Walker & Dunlop

BETHESDA, MD. — Several industry professionals are predicting that a second stimulus bill will be a $1.75 trillion package approved by Aug. 15. The comments came on a “Walker Webcast” webinar, entitled “All Eyes on Washington: What Will the Next Stimulus Bill Do for CRE?” that took place on Wednesday, July 29. Commercial real estate finance firm Walker & Dunlop hosts the webinar series. Willy Walker, chairman and CEO of Bethesda, Md.-based Walker & Dunlop, spoke with Bob Broeksmit, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA); Doug Bibby, president of the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC); and Jeff DeBoer, president and CEO of Real Estate Roundtable. The three guests conversed on a variety of topics, with the possible extension of the eviction moratorium being one of the most discussed issues. Bibby of NMHC equated the moratorium to rent control. The notion sounds good because the consumer is protected, but it can have devastating effects on the owner, particularly in the multifamily space where a lot of landlords are smaller owner-operators. “They [multifamily owners] could lose everything with an eviction moratorium because they have mortgages, property taxes, insurance and payroll to pay,” said Bibby. Over 40 percent of apartment …

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NEW ORLEANS — Walker & Dunlop has provided a $23 million Freddie Mac permanent financing loan for The Reveal, a 150-unit affordable housing community in eastern New Orleans. Upon completion, The Reveal will offer one- through four-bedroom floor plans, each with a balcony. Communal amenities will include conference rooms, a community room, fitness center and a therapy room. The community will also feature a 1,745-square-foot business incubator, which caters residents wanting to launch their own businesses. Heather Olson of Walker & Dunlop originated the loan on behalf of the developer, Commonwealth Cos. National Equity Fund is an equity partner with the developer. Sterling Bank, the Louisiana Housing Corp. and the Housing Authority of New Orleans are providing additional funding. A timeline for completion was not disclosed.

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AURORA, ILL. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has arranged a $14.6 million loan for the refinancing of The Vistas Fox Valley in Aurora. The 136-bed skilled nursing facility offers full medical support and rehabilitation services for seniors age 65 and older. Amenities include an onsite spa and salon, dining services, transportation options, family lounges and 24-hour medical assistance. Joshua Rosen of Walker & Dunlop led the origination team. The HUD loan will replace existing debt previously provided by Walker & Dunlop’s bridge lending program.

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NEW YORK CITY — Walker & Dunlop has acquired Beler Advisory Group (BAG), a locally based independent real estate finance firm. Mo Beler, former principal at BAG, will join Walker & Dunlop’s New York City capital markets debt and equity team, which is currently led by Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland and Adam Schwartz. Beler, a 15-year industry veteran who has closed more than $6 billion in debt and equity transactions in his career, founded the company in 2019.

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Meghan Czechowski

The spread of COVID-19 is impacting all industries and markets — including the appraisal space. That said, appraisers should avoid making long-term assumptions about the impact the virus will have on real estate values. According to the Appraisal Institute, the current environment is fluid: An important part of any appraisal assignment is an analysis of market conditions. The coronavirus threat may be impacting market conditions. However, in most markets, it is not yet clear to what extent, if any, market conditions are affected. Related, complicating factors include fluctuations in the stock market and changes in mortgage interest rates. Market analysis includes observing market reactions. This analysis becomes more complicated when market participants themselves are facing uncertainty. Appraisal reports should include a discussion of market conditions and should mention the coronavirus outbreak and its possible impact. However, it is not appropriate to include a disclaimer or extraordinary assumption that suggests the appraiser is not taking responsibility for the analysis of market conditions. While it is important that multifamily appraisers do not jump to conclusions and make long-term predictions, we must understand the different ways in which COVID-19 is currently impacting the commercial real estate market. It is also important that we …

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GAINESVILLE, GA. — Walker & Dunlop provided a $44.3 million Freddie Mac acquisition loan for Century New Holland, a 348-unit multifamily community in Gainesville. The property, which was built in 2018, offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Communal amenities include a dog park, car care detailing area, bocce ball court, picnic areas and grilling areas. The asset is located at 1465 Jesse Jewell Pasrkway NE, two miles north of downtown Gainesville and 57 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. Centennial Holding Co. acquired the property from the undisclosed seller. Brian Moulder, Chris Goldsmith and Sean Williams of Walker & Dunlop represented the buyer in the sale transaction. Taylor Williams of Walker & Dunlop originated the fixed-rate loan, which features five years of interest-only payments.

