Walker & Dunlop Closes $51M Loan for New Cali Property
The community is located near the heart of Silicon Valley and offers the high-tech features to match.
Locale Apartments in Redwood City, Calif., offers features like Nest thermostats and Google Fiber connectivity.
Bethesda, Md.—Walker & Dunlop has successfully closed a $51.1 million loan for Locale Apartments, a new Class A-plus rental community in Redwood City, Calif. The borrower is Acclaim Cos., which will use the loan to retire a $38 million construction loan from Comerica and preferred equity financing.
Walker & Dunlop’s Ralph Lowen, Jeff Burns and Justin Nelson structured the Fannie Mae loan, which includes 10 years of fixed-rate, interest-only payments. The loan offers competitive proceeds, exceeding 100 percent loan to cost.
Acclaim has a long relationship with Walker & Dunlop, according to Mark Johnson, founder & managing partner of Acclaim. “(Lowen) earned my business in 2008, when most lenders were running for cover. Over the years, Ralph and his team have earned our trust by providing great service and competitive terms on our financing needs.”
Completed in 2016, the 133-unit Locale Apartments is located near the heart of Silicon Valley and has the high-tech features to match. The studio, one- and two-bedroom units offer Wi-Fi hubs on each floor, stainless steel appliances, keyless fob access, Nest learning thermostats and a thermal solar water heater. The community is also pre-wired for Google Fiber, a 1 gigabit Internet service that is reportedly 100 times faster than standard high-speed Internet.
Located at the corner of Fuller and Winslow streets, Locale also offers upscale amenities like a rooftop deck, outdoor spa, fitness center, bike storage, pet area and electric vehicle charging for half of the 161 parking spaces. The community’s high-tech reputation is attracting renters like Stanford University employees and students and tech employees from companies like Facebook and Google. Occupancy was more than 90 percent as of this July.
Residents seeking an upscale, connected living experience will have to pay a hefty price, though, with rental rates starting at $2,783 for a studio and climbing up to $5,211 for a two-bedroom/two-bath unit, according to Yardi Matrix data. Units range in size from 538 to 1,062 square feet. Four of the 538- and 565-square-foot units are reserved for low-income housing.
