$31,500,000 Construction Financing to 72.5% LTC for a 240-Unit Workforce Housing Project; Sheboygan, WI

Transaction Description:

George Smith Partners placed a $105,000,000 non-recourse construction loan and $17,120,000 of Limited Partner Equity for a for-sale residential project in Hayward, California. The Project will be built in phases and have 123 townhomes and 66 condominiums providing much needed workforce housing to the area. The Project will also have some affordable units for sale.

Two GSP teams were able to combine efforts and executed an effective and in-depth marketing campaign to help the capital markets understand the opportunity appropriately while finding solutions to various challenges that arose during the entire process. GSP marketed and highlighted the Project’s strength, the phasing nature of the build schedule, the projected sales prices and the forecasted upward trajectory in both sales price growth and sales pace growth. GSP was able to source capital providers on the Project that were comfortable with both the depth and experience of the Sponsor as well as their belief in the continued growth of the Bay Area.

Ultimately, the professionalism and expertise of the two GSP teams on the deal coupled with the proficiency and extensive experience of the Sponsor allowed for a successful close.

Transaction Description:

George Smith Partners successfully placed $27,180,000 (74% LTC) in construction financing to fund the ground-up development of a first-of-its-kind in the market, multi-property, 168-unit workforce housing project in an infill and trendy neighborhood of Saint Louis, Missouri. GSP leveraged its diverse lender relationships to source a construction loan for the unique project that is comprised of six individual buildings ranging from 18-unit (for rent) townhomes to 35-unit apartment buildings. Compounding the Project’s complexity is the requirement to cap rents, for a period of 10 years, on 51% of the units to be affordable for 80% AMI and the remaining 49% of units to be affordable for 100% AMI. Furthermore, although all six buildings are located within a one-block radius of each other, none of the sites are contiguous. The GSP-sourced loan was tailored to meet the needs of both the Sponsor and its equity partner. The equity partner capped construction leverage to 67.5% LTC, however GSP structured the loan to include a $2,500,000 earnout, which is sized to 74% LTC. GSP and the Sponsor were ultimately successful in obtaining approval from the equity partner for the higher-leverage earnout which is released upon 90% occupancy and a 1.25x DSCR on T-3 income.