Orlando Apartment Secures $41M Through Freddie Mac’s Green Advantage Program

ORLANDO, FL—NorthMarq’s Orlando-based office recently secured acquisition financing of $41,210,000 for The Bentley at Maitland, a 324-unit multifamily property located here. The transaction was structured with a 10-year term with 5-years of interest only followed by a 30-year amortization schedule. NorthMarq arranged financing for the borrower, Enzo Multifamily and Moneil Investments through Freddie Mac’s Green Advantage program.

Melissa Marcolini Quinn, managing director and SVP with NorthMarq, tells GlobeSt.com that the property was built in 1984 and the buyer plans to renovate the remaining units and upgrade various common areas including the fitness center. The seller is Aspen Square Management and the building is 97% occupied.

“This asset is an excellent addition to our client’s portfolio,” she says. “They were attracted to the excellent market fundamentals of Orlando and jumped on the opportunity to acquire this property in the desirable submarket of Maitland.”

“For this transaction, we structured an Index Lock at application to protect against upward rise in the treasury yield and also provided funding for green improvements under Freddie Mac’s Green Advantage program.”

The Bentley deal closed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Asked to comment on the effects of coronavirus on the multifamily market, Marcolini-Quinn says there have been logistical issues such as canceled property tours and inspections that have caused postponements.

“As far as the availability of capital, it depends on the provider as many balance sheets and CMBS lenders are temporarily pausing business at least until volatility settles down in the bond markets,” she says. “But Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and HUD are extremely active and are fulfilling their mission of providing liquidity in the housing market which shows how important these entities are. While it is too soon to know the operational effects of the pandemic, due to the federally mandated pause in evictions these agencies have already issued forbearance guidelines for affected owners/borrowers.

“We are cautioning borrowers that forbearance does not mean “free money” as there are very specific criteria and conditions that must be met and the money must be repaid. But the option is there should they need to utilize the program. In the Orlando market, we are expecting large effects due to our large travel and tourism base but we do expect a much quicker bounce back, compared to the Great Recession, as soon as the virus is contained.”