Troutman Sanders LLP is pleased to announce that it served as lender’s counsel for Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC (Berkadia) on its recent closing of a $1.5 billion loan portfolio through Freddie Mac for Southern Management Corporation, the largest privately owned residential property management company in the Mid-Atlantic region. The transaction was the largest loan funding in Berkadia’s history and the largest multifamily transaction to date by Freddie Mac to be eligible for securitization through its Capital Markets Execution℠ program.
Originated by Berkadia’s Senior Vice President, John M.R. Reed, the portfolio is made up of individual loans ranging from $2.5 million to $135 million. The loans were cross-collateralized and secured by 69 multifamily assets located in northern Virginia and Maryland. Mostly Class A and Class B properties, the communities are a mix of garden, mid-rise, and high-rise buildings that contain over 23,000 total apartment units and more than 250,000 square feet of office and retail space.
“Closing a portfolio of this size at year-end was a challenge,” said Reed. “But thanks to the excellent cooperation of the entire Berkadia team; the Southern Management team – including their attorneys and accountants; the Freddie Mac production, underwriting, and legal teams; Troutman Sanders as lender counsel; and the many third-party consultants involved, we were able to close it on time and just as planned.”
Richmond partner Bernice Cilley lead the Troutman Sanders team. “Bernice was masterful in the way she handled the complex legal issues and interacted with counsel for Freddie Mac and Southern Management Corporation,” said Mark Shiembob, Troutman Sanders’ senior partner in its Multifamily Finance practice group and firm executive committee member.
Troutman Sanders has long-standing experience representing lenders active in the multifamily housing industry and is recognized nationwide for its leading skills in closing and delivering loans secured by multifamily projects to secondary market investors. The firm has 19 lawyers dedicated full-time to its Multifamily Housing finance practice and also relies on the firm’s other lawyers for help in their practice areas as needed.
