Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced today that it structured $340,097,797 in financing for Cortland's landmark acquisition of PURE Multi-Family REIT. The $1.2 billion transaction comprised 22 properties with a total of 7,085 units. Walker & Dunlop secured debt for nearly half of the broader portfolio: eight distinct multifamily properties, all of which are located in major metropolitan areas across the United States Sunbelt.
The Walker & Dunlop financing team was led by Senior Managing Directors and Co-Heads of the New York City Capital Markets team, Aaron Appel, Keith Kurland, Jonathan Schwartz, and Adam Schwartz, as well as Director, Michael Ianno. Drawing on their choice network of capital providers, the team identified Deutsche Bank as the ideal lending partner. The financing includes flexible call protection and extension options at a floating rate.
The portfolio includes 2,170 units located within urban or high-density suburban submarkets, including Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix. Cortland, which operates more than 60,000 units nationwide, became the largest owner-operator in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with this portfolio acquisition. In keeping with its strong focus on elevating the resident experience, Cortland plans to make a significant investment in each of the properties to improve the exteriors, landscaping, amenities, and interior unit finishes.
"The acquisition of PURE Multi-Family REIT represents our confidence and conviction in multifamily growth," said Mike Altman, Cortland Chief Investment Officer. "We're grateful for a partner like Walker & Dunlop who believes in our business model and mission. By executing our financing on this acquisition, they've allowed us to continue our growth in these markets and to further our focus on delighting our customers with the resident living experience we provide."
Walker & Dunlop's Kurland commented, "We are honored by the faith and confidence Cortland had in our team to advise on one of their largest acquisitions in its history." He continued, "We now look forward to leveraging the overall strength of the Walker & Dunlop platform, offering our clients truly best-in-class capital solutions for all asset types across the country."
Walker & Dunlop is top-ranked multifamily lender, the firm was the largest Fannie Mae DUS® multifamily lender, and the 3rd largest Freddie Mac Optigo multifamily lender by volume in 2019. The company has also achieved dramatic growth in its brokered loan origination volumes, which increased 23.4 percent from 2018 to 2019. This has largely been due to the company's successful hiring and integration of talented bankers and brokers, such as the New York City Capital Markets Team. Since the beginning of 2019, Walker & Dunlop has added 51 bankers and brokers to the platform.
For information about Walker & Dunlop's view on the apartment market, including insights on the potential impact of COVID-19 on commercial real estate owners, watch our recent webcasts on YouTube.
About Walker & Dunlop
Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States. The company provides a comprehensive range of capital solutions for all commercial real estate asset classes, as well as investment sales brokerage services to owners of multifamily properties. Walker & Dunlop is included on the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and was ranked as one of FORTUNE Magazine's Fastest Growing Companies in 2014, 2017, and 2018. Walker & Dunlop's 800+ professionals in 40 offices across the nation have an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction.
