Walker & Dunlop Closes $1.9B Acquisition for Greystar

By Jeffrey Steele

Walker & Dunlop Inc. has lined up $1.9 billion in Freddie Mac loans for Greystar Growth and Income Fund LP’s acquisition of Monogram Residential Trust. The transaction represents the largest financing in Walker & Dunlop history.

The financing encompasses 36 distinct loans on multifamily properties located in major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. The portfolio is made up of 62 percent floating-rate loans and 38 percent fixed-rate loans, which are anticipated to be securitized by Freddie Mac.

“The biggest challenge was managing the underwriting and legal process for 36 individual deals,” Mathew Wallach, senior vice president, real estate and investment, told MHN. “Each property had its own nuances and complexities. Keeping everything focused and organized was no easy task. We made sure that we had the best team in-place to manage the process. Walker & Dunlop prides itself [in] hiring best-in-class individuals. This deal’s execution proved the power of doing so.”

Wallach, Stephen West and Craig West led the Walker & Dunlop financing team.

Innovative structures

“We were thrilled to work so closely with the incredible teams at Walker & Dunlop and Greystar to facilitate this significant acquisition,” said Freddie Mac Multifamily executive vice president and leader David Brickman.

“We pride ourselves on being the leading capital provider for large, complex deals, and this financing clearly demonstrates our ability to deliver innovative structures and certainty of execution to premier multifamily operators.”

Bethesda, Md.-based Walker & Dunlop was a top-five lender with each of the Agencies in 2016, including the third largest Freddie Mac Multifamily Approved Seller. During the first half of 2017, Walker & Dunlop originated $2.3 billion of Freddie Mac loans, a 33 percent increase over the same period last year.

Unprecedented scale

“It is a true honor to have been selected by Greystar to finance the largest transaction in its illustrious history,” Walker & Dunlop chairman and CEO Willy Walker said.

“The Walker & Dunlop team, along with our partners at Freddie Mac, executed flawlessly on this large, complex transaction. There are only a few multifamily lenders in the country with the scale and expertise with the GSEs to execute on a transaction of this nature.

“And it is a testament to Walker & Dunlop’s growth, and the incredible team we have, that we were able to execute on this financing so well.”