Walker & Dunlop Secures $136 Million in Green Financing for Landmark Manhattan Apartment Complex

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced today that it structured $136,000,000 in green financing for Rachel Bridge, also known as “The Apartments,” in New York, New York. The property consists of four buildings and 960 units and is situated atop the multi-lane Trans-Manhattan Expressway in upper Manhattan.

Located in one of the most high-cost areas of the country, Rachel Bridge Apartments caters primarily to the city’s workforce with its spacious, modern and rent-stabilized apartment units. At 32-stories tall, residents of Rachel Bridge Apartments enjoy uninterrupted panoramic views of New York City, including the Harlem River, Tappan Zee Bridge, Whitestone Bridge, and the George Washington Bridge. The complex also provides excellent access to public transportation via two nearby subway stops and the George Washington Bus Terminal in Washington Heights.

The transaction was a collaboration amongst Hirsch Simins and David Rosenberg, of Walker & Dunlop’s New Jersey Capital Markets team, alongside Brendan Coleman and Chris Forte, of the company’s Multifamily Finance group. Drawing on their deep understanding of the New York market and broad experience with multifamily properties, the team identified Freddie Mac as an ideal capital source for the property owner, Clipper Equity. In addition to closing the transaction on a compressed timeline, Walker & Dunlop secured excellent deal terms by leveraging the Freddie Mac Green Up Plus Program®, which provides a partial reimbursement to the borrower of costs associated with water and energy upgrades performed within apartment units. Additional loan terms included ten years of interest-only payments at a 1.25x debt service coverage ratio.

“Freddie Mac is proud to have worked with Walker & Dunlop to provide financing for Rachel Bridge Apartments where well over half of the units are affordable to low income residents,” said Tom Pohlmann of Freddie Mac Multifamily Production and Sales. “This investment is also a great example of our Green Advantage program in action. The buildings and apartments will undergo renovations that achieve substantial energy and water savings.”

David Bistricer, Founder and Principal of Clipper Equity, added, “The Walker & Dunlop team did an excellent job executing smoothly in a tight timeframe. They even exceeded expectations by increasing the loan amount significantly while we were under application. Their expertise was evident throughout this process.”

Mr. Simins commented, “The Apartments are an iconic property that defines the New York City skyline, and it was an honor to work on this transaction for Clipper Equity. The combination of a large NYC affordable housing complex and best-in-class sponsorship enabled us to provide an incredible loan to the borrower, and we were able to close quickly.”

Walker & Dunlop is a leader in the multifamily space; the firm ranked #2 with Fannie Mae for multifamily lending in 2018 and was also ranked as a top-five multifamily lender with Freddie Mac and HUD. The company completed $8.6 billion in brokered loan originations with over 235 different capital providers in 2018, a 17 percent increase in volume from 2017. To learn more about Walker & Dunlop’s financing capabilities, visit our website.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States. The company provides a comprehensive range of capital solutions for all commercial real estate asset classes, as well as investment sales brokerage services to owners of multifamily properties. Walker & Dunlop is included on the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and was ranked as one of FORTUNE Magazine’s Fastest Growing Companies in 2014, 2017, and 2018. Walker & Dunlop’s 700+ professionals in 29 offices across the nation have an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction.