By Melissa Jahnke, associate director of operations, Walker & Dunlop The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points in June and then another 75 basis points in July, sending shockwaves across the commercial real estate industry. Fortunately, there are opportunities and solutions to bypass these potential roadblocks. Specifically, investors in a segment of multifamily housing known as small balance lending (SBL), encompassing five- to 150-unit properties, have several options to realize their aspirations for financing multifamily portfolios. View a higher resolution version of the timeline above here. During a recent webcast “Financing Amid Rising Rates: Best Approaches for $1M-$15M Multifamily Loans,” Walker & Dunlop’s market experts spoke about navigating today’s financing landscape. The expert panel included Allison Williams, senior vice president and chief production officer; Allison Herrera, senior director of SBL; and Tim Cotter, director of capital markets. These experienced professionals have found ways to make deals happen in a wide variety of financing environments and have shared their perspectives and guidance. If you are an owner of five- to 150-unit properties that require loans between $1 million to $15 million, the following will help you navigate today’s financial environment and build your momentum. Step 1: Consider the …
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NEW YORK CITY — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has arranged $754 million in financing for Aman New York, a luxury hotel and condo development in Midtown Manhattan. Aman New York occupies the top 20 floors of the 100-year-old Crown Building at the corner of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, across the street from Trump Tower. OKO Group was the developer. The 95,000-square-foot residential portion includes 22 units, while the 117,000-square-foot hotel section contains 83 guest rooms and suites. The rooms are among New York’s largest, and the hotel is the only one in New York to offer working fireplaces in each room. The lower floors of the building remain retail space. The hotel portion is scheduled to open on Tuesday, Aug. 2. Reservations will be available beginning Monday, July 25. The development is Aman’s first U.S. urban residence project and provides special features for owners such as private entrances, plus access to three dining venues, a jazz club, wine room and 25,000-square-foot Aman Spa. Nearly all of the condos are pre-sold, with one of the units selling for $55 million, marking one of the priciest residential transactions in New York so far this year. Originally built in 1921, the Crown …
Last year, a city known more for music than multifamily development led the nation in new construction growth rates, with luxury high rises popping up from downtown to the Gulch to along the Cumberland River. Nashville, attracting an abundance of debt and equity funding from sources old and new, is now considered an institutional-grade market. The driving force behind this growth: technology. Today, singers, songwriters and studio artists share the city with a growing number of software developers, systems architects and startup founders — and all of these innovators need a place to live, work, shop and play. Nashville’s tech evolution started from a solid foundation in healthcare, automotive and education, including HCA Healthcare and its associated startups, spinoffs and subsidiaries and an automotive hub that includes North American headquarters for Nissan and Korean tire manufacturer Hankook, as well as EV and battery cell manufacturing plants for GM. Twenty nine institutions of higher education, including Vanderbilt University, further helped develop a strong pipeline of tech talent. This ecosystem and a business-friendly climate have attracted some of the nation’s top tech employers: Amazon, who chose the metropolitan area for its much-coveted Center of Excellence; Oracle, relocating from Austin; and Capgemini, whose …
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Walker & Dunlop: Spring Multifamily Market Contends with Inflation, Housing Bubble Fears
By Walker & Dunlop’s Research Department Inflation and a New Era of Monetary Tightening Amid 40-year high inflation rates, home prices that have surged by over 40 percent in the past three years and double-digit price increases in basic necessities such as food, gas and electricity, the United States seems to be beset on all sides. Inflation has become the question of the day with little relief even after monetary tightening began earlier in the year. After a quarter point increase in the Federal Reserve target rate in March, the Fed implemented a whopping 50 basis point increase in the target Federal Funds rate in May after April inflation remained at 8.2 percent, near the March high of 8.6 percent.[1] The central bank’s goal is to reduce inflation to an annual rate of approximately 2 percent. The employment base, the Fed’s other prime objective, seems to remain strong. Unemployment (at 3.6 percent in April) remains low and employment growth of 390,000 in May beat economist expectations. The Fed’s job now is to beat inflation and prevent it from becoming embedded in consumer expectations. Why? Because once inflation becomes embedded in expectations, it changes consumer behavior and becomes somewhat of a …
