Greystone Provides $25M for Connecticut Portfolio

The Elm. Image courtesy of Greystone

Greystone has provided a $25.4 million loan for Broadway Elm LLC’s acquisition of a six-property, 145-unit portfolio of multifamily communities located at 94, 98, 100 and 104 Howe St. as well as at 61-65 Edgewood Ave. in New Haven, Conn. The firm purchased the portfolio for $35 million. The private-label loan is set for a 10-year term with a 30-year amortization and includes interest-only payments for the first five years.

The portfolio is spread over 1.17 acres with a total of 116,763 square feet, of which 74,094 square feet are rentable. The properties were built between 1880 and 2021 and are made up of a mix of midrise historic and modern assets that include both market-rate and luxury housing.

The largest property in the portfolio is The Elm at 104 Howe St., which CommercialEdge information shows is a six-story, 44-unit, 42,213-square-foot luxury apartment building. Built in 2020, the community offers a mix of studio, one, two- and four-bedroom apartments that include stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, hardwood flooring, central air conditioning and laundry machines, according to CommercialEdge data. The apartments range between 450 and 1,610 square feet of space, and $1,800 to $5,995 in monthly rents.

Communitywide, residents have access to a fitness center, rooftop lounge, dog park and parking garage. Situated in New Haven’s Dwight neighborhood, the community is within walking distance of many of the city’s top retail and dining offerings, in addition to the Old Campus of its largest and most prominent employer, Yale University.

Across the portfolio, residents have access to similar amenity offerings and features.

Greystone Managing Director Robert Meehan and Director Avrom Forman led the procurement of the loan.

New Haven’s newfound demand

Bolstered by the presence of one of the nation’s leading research universities, a broader change in workforce demographics to a tech and life science focus and its presence as a cheaper alternative to other cities in New England, New Haven has emerged as a sought-after multifamily investment and development opportunity, with upscale projects and renovations on the upswing. Greystone recognizes such a trend in its loaning and investment endeavors, as Meehan told Multi-Housing News, “The opportunity to provide private-label financing on a portfolio of assets with a wide range of vintages, ranging in development from 1880 to 2021, was Greystone’s way of showing that we believe in the durability of the area and the growing housing needs of the market. New Haven has seen significant new development and rehabilitation of assets over the past decade, and it is our belief that the market will continue to flourish into the future.”

In May, Hudson Meridian Construction Group secured financing for the development of a 398-unit luxury apartment community at the site of a former manufacturing plant in the city’s expanding Science Park area. Elsewhere in the city, Paredim Partners completed its purchase of Taft Apartments, a 194-unit historic apartment building.