed all credit ratings on the classes of Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2013-GC15 issued by Citigroup Commercial Mortgage Trust 2013-GC15 as follows:

-- Class E at CCC (sf)
-- Class F at C (sf)
-- Class X-C at CCC (sf)

There are no trends as all classes have credit ratings that typically do not carry trends in Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) credit ratings.

The credit ratings for Classes E and X-C were downgraded from B (low) (sf) and B (sf), respectively, at the last credit rating action as a reflection of increased liquidated loss projections for the remaining loans in the pool. Of the five loans outstanding at the time of that credit rating action in March 2024, four loans remain outstanding, with a total remaining deal balance of $55.8 million as of the February 2025 remittance. The fifth loan was disposed with a relatively small loss ($241,700) to the trust in January 2025, which was in line with Morningstar DBRS' expectations at last review. While the Class E balance has been significantly repaid, with only $5.3 million outstanding, Morningstar DBRS notes the servicer continues to short partial interest on the Class F certificate and full interest on the Class G certificate, with increased propensity for interest shortfalls for Class E, given the remaining four loans are all in special servicing and all but one are in payment default. This factor, as well as the $40.6 million in liquidated losses projected by Morningstar DBRS in the analysis for this review, support the CCC (sf) and C (sf) credit ratings maintained with this review.

Liquidated losses at the March 2024 credit rating actions were projected at approximately $37.0 million, with the increase to $40.6 million with this review primarily a factor of lower appraised values for the collateral securing the two largest loans remaining in the pool. Of the four remaining loans, all but Rivers Business Commons (Prospectus ID #45, 13.0% of the pool) was analyzed with a liquidated loss. Liquidation scenarios for the two smallest of the three liquidated loans, Spectrum Office Building (Prospectus ID #31, 20.0% of the pool) and Cayuga Professional Center (Prospectus ID #79, 6.2% of the pool), were based on 25.0% haircuts to the most recent appraisals, with loss severities of 66.0% and 30.0%, respectively.

The largest remaining loan and primary contributor to Morningstar DBRS' liquidated loss projections is 735 Sixth Avenue (Prospectus ID #6, 61.0% of the pool), secured by the 16,500-square-foot (sf) ground and mezzanine floor retail portion of a 40-story multifamily property in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The asset has been real estate owned (REO) since June 2023 and the January 2024 appraisal valued the property at $13.7 million, down from $16.2 million at January 2023. The trust exposure is estimated to be at $41.1 million at disposition, and Morningstar DBRS assumed a stressed haircut of 35.0% to the January 2024 appraised value in the liquidation scenario, given the low occupancy rate and the historical trends showing precipitous drops in the value since the initial default. The resulting loss of $32.2 million in Morningstar DBRS' liquidation scenario results in a loss severity of 95.0% for this loan.

Morningstar DBRS' credit ratings on the applicable classes address the credit risk associated with the identified financial obligations in accordance with the relevant transaction documents. Where applicable, a description of these financial obligations can be found in the transactions' respective press releases at issuance.

Morningstar DBRS' long-term credit ratings provide opinions on risk of default. Morningstar DBRS considers risk of default to be the risk that an issuer will fail to satisfy the financial obligations in accordance with the terms under which a long-term obligation has been issued. The Morningstar DBRS short-term debt rating scale provides an opinion on the risk that an issuer will not meet its short-term financial obligations in a timely manner.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS  
There were no Environmental/Social/Governance factor(s) that had a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis.
 
A description of how Morningstar DBRS considers ESG factors within the Morningstar DBRS analytical framework can be found in the Morningstar DBRS Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors in Credit Ratings (August 13, 2024) at https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/437781.

Class X-C is an interest-only (IO) certificate that reference a single rated tranche or multiple rated tranches. The IO rating mirrors the lowest-rated applicable reference obligation tranche adjusted upward by one notch if senior in the waterfall.

All credit ratings are subject to surveillance, which could result in credit ratings being upgraded, downgraded, placed under review, confirmed, or discontinued by Morningstar DBRS.

Notes:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology is North American CMBS Surveillance Methodology (December 13, 2024; https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/444617).

Other methodologies referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release.

The credit ratings were initiated at the request of the rated entity.

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the credit rating process for these credit rating actions.

Morningstar DBRS had access to the accounts, management, and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities in connection with these credit rating actions.

These are solicited credit ratings.

Morningstar DBRS notes that a traditional model-based sensitivity was not performed; however, Morningstar DBRS notes that the credit ratings are sensitive to the recoverability assumptions on the four remaining loans that are detailed in the accompanying press release. Should recoverability of the remaining loans be lower than that implied by the stressed values in the latest analysis, credit ratings lower in the capital stack would be those most negatively affected.

DBRS, Inc.
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Chicago, IL 60602 USA
Tel. +1 312 332-3429

The credit rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://dbrs.morningstar.com/about/methodologies.

-- North American CMBS Multi-Borrower Rating Methodology/ North American CMBS Insight Model v 1.2.0.0 (December 13, 2024), https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/444616
-- Morningstar DBRS North American Commercial Real Estate Property Analysis Criteria (September 19, 2024), https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/439702
-- Legal Criteria for U.S. Structured Finance (December 3, 2024), https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/444064
-- North American Commercial Mortgage Servicer Rankings (August 23, 2024), https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/438283

For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit https://dbrs.morningstar.com or contact us at info-DBRS@morningstar.com.