Capitalizing on a changing marketplace and employing technology to streamline processes are essential strategies in helping small balance clients meet their goals. Ana Ramos, managing director and regional production head at Walker & Dunlop, emphasizes the importance of speed, creativity and using technology to assist in mortgage lending processes. She also emphasizes the centrality of teamwork, company ethos and technology to put a big emphasis on small balance loans. Walker & Dunlop defines “small loan” as up to $15 million for multifamily properties with five or more units. These clients are usually composed of smaller individual investors who need attention and education when it comes to mortgage lending. “It’s really hard for a large producer to think small, but it’s really easy for small producer to think big,” Ramos says. “It’s difficult for producers who are accustomed to institutional lending, with its higher fees and complex vesting structures to consider the credit parameters that are necessary in small balance loans. Small loans is a niche type of mortgage lending, and it only works if you have a company within a company, like Walker & Dunlop with its dedicated small loan team that works together through application, underwriting and closing.” Tech’s …
COLUMBUS, OHIO — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has arranged $59.8 million in debt and equity financing for the construction of Green|House, an apartment project in the Short North Arts District of Columbus. The seven-story development will feature 158 units and 3,700 square feet of retail space. Amenities will include a fitness center, outdoor pool, spa, sauna and community room. The project is the adaptive reuse of an existing building. Kaufman Development is the developer. Jeff Morris, Chad Kiner and A.J. Mangan of Walker & Dunlop arranged the debt through a regional bank and secured a national insurance company as the equity partner. The loan features a fixed interest rate and a three-year term.
As the pandemic recedes, unusual supply and demand trends have taken root in retail and industrial markets throughout the nation. Factors that caused upheaval even before the arrival of COVID — the changing face of retail due to e-commerce and the growing demand for industrial real estate — continue unabated two years past the pandemic lockdowns. Los Angeles County may act as a bellwether for the rest of the country in retail and industrial trends, especially in high-cost, high-density areas, where these two real estate types often compete for space. Bayard (By) Cartmell, senior director at Walker & Dunlop, Los Angeles, has extensive experience with commercial real estate in the Los Angeles area. He has seen unprecedented demand for industrial space and growing investor interest in retail cap rates in the Los Angeles area. Cartmell sat down with REBusinessOnline to talk about the outlook for industrial and retail in Los Angeles, their intersections and the sector trends he expects to see in the coming year. Los Angeles Industrial — High Demand REBusiness: What are you seeing in terms of demand for industrial space — particularly in Los Angeles? Cartmell: There is currently almost unlimited demand for industrial space, of any size, …
BETHESDA, MD. — Walker & Dunlop has provided a $302.2 million Freddie Mac loan for the refinancing of a portfolio of 10 multifamily properties totaling 2,286 units in central Connecticut. The properties have construction dates ranging from 1926 to 2008. About 75 percent of the units have income restrictions that qualify them as affordable housing under FHA guidelines. Taylor Williams led a Walker & Dunlop team that originated the financing on behalf of the borrower, New York City-based Beachwold Residential.
MINNEAPOLIS — Walker & Dunlop has arranged the sale of five Class A seniors housing communities in Minneapolis. Minnetonka-based Roers Cos. developed the communities, which Walker Methodist and Jaybird Senior Living operate. The communities opened between 2018 and 2021. The portfolio consists of 567 independent living, assisted living and memory care units. The buyer, an affiliate of Lone Star Funds, will utilize Grace Management to oversee daily operational responsibilities. The sales price was not disclosed. Alex Vice, Joshua Jandris, Brett Gardner and Mark Myers of Walker & Dunlop provided advisory services and facilitated the disposition of the portfolio.
STAMFORD, CONN. — Walker & Dunlop has provided a loan of an undisclosed amount for the refinancing of TMG Anchor Point, a 323-unit waterfront multifamily property in Stamford. The property was built on 17 acres in 2000 and includes a 72-slip marina. TMG Anchor Point houses studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 522 to 1,767 square feet. Amenities include a fitness center, business center, media room, theater room, indoor basketball and racquetball courts and concierge services. The borrower was New York City-based investment and advisory firm TMG.