Walker & Dunlop Structures $26 Million Construction Loan for Luxury Build-for-Rent Homes in Las Vegas

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced today that it arranged $26,298,388 in financing for Seneca at Southern Highlands, a 50-unit, luxury build-for-rent (BFR) community to be constructed in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first home will be delivered in September 2022, and the fully completed development will be finalized in May 2023.

Keaton Merrell, Jim Pierson, and Shannon Hersker, of Walker & Dunlop’s Phoenix-based capital markets team, arranged the non-recourse construction financing on behalf of their client, Seneca. The team collaborated across the Walker & Dunlop platform, partnering with Heather McClure, of the firm’s Dallas-based structured finance group to identify the ideal lender. The final terms of the loan included a three-year term with interest-only payments at a very competitive rate.

“Working with Keaton and the Walker & Dunlop team has been a great experience and we were presented with multiple competitive financing options. We look forward to working together again soon and we’re thrilled to move forward with the construction of our latest Seneca neighborhood,” noted Michael Stuhmer, Principal at Seneca. “We are hyper focused on developing homes and communities that serve the resident by merging maintenance-free solutions, tech-enabled functionality, and personalized design within a rented-home experience.”

Ms. Hersker commented, “Our team has been tracking the growth of the BFR sector and financing deals across the U.S. for several years now. We are currently working on financing BFR assets in over a dozen municipalities nationally. Like all of these places, the Las Vegas MSA is a natural fit for this asset class, and we were pleased to put our knowledge and experience to work for our client.”

Stretching across 10 acres and 119,500 rentable square feet, Seneca at Southern Highlands is an upscale townhome-style community that caters to young families and older renters alike. Positioned on a hillside with views of the Las Vegas Strip, the neighborhood will include 25 three-bedroom, two-bathroom units and 25 four-bedroom, three-bathroom units. Each home will feature a two-car garage and a private backyard. Property amenities feature a private gated entry, walking trails, an elevated common area with a community garden, and a private dog park.

Walker & Dunlop’s BFR & SFR Practice Group is comprised of 12 experts strategically positioned across the business to finance and sell these specialty communities. Our national team provides expert guidance on property sales, debt origination, and the structuring of equity to generate optimal returns and strategic relationships for our clients. The team is active with over fifty groups in the space, which range from institutional clients, homebuilders, multifamily developers, and individual investors. With an active pipeline of over $1.9 billion of transaction volume, the team has extensive experience executing on lending, capital brokerage, or investment sales opportunities. For more information on our Build-for-Rent practice group or to connect with an advisor, visit our website.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD) is the largest provider of capital to the multifamily industry in the United States and the fourth largest lender on all commercial real estate including industrial, office, retail, and hospitality. Walker & Dunlop enables real estate owners and operators to bring their visions of communities — where Americans live, work, shop and play — to life. The power of our people, premier brand, and industry-leading technology make us more insightful and valuable to our clients, providing an unmatched experience every step of the way. With over 1,000 employees across every major U.S. market, Walker & Dunlop has consistently been named one of Fortune’s Great Places to Work® and is committed to making the commercial real estate industry more inclusive and diverse while creating meaningful social, environmental, and economic change in our communities.