Dealmaker: Bellwether Enterprise Arranges $115M for 12 Affordable Housing Communities
Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, Cleveland, closed $115 million in financing to enable Atlantic Housing Foundation to purchase 12 affordable housing communities in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Florida.
The deal, which included three separate transactions, delivered financing for 1,776 affordable homes. Phil Melton, Executive Vice President and National Director of Affordable Housing and FHA lending with Bellwether, arranged the loans for borrower Atlantic Housing Foundation, Dallas.
The properties included Shemwood Crossing Apartments in Greenville, S.C., James River Crossing in Lynchburg, Va., Gretna Village Apartments in Gretna, Va., Afton Gardens Apartments in Roanoke, Va., Boulder Creek Apartments in Greenville, S.C., Crescent Hill Apartments in Spartanburg, S.C., Spring Grove in Taylors, S.C., Timber Ridge Apartments in Charlotte, N.C., Cedar Moor Apartments in Raleigh, N.C., Brentwood Crossing in High Point, N.C., Brittany Woods and Park Chase Apartments in Valdosta, Ga. and Temple Court in Miami.
To facilitate purchase of Shemwood Crossing, Bellwether arranged a $14.5 million bridge loan through Tilden Park Capital Management LP. To assist in acquisition of James River Crossing and Gretna Village Apartments, Bellwether sourced the equity needed for closing, which included existing loans from Virginia Housing Development Authority assumed by the sponsor.
The other nine properties were financed through a $69.6 million 10-year fixed-rate loan funded through Freddie Mac’s Tax-Exempt Loan program. The transaction represented one of the first Freddie Mac TEL loans to use a 501(c)3 bond allocation; all previous Freddie Mac TEL loans were funded through 4 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credit bond allocations and had at least 15-year terms.
In addition to the Freddie Mac TEL financing, Stifel, St. Louis, Mo., served as financial advisor and raised $7 million in subordinate tax-exempt bonds to complete the capital stack.
