Fannie Mae Provides $62M in Bronx Financing

3034 Grand Concourse. Image courtesy of Black Bear Capital Partners

Finkelstein Timberger East Real Estate (FTERE) has landed $62 million in permanent financing for nine apartment properties totaling 432 units in the Bronx, N.Y., in another show of strength for multifamily lending amid the current economic turbulence. The 12-year loan, provided by Fannie Mae through PGIM Real Estate’s agency lending program, features a fixed rate of 3.3 percent and five years of interest-only payments.

READ ALSO: Cammeby’s Sells New York Affordable Portfolio for $63M

Bryan Manz, Rob Serra, Emil DePasquale, and Brandon Harris of Black Bear Capital Partners (BBCP) arranged the loan on behalf of FTERE, a real estate owner and operator with a portfolio of more than 3,500 units across Bronx County. The nine refinancing transactions cover a series of five- and six-story workforce housing properties scattered across the borough, including the Concourse Village, Mt. Hope, Bedford Park, Bronxville and Wakefield neighborhoods.

The properties are located at 2531, 2541, and 2545 Olinville Ave.; 3034 Grand Concourse; 215 and 111 Mt. Hope Place; 305 Bedford Park Blvd.; 675 E. 234th St.; 690 Gerard Ave. Built in the late 1920s and 1930s, the assets include a mix of walk-up and elevator buildings. FTERE has owned some of the properties since the last 1970s and has carried out an extensive capital improvement plan across its portfolio.

Agency strength

“Throughout COVID, the agencies have remained active. We’re starting to see the CMBS market come back to life,” Manz, senior managing director at BBCP, told Multi-Housing News. “Traditional banks have tended to focus on their existing relationships, as opposed to growing their business to include new relationships.”

Manz noted that FTERE has maintained 98 percent occupancy over its portfolio of roughly 70 properties through the COVID crisis, with rent collections averaging 95 percent.

With the latest refinancing deal, BBCP has now scored more than $350 on behalf of FTERE throughout the Bronx in 2020. The company, a subsidiary of Black Bear Asset Management, secured $53.9 million to refinance a six-property portfolio owned by FTERE in March. Morgan Stanley provided the permanent financing.

BBCP also arranged a $77.7 million loan to refinance an eight-property portfolio for the real estate owner in February and $43.8 million for six properties in January, loans that were also provided by Morgan Stanley.