Dealmaker: Pillar Originates $41M in Three States

Pillar, New York, originated $41.4 million to refinance three multifamily properties in Arkansas, California and Maryland.

Evan Hom, Managing Director in Pillar’s New York office, originated $25.5 million that refinanced 260-unit Metropolitan Apartments in Little Rock, Ark. Transcontinental Realty Investors/Abode Properties, Dallas, received the 35-year fixed-rate HUD loan with a 35-year amortization schedule.

Hom said Metropolitan Apartments is fully leased at market rates. The transaction closed on March 31.

Pillar also originated a $13.6 million HUD 223(a)(7) loan to refinance Sunset Normandie Towers in Los Angeles. Built in 1979, Sunset Normandie Towers is a 10-story building with 148 affordable housing units. The property, adjacent to Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles, was fully occupied at closing.

Artin Anvar, Managing Director in Pillar’s Washington, D.C. office, originated the 35-year fixed-rate loan for borrower Sunset Normandie Towers Ltd. “We locked in a low interest rate loan more than 90 days prior to close,” he said. “This allowed our client to take advantage of the low interest rate environment as well as the new HUD guidelines for affordable properties to lower the mortgage insurance premium.”

In Washington, D.C. suburb Kensington, Md., Pillar Vice President Cullen O’Grady secured $2.3 million to refinance an existing loan on Plyers Apartments, a 24-unit workforce housing community.

O’Grady arranged a 10-year fixed-rate Freddie Mac Small Balance Loan for the 1964-vintage property, O’Grady said.

“Montgomery County [Md.] is considered a top-tier market for Freddie Mac’s Small Balance Loan program, which allowed the owner to secure and lock in a very aggressive interest rate and terms for his property over the course of the next 10 years with the first three years allowing interest-only payments,” O’Grady said. “The loan will provide a substantial increase in monthly and annual cash flow for the owner.”

SunTrust Bank, Atlanta, acquired Pillar in December.