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AURORA AND KANKAKEE, ILL. AND NOVI, MICH. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has provided $37 million in financing for two senior living facilities in Illinois and one in Michigan. Walker & Dunlop provided $14.9 million for The Grove Fox Valley, a 156-bed skilled nursing facility in Aurora, Ill.; $14.9 million for WellBridge of Novi, a 100-bed skilled nursing facility in Novi, Mich.; and $7.4 million for Asbury of Kankakee, a 98-bed supportive living facility in Kankakee, Ill. Joshua Rosen of Walker & Dunlop led the origination team, which utilized HUD’s Lean 232/223(f) refinance program. The permanent financing for The Grove Fox Valley will replace existing debt previously provided by Walker & Dunlop’s bridge lending program. The permanent financing for WellBridge of Novi and Asbury of Kankakee enabled each of the property owners to refinance both their current bank and partnership debt.

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Phoenix Multifamily Housing

Just over a decade ago, a booming Phoenix market experienced a confluence of trends — rampant overbuilding, followed by a national economic crisis that meant a spike in unemployment and a near halt in population growth. One of the biggest commercial real estate downturns in the region’s history soon followed. Ten years later, however, the picture was quite different. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Phoenix multifamily metrics were solid through the first quarter of 2020 and supported by some of the strongest employment and household growth in the nation. In 2019, Phoenix added more than 82,000 new jobs — a 3.3 percent increase, the second highest job growth in the country.1 The economy today is much more diverse than it was 10 years ago during the last downturn. Workers can now choose among a variety of corporate, financial, education-based and tech employers while enjoying a lower cost of living than their peers in other metropolitan areas. Ultimately, Phoenix is better positioned than it was a decade ago; the Phoenix of today is grounded in a broader and more sustainable mix of favorable long-term market conditions. These characteristics, coupled with the region’s year-round sunshine, have made Phoenix an attractive place to …

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residences-at-oella

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has provided a $2.4 billion Fannie Mae loan to refinance a 67-property multifamily portfolio in the Washington, D.C., metro area. The borrower is Virginia-based multifamily owner and manager Southern Management Corp. (SMC). The portfolio includes 22,439 units in total, more than 60 percent of which qualify as affordable housing. The loan package features staggered maturities across a mix of fixed- and floating-rate, full-term, interest-only financing. “This $2.4 billion Southern Management transaction gave us the opportunity to partner with one of our top DUS lenders, Walker & Dunlop, using the credit facility, one of our most flexible financing products, to structure a winning solution for the borrower while delivering affordability to the Washington, D.C.,” says Jeffery Hayward, executive vice president of multifamily at Fannie Mae. The loan represents the largest transaction in Walker & Dunlop’s history, according to a statement from the company. “Walker & Dunlop’s creativity, tenacity and market knowledge resulted in a superior execution for this large and complex transaction amidst the uncertainty of a rapidly unfolding financial and health crisis,” says Suzanne Hillman, president and CEO of SMC. Brendan Coleman, Chris Forte and Connor Locke led a Walker & Dunlop team …

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Mark Strauss Walker Dunlop

In recent weeks, the ability of commercial real estate owners to access debt and equity has come into question as the novel coronavirus wreaks havoc on the economy. While some deals in the pipeline are still getting done, the debt markets took a pause as the pandemic took hold. Debt markets were waiting for clarity on how various sectors would react, according to Mark Strauss, managing director of capital markets, and Rob Quarton, director of capital markets, with Walker & Dunlop’s Irvine, Calif., office. The two recently spoke with REBusinessOnline via Zoom about the robustness of certain asset types, market stability, debt pricing and adoption of tech-heavy creativity in the wake of COVID-19 and its effects on commercial real estate nationwide. Commercial Real Estate Debt & Coronavirus Strauss and Quarton primarily work with institutional capital sources that provide capitalization for commercial real estate developers and owners. As such, they have a broad view of all debt markets and their willingness to fund. Debt funds are one of the most affected areas of the financial markets. “The way that debt funds finance their position behind the scenes — either using collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), bank warehouse lines or repo facilities — …

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