BETHESDA, Md. – Commercial real estate finance company Walker & Dunlop announced that it structured $23,020,000 in permanent financing for The Reveal, a 150-unit affordable housing development that will be constructed using 4% low-income housing tax credits. Walker & Dunlop said the Housing Authority of New Orleans has committed to providing project-based vouchers for all 150 units at the site.
Located in eastern New Orleans, the property is within the bounds of a designated opportunity zone census tract. Established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, opportunity zones encourage long-term investments in designated low-income areas by offering incentives in the form of lower or deferred capital gains taxes.
Walker & Dunlop Senior Director Heather Olson identified Freddie Mac’s Tax Exempt Loan Forward Commitment as the ideal program for the developer, Commonwealth Companies. Olson’s team coordinated several different parties to structure the affordable financing transaction; in addition to Freddie Mac, the team partnered with the construction lender, Sterling Bank, and the tax credit equity partner, National Equity Fund, as well as the Louisiana Housing Corporation and the Housing Authority of New Orleans. Throughout the assignment, the team also worked to ensure the financing terms were consistent with opportunity zone guidance.
“Commonwealth is thrilled to get this important project started in eastern New Orleans,” said Dan Kroetz, senior vice president of development at Commonwealth Companies. “Our experience with Walker & Dunlop was extremely efficient and the flexibility that Heather Olson and her team showed with this complex transaction was first rate.”
Once complete, The Reveal will include two four-story apartment buildings with units ranging from one- to four-bedrooms, each with a balcony. Community amenities will include a leasing office, conference rooms, a community room with patio, a fitness center, and a physical therapy room. The Reveal will also include approximately 1,745 square feet of space for an on-site business incubator, a community service facility developed as a neighborhood resource. The facility caters to residents, both on-site and within the surrounding neighborhood, who are interested in building small businesses for self-sufficiency.
