NEW YORK CITY — Walker & Dunlop has arranged a $36 million loan for the refinancing of a 64-unit multifamily property in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Built in 2018, the property consists of 23 studios and 41 two-bedroom apartments with 30 percent of units designated as affordable housing, as well as 14,080 square feet of retail space that is fully leased. Aaron Appel, Michael Diaz, Michael Ianno and Jackson Irwin of Walker & Dunlop arranged the five-year, floating-rate loan through Amherst Capital Management on behalf of the borrower, Cayuga Capital Management.
AcquisitionsBuild-to-RentContent PartnerFeaturesLeasing ActivityMidwestMultifamilySingle-Family RentalSoutheastTexasWalker & DunlopWestern
Multifamily Investment Sales Strong in Southern States; Gaining More Interest in Midwest
Multifamily investment benefitted from the uncertainties of the past year, but will the transaction volumes of 2021 be used to gauge the likely outcomes for 2022? Managing directors Todd Stofflet and Jason Stevens of Walker & Dunlop’s Chicago office review 2021 and what the trends of this year indicate for the direction of the industry. REBusiness: What have you seen regarding multifamily investment activity this year? Stofflet: Early in the pandemic, we saw a lot of investment pull away from retail and office, focusing more on industrial and multifamily. In 2021, the multifamily sector has fared very well and a lot of new investors have entered the multifamily market. If you talk to some of our colleagues in the Southeast and the “smile states,” they will tell you that transaction volume has never been higher and the amount of capital chasing these opportunities has never been bigger. Across the country, it has been a very strong year for the sector. REBusiness: Do you think 2021 will be a record year in terms of sales? Stevens: If our pipeline is any barometer for that, the answer is “absolutely,” but it will be market dependent. What you’ll find is that sales in …
NEW YORK CITY — Walker & Dunlop has arranged a $170 million loan for the refinancing of 122 Fifth Avenue, a 300,000-square-foot office building located near Manhattan’s Union Square neighborhood. The property was originally built in 1900 and includes retail space. Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Adam Schwartz, Sean Bastian and Michael Ianno of Walker & Dunlop arranged the loan through PCCP LLC. The borrower, Bromley Cos., which has owned the building for more than 40 years, will use a portion of the proceeds to fund capital improvements.
YONKERS, N.Y. — Walker & Dunlop has arranged a $160 million loan for the refinancing of Sawyer Place, a 438-unit multifamily property located outside of New York City in Yonkers. Built in 2020, the two-building complex features 31,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, a 553-space parking garage and amenities such as a landscaped terrace, fitness center and an indoor theater. Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Adam Schwartz, Michael Ianno and Sean Bastian of Walker & Dunlop arranged the floating-rate, nonrecourse financing, which retires the original construction loan, through Mesa West Capital. The borrower was locally based development and investment firm RXR Realty.
HOUSTON — Walker & Dunlop has brokered the sale of The Co-Op at Med Center, a 200-unit multifamily property located within the Texas Medical Center in Houston. Units come in studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans, and amenities include a pool, fitness center, basketball and volleyball courts, study areas, coffee bar and a dog park. Walker & Dunlop’s Scott Bray, Ryan Epstein and Jennifer Ray represented the seller, Urban Genesis, in the transaction. The buyer was an entity doing business as EAS Houston LLC, plans to implement a value-add program at the property, which was originally built as a hotel and converted to multifamily in 2018.
