Greystone Provides $116M in Freddie Mac Loans

Koreatown, Los Angeles. Image courtesy of HanSangYoon via Wikimedia Commons

The commercial real estate market faces challenges but Freddie Mac is still lending, with Greystone providing a total of $116.4 million in mission-driven loans from the GSE to refinance three separate workforce housing portfolios in Los Angeles. The transactions, originated by Greystone Managing Director Dale Holzer, encompass 34 properties with 796 residential units.

All of the deals helped the borrowers secure more favorable financing terms while monetizing the existing equity in their portfolios, Greystone said in a prepared statement. JLL Managing Director Marc Schillinger advised the borrowers for two of the financing transactions. The first of these involved $45.2 million of five-year hybrid loans for seven properties totaling 301 residential units in the Koreatown neighborhood. The second transaction included $43.1 million in loans for 16 properties totaling 193 units in the Westside area.

The third recent financing package originated by Greystone entailed $28.1 million in loans with a 10-year term for an 11-property portfolio spanning 302 units in the Baldwin Village neighborhood. Jonathan Lee, principal & managing director at George Smith Partners, advised the borrower.

Advancing the mission

Mission-driven, affordable housing caters to specific, underserved market segments. Last September, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) revised the cap structure of the multifamily businesses of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, setting a $100 billion ceiling on multifamily loan purchases by each of the entities. The federal agency also directed that mission-driven, affordable housing comprise at least 37.5 percent of the enterprises’ businesses.

As of March 31, 2020, Freddie Mac’s total cumulative new business activity subject to the cap was $27.4 billion, and roughly 39 percent of this activity was mission-driven, affordable housing, the GSE announced.