Metro Atlanta Community Refinanced for $33M
The financing included favorable terms, given the challenging state of debt markets.
Norhaven Partners and Coro Realty have refinanced The Massell, a newly delivered 210-unit garden-style community located in the Atlanta suburb of Cartersville, Ga. with a $33 million loan provided by ACRE.
Walker & Dunlop arranged the five-year, non-recourse, floating-rate loan featuring full-term interest only payments. The W&D Multifamily Finance team was led by Senior Managing Director Stephen Farnsworth, who runs the New Orleans origination office, alongside Hanes Dunn, the senior director of multifamily finance who also works in the same location.
Dunn said in prepared remarks that despite the volatile market, they were able to secure a cash-neutral, interest-only refinancing at a competitive rate for the borrowers.
READ ALSO: Multifamily Investors: Buying Time?
The loan replaces a $31.7 million construction loan originated in September 2022 by First Horizon Bank that was due to mature in September 2027, according to Yardi Matrix data.
The Massell’s highlights
The Massell, located at 1230 Joe Frank Harris Parkway, was completed in 2024. The property, which has six three-story buildings across 6.7 acres, has nearly full occupancy, Yardi Matrix reports.
The community has one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts ranging in size from 771 to 1,189 square feet, with an average of 1,957 square feet. Rents range from $1,417 to $2,282, with an average of $1,536, according to Yardi Matrix data.
Residential units at The Massell feature stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, large closets, washers and dryers as well as private balconies or patios. Community amenities include a clubhouse with a coworking area and fitness center, a swimming pool with a sundeck, as well as grilling stations and a pet park. The property has 344 parking spaces.
Located about 45 miles northwest of Atlanta, the property has quick access to Interstate 75.
Yardi Matrix reports that metro Atlanta’s multifamily fundamentals were mixed as 2024 ended, with rents down slightly but the occupancy rate in stabilized properties remaining unchanged, year-over-year at 92.7 percent as of October. The unemployment rate that month was 2.5 percent, just below the state-wide rate at 3.6 percent and the U.S. at 4.1 percent.
But Yardi Matrix and others note the metro gained jobs by the end of 2024 and is poised for recovery this year and beyond. They pointed to manufacturing developments like Rivian Automotive, which is planning a $6.6 billion electric vehicle plant in Stanton Springs North. Construction jobs should open up in 2026 and vehicle production, which could create up to 7,500 jobs, is expected to start in 2028.
The market, which had been experiencing oversupply, is entering a more balanced environment, according to Lee & Associate’s first-quarter 2025 multifamily report. Yardi Matrix stated 12 submarkets have more than 1,000 units under construction each as of November. Buford with 2,398 units and Kennesaw with 1,680 units led the suburban Atlanta markets.
Walker & Dunlop deals
Walker & Dunlop has recently arranged refinancing deals for other multifamily properties. This month, the firm was able to obtain a $50.4 million loan for Woodfield Development from Mesa West Capital for The Ames, a newly built 304-unit asset is located in Summerville, S.C., a suburb of Charleston.
In April, Walker & Dunlop secured a $168 million Freddie Mac loan for G.H. Palmer Associates to refinance Park Sierra, a 776-unit, garden-style apartment community in Santa Clarita, Calif.
A month earlier, the company arranged a $176 million credit facility for institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management for seven single-family rental communities across metro Atlanta, including a Cartersville property. Brookfield Asset Management’s Real Estate Credit group provided the funding for the 709-home, 1.4 million-square-foot portfolio.
