DALLAS — Grandbridge Real Estate Capital LLC recently funded $116,490,000 first mortgage loan secured by a portfolio of 16 multifamily and student housing facilities in Florida, South Carolina and Texas. The refinance of the 16 cross-collateralized properties, with cross-default provisions, was an immediate funding for a credit enhancement and related issue of taxable and tax-exempt, variable-rate multifamily housing revenue refunding bonds that utilized a Float-to-Fixed Swap to hedge interest rate risk. The loan carries a 10-year term with the bonds at interest-only for the first five years of credit enhancement period, followed by a 35-year amortization schedule.

The borrower financed the properties in 2005 using auction-rate, variable-rate bonds that had become illiquid in the current marketplace and was seeking to refinance into a more cash flow friendly financing vehicle. Grandbridge and Fannie Mae worked closely together to overcome a number of different obstacles to finalize the transaction. The new structure provides the borrower with immediate funds for deferred maintenance as well as ongoing cash to be used to maintain the properties’ assets at the highest possible level. The borrower will also benefit from residual cash flow that had not been available with the prior bond issuance due to market conditions for Auction Rate Securities.

”This transaction involved a number of professionals internally and externally to Grandbridge to make the transaction work. The team worked tirelessly on this transaction in a volatile rate environment to get this transaction closed. The issuer, Capital Trust Agency, was extremely creative and supportive of the transaction and was a critical component to getting the transaction completed. This truly was a team effort to get this deal over the finish line,” detailed Phil Melton, Grandbridge Senior Vice President / Affordable Housing.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Grandbridge, one of the largest full-service commercial and multifamily mortgage banking companies in the nation, is a Fannie Mae DUS® (Delegated Underwriting and Servicing) lender, a Freddie Mac Program Plus® seller/servicer, and a MAP-approved participant in multifamily products insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

The company arranges permanent commercial and multifamily real estate loans; services loan portfolios; and provides asset and portfolio management and real estate brokerage services. Grandbridge has a servicing portfolio of more than $22 billion representing 96 capital providers. It closed more than 1,000 transactions in 2007.

With $136.5 billion in assets, BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) is the nation’s 14th largest financial holding company. It operates nearly 1,500 financial centers in 11 states and Washington, D.C. More information about the company is available at BBT.com.

Contacts

BUSINESS

Thomas S. Dennard
Grandbridge CEO
704.379.6910

LOAN PRODUCTION

Phil Melton
Grandbridge SVP
972.385.6005

MEDIA

Patricia Muse
Grandbridge Marketing
205.978.1139