Dealmaker: Walker & Dunlop Secures $54M for Apartments

Walker & Dunlop, Bethesda, Md., structured a $54.2 million Fannie Mae loan to refinance The Esplanade at National Harbor, a 262-unit Class A apartment community near Washington, D.C.

The 10-year refinance loan included five years of interest-only payments followed by a 30-year amortization schedule. 

Walker & Dunlop Senior Vice President Dan Martin and Managing Director Brendan Coleman closed the deal. “This loan was a first for both parties, it was the first ‘Green’ Fannie Mae loan for Walker & Dunlop and it was the Peterson Cos.’ first loan with Fannie Mae,” Martin said. 

Martin said Fannie Mae’s Green program for LEED-certified assets provided The Peterson Cos. with a significant pricing advantage compared to other similarly leveraged assets. “Fannie Mae’s flexibility to rate-lock and close on one month of stabilized collections allowed the borrower to close at the earliest date possible,” he said.

The property within the Peterson Cos.’ master-planned development National Harbor sits in Maryland across the Potomac River from Alexandria, Va. A Gaylord National Resort and Tanger Outlet Mall anchor National Harbor; an MGM casino is slated to open in 2017.