Dealmaker: Bellwether Enterprise Closes $20M for Affordable Housing
Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC, Cleveland, closed $19.5 million in loans for affordable housing assets in North Carolina and Minnesota.
In Raleigh, N.C. the firm originated $8.7 million in acquisition financing for Beacon Ridge, a new construction property built to serve low-income families at 2003 S. State Street.
Victor Agusta, Executive Vice President in Bellwether Enterprise’s Raleigh office, originated the loan for borrower DHIC Inc., the largest nonprofit development company in the area.
The new development has 120 units serving families earning up to 60 percent of area median income. The 18-year loan came with a 40-year amortization schedule. The deal was funded with tax-exempt bonds, 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and subordinate debt from the City of Raleigh and from Wake County. Bellwether Enterprise parent company Enterprise, Columbia, Md., provided $7.8 million in equity for the development.
Bellwether Enterprise also closed a $10 million Fannie Mae loan for Four Seasons Apartments in Faribault, Minn. The 144-unit property recently traded for $12.5 million, or $86,805 per unit.
The four-building property dates to the 1970s and has received numerous exterior updates including new roofs, windows, siding and decks in the past five years. The new owners plan to update the property with high-efficiency lighting and low-flow water fixtures.
Bellwether’s Minneapolis office used Fannie Mae’s new Sponsor-Initiated Affordability program for the loan. The SIA program will ensure rents at Four Seasons Apartments remain affordable to tenants earning 80 percent of area median income or less for the 12-year loan term.
A Felfam Limited Partnership subsidiary acquired the property. Felfam LP General Partner Ryan Stomel said the firm seeks more acquisitions in Minnesota. “The economic stability in the state continues to impress us,” he said.
Lucas Goring, Vice President in Bellwether’s Minneapolis office, originated the loan. “This deal represents an important step toward increasing the availability of affordable housing in Minnesota,” he said.