Build-to-RentContent PartnerDevelopmentFeaturesMidwestMultifamilyNortheastSoutheastTexasWalker & DunlopWestern
Demographic, Economic Trends Likely to Sustain Build-For-Rent Sector’s Growth
Institutional investors have been increasingly interested in the build-for-rent (BFR) space over the last five years. But the pandemic poured gasoline on an asset class that offers tenants space, privacy and the flexibility of renting. Now that COVID appears to be receding in some areas, can the BFR sector maintain its growth? Paul Garner, director at Walker & Dunlop, believes that demographic and economic trends will maintain the demand for BFR, especially in the Sun Belt states, for the near future. Opportunities for Growth and a Focus on the Sun Belt Garner sees the most potential for BFR growth in suburban areas — particularly those located 15 to 20 minutes outside of a metropolitan statistical area. The economic growth and increasing populations of nearby cities determine whether suburban BFR setups will attract tenants. According to Garner, the dedicated BFR/single-family rental (SFR) team at Walker & Dunlop has started to see a lot of action similar to what they saw on the West Coast (especially in Arizona) four or five years ago. He notes, “BFR properties are becoming increasingly popular all throughout the Sun Belt states, especially Florida and the Carolinas. There’s a potential in this area to get land very, …
LITTLETON, COLO. — Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD) has arranged the $134 million sale of Griffis Marston Lake, a 332-unit multifamily community in Littleton. Built in 2002, the garden-style community was marketed as a value-add investment. The property offers a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units near major employers including the Swedish Medical Center, Denver Federal Center and Lockheed Martin. The community is also located roughly 10 miles south of downtown Denver and the Denver Tech Center. Dan Woodward, David Potarf, Matt Barnett and Jake Young of Walker & Dunlop brokered the transaction on behalf of the seller, a partnership between Denver-based Griffis Residential and Pacific Coast Capital Partners. Trevor Fase, also of Walker & Dunlop, secured fixed-rate, interest-only acquisition financing through Fannie Mae on behalf of the buyer, Kennedy Wilson. This transaction follows a number of major multifamily deals in the Denver area during the month of October, including the sale of a five-building multifamily portfolio in Aurora; the funding of a 252-unit development and the $64.5 million sale of Mesa Verde Apartments in Arvada; and the $108.2 million acquisition of Neon Local Apartments in Denver. Griffis Residential owns a portfolio of multifamily communities across Colorado, Texas, Oregon, Washington …
TYSONS, VA. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has secured $300 million in construction financing for The Mather, a two-building seniors housing community in Tysons. The project will be built in two phases, with Phase I projected to open in early 2024. The transit-oriented project will feature 19- and 27-story towers with 300 independent living apartments, 16 assisted living apartments, 20 memory support suites and 42 private nursing suites. Community amenities will include multiple restaurants, a fitness center, wellness spa, art studio, rooftop terrace, saltwater pool, parking and retail. The Mather will feature approximately three acres of green space with landscaped gardens, walking paths, sculptures and an event lawn. Situated at the corner of Westpark and Westbranch drives, The Mather is just 15 miles from Washington, D.C., and is located within a half-mile of the Tysons Corner Metro Station and the Tysons Galleria Shopping Mall. Jonathan Schwartz, Aaron Appel, Ari Hirt, Sean Bastian and Taylor Geiger of Walker & Dunlop served as strategic advisors for the borrower, an entity doing business as Tysons LPC LLC that comprises a 50/50 equity partnership between nonprofit seniors housing operator Mather and Westminster Capital. The capital stack included a syndicated transaction led by The Huntington …
WESTFIELD, N.J. — Walker & Dunlop has brokered the $29.7 million sale of a 70-unit multifamily property located at 333 Central Ave in Westfield, about 15 miles southwest of Manhattan. Built in 2017, the property offers amenities such as a fitness center with yoga and Pilates studios, community room, rooftop terrace, dog park and package concierge system. Thomas Walsh and Joseph Garibaldi of Walker & Dunlop represented the seller, a partnership between two New Jersey-based firms, Claremont Development and The Hampshire Cos., in the transaction. The buyer was Rockwood Capital LLC.
AcquisitionsContent PartnerFeaturesLeasing ActivityLoansMidwestMultifamilyNortheastSingle-Family RentalSoutheastTexasWalker & DunlopWestern
Small-Balance Multifamily: Sizable and Resilient
While new-builds and top-of-the-line, large-scale developments typically attract the most buzz in the multifamily world, the vast majority of apartment properties in the United States have fewer than 100 units. These smaller properties play a vital role in delivering affordable and workforce rental housing inventory to the U.S. population. While the commercial real estate industry may refer to this sector of the multifamily market as “small,” make no mistake, “small” multifamily is not insignificant or inferior — it’s sizable and resilient. As other commercial real estate sectors paused during COVID-19, smaller multifamily properties and small-balance lending thrived. What does the future hold for this market? The Small Multifamily Market Defined The small multifamily market is highly fragmented with no clear definition of what constitutes “small” among capital sources. Generally, market statistics define the “small” multifamily sector by at least one of two measures: Unit count between five and 99 units; and/or Principal loan balance at origination between $1 million and $10 million[1] Strong Demand and Operating Fundamentals While the pandemic negatively impacted many areas of commercial real estate, with offices, retail shops and hotels largely shuttered across the U.S., the multifamily market remained resilient. Despite the past year’s challenges, multifamily …