The property consists of five buildings with a total of 1,107 apartments--20% of which are set aside for low-income senior citizen residents. The seniors receive housing assistance through HUD's Section 8 program.

Taking advantage of market conditions and a HUD clause which allows borrowers to refinance if those market conditions change, APF applied for the refinancing on behalf of the borrower, Roosevelt Island Associates.. The transaction was completed through tax-exempt bonds issued by the New York City Housing Development Corp. The $147.5-million deal will carry a 26.5-year term that will be fully amortized on a straight-line basis, according to an APF spokesman.

"Manhattan Park is a well-maintained rental property that demonstrates HUD's commitment to provide affordable, decent and safe housing for market-rate and low-income residents in urban environments such as New York City," says Theodore B. Foster, Ginnie Mae's vice president for mortgage-backed securities, in a statement.

Ginnie Mae was created by Congress in 1968 as part of HUD. It is the only issuer of mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the federal government and has helped 2.4 million Americans become homeowners in 2003, and some 30 million Americans since its creation, resulting in more than $2 trillion in residential mortgages.