Beyond its strong location, George Smith leveraged additional factors to win attractive financing terms for the sponsor, including Fannie Mae's Multifamily Green Financing program. That program enabled the team to achieve favorable leverage of 80% loan-to-value and a reduced interest rate of LIBOR + 2.15%, according to Anderson-Mitterling, a senior vice President with the firm.

(What about Trump's impact on affordable housing? Get one view.)

“The newly formed joint-venture equity partnership we arranged for the sponsor will allow an investment of $5.5 million into the two properties to upgrade the common area amenities and interiors, as well as the ability to implement a green-energy saving initiative and strategic management platform,” says Anderson-Mitterling. “The repositioning is key, as it allows our client to upgrade the amenities while simultaneously reducing operating costs through sustainability solutions.”

The financing also maximizes the Sponsor's cash flow throughout the repositioning. The loan is interest-only during the initial four years of the term, followed by a 30-year amortization thereafter.

We anticipated 2017 to be very similar to 2016 in terms of deal flow—slow to begin the year, and picking up substantially in the second half,” Blake Okland, vice chairman and head of US Multifamily at ARA Newmark, tells GlobeSt.com. “So far that's been the case this year, too, with 1Q being very slow and a 25% year-over-year pick up in 2Q. In 2017, the slow start to the year was primarily driven by the election results and the subsequent broader capital markets reaction to it. In addition, buyers were full on multifamily and the lack of deals on the market in early 2017 contributed to less trades.”

ATLANTA—Commercial real estate investment banking firm George Smith Partners secured $58 million in financing for the acquisition and repositioning of two 1970s—1980s vintage work-force housing apartment buildings with 680 units in the Norcross submarket of the Atlanta metro area. George Smith worked on behalf of the sponsor, a private investor.

Gary E. Mozer, a principal and co-founder of the firm, along with Michael Anderson-Mitterling, Katie Rodd, Kyle Howerton, and Nick Rogers, arranged the financing. The deal included $45 million in non-recourse acquisition debt and $13 million of joint venture equity.

“Workforce housing presents a tremendous investment opportunity in the current market,” says Mozer. “Lenders look favorably on this product type based primarily on the exponential demand for moderately-priced housing throughout the country.”

Mozer points to a recent report from the Workforce Housing Committee of the National Multifamily Housing Council, which outlines the need for an additional 4.6 million new apartments in the US by 2030. Fannie Mae recently reported that Atlanta's job market had expanded by 4.0% in Q1 of 2017, compared to 1.5% nationally. Mozer notes, “The Atlanta metro is particularly well-positioned to benefit from this demand, with rapid population growth of more than 78,000 people in the past year, as well as an impressive job growth rate.”

Beyond its strong location, George Smith leveraged additional factors to win attractive financing terms for the sponsor, including Fannie Mae's Multifamily Green Financing program. That program enabled the team to achieve favorable leverage of 80% loan-to-value and a reduced interest rate of LIBOR + 2.15%, according to Anderson-Mitterling, a senior vice President with the firm.

(What about Trump's impact on affordable housing? Get one view.)

“The newly formed joint-venture equity partnership we arranged for the sponsor will allow an investment of $5.5 million into the two properties to upgrade the common area amenities and interiors, as well as the ability to implement a green-energy saving initiative and strategic management platform,” says Anderson-Mitterling. “The repositioning is key, as it allows our client to upgrade the amenities while simultaneously reducing operating costs through sustainability solutions.”

The financing also maximizes the Sponsor's cash flow throughout the repositioning. The loan is interest-only during the initial four years of the term, followed by a 30-year amortization thereafter.

We anticipated 2017 to be very similar to 2016 in terms of deal flow—slow to begin the year, and picking up substantially in the second half,” Blake Okland, vice chairman and head of US Multifamily at ARA Newmark, tells GlobeSt.com. “So far that's been the case this year, too, with 1Q being very slow and a 25% year-over-year pick up in 2Q. In 2017, the slow start to the year was primarily driven by the election results and the subsequent broader capital markets reaction to it. In addition, buyers were full on multifamily and the lack of deals on the market in early 2017 contributed to less trades.”