Walker & Dunlop Structures $161 Million in Acquisition Financing for Student Housing Portfolio

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced today that it structured $160,749,000 in financing for the 908 Portfolio and the Zaragon Portfolio. Totaling 1,576 beds, the combined portfolio comprises five dedicated student housing properties, two of which include an affordability component, consistent with the S.M.A.R.T. Housing Policy Initiative implemented by the City of Austin, Texas.

Walker & Dunlop’s Managing Director Will Baker, Vice President William Shell, and Assistant Vice President Doug McDaniel provided the debt, in collaboration with Tim Bradley of TSB Capital Advisors, who brokered the transaction. The team worked closely with the joint venture owners, Landmark Properties and Ocean West Capital Partners, to develop a tailored financing solution for the five-property acquisition. Thanks to their extensive experience with the GSEs’ loan programs, the Walker & Dunlop team was able to leverage a unique loan structure that cross-collateralizes the properties within each portfolio and provides a single, streamlined loan.

Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Zaragon Portfolio comprises ZWest and ZPlace, two non-contiguous properties catering to students attending the University of Michigan. The properties were financed with a ten-year Fannie Mae loan featuring full-term interest-only payments. Walker & Dunlop also leveraged the GSE’s Green Rewards program, which provides discounted rates to owners and developers who implement energy- and water-saving improvements.

The 908 Portfolio includes Nine at Tallahassee, located in Tallahassee, Florida, and Nine at West Campus, and Nine at Rio, both located in Austin, Texas. Serving students of Florida State University and the University of Texas, respectively, the portfolio was financed by a ten-year, full term, interest only loan from Freddie Mac. Walker & Dunlop was able to rate lock the debt before two of the three properties were delivered in August 2019, due to the exceptional sponsorship and strong demand for student housing options in each area.

“These properties are high quality student housing assets located at flagship universities that we plan to own and operate for the foreseeable future. It was a pleasure to work with Walker & Dunlop and both GSEs to structure attractive debt to meet our long term goals,” stated Landmark Properties President and CEO, Wes Rogers.

Mr. Baker commented, “We were honored to work with Landmark and Ocean West, an experienced and respected student housing owner and operator, on this financing. Walker & Dunlop’s scale and strong partnership with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enabled us to provide our client with very attractive rates and flexible terms for this acquisition.”

Walker & Dunlop is a leader in the student housing space, ranking as the #1 student housing lender in the country by transaction volume in 2018¹ and closing over $1.1 billion in student housing transactions in the last year alone. For more information about Walker & Dunlop’s view on the student housing market, including insights on micro living, trending property amenities, and foreign investment activity, read our Student Housing Outlook Report.

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 800+ professionals in 32 offices across the nation have an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction.

¹Student Housing Business, May/June 2019 Issue