Dive Brief:

• Multifamily owner Morgan Properties and real estate financier NewPoint Real Estate Capital have launched an affordable housing lending platform that partners private equity with government-subsidized affordable housing programs.
• The NewPoint Impact program, created with input from affordable housing providers, will offer four financing options for the construction or acquisition and rehabilitation of affordable multifamily housing. 
• Financing amounts for the program start at $8 million. The loans are available to both for-profit and non-profit developers, with terms ranging from two to 40 years, depending on execution.

Dive Insight:

Morgan Properties, ranked No. 3 on the NMHC Top 50 Owners list with 94,107 units owned, currently invests in equity recapitalizations, fixed-income securities and other opportunities through its Special Situations platform, according to a press release. The company has been one of the most active Freddie Mac K Series investors since the program’s launch, and has closed on 29 B-piece deals with $28 billion in loans. 

The launch of the NewPoint Impact program allows Morgan Properties to expand the reach of its credit platform and invest in the affordable housing sector.

Loan options under the program include:

• 4% Tax-Exempt Bond Financing: NewPoint will provide financing in conjunction with the 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.
• 4% Fannie Mae M.TEBs: In combination with NewPoint financing, Fannie Mae will provide an unfunded forward commitment for permanent financing, pursuant with a mortgage-backed security, with a tax-exempt bond collateral execution.
• Synthetic 221(d)(4): NewPoint will provide initial financing and underwrite FHA 223(f) permanent financing upon conversion.
• Resyndication bridge loans: NewPoint will provide a bridge loan for acquisition or refinancing of affordable housing that is being repositioned to be recapitalized through the 4% LIHTC program. NewPoint is also expected to provide permanent financing.

“Our goal with the NewPoint Impact products is to provide investors and developers with something fundamentally different in a sector that has remained relatively unchanged in recent years, despite a market that has evolved,” Rob Wrzosek, president of affordable strategies at NewPoint, said in the release. “These solutions solve for contemporary challenges and provide additional certainty in creating and preserving desperately needed affordable housing during an increasingly volatile environment.”