York of Arbor originates $4 million loan for Nettleton Commons; First loan under Freddie Mac Small Balance Loan offering

Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC, a national, direct commercial real estate lender, has funded its first loan under the newly launched Freddie Mac Small Balance Loan initiative for Nettleton Commons. The 61-unit, five-story property is owned and managed by Steven and Silvia West. Stephen York, vice president in Arbor's New York City office, originated the five-year, fixed-rate, $4 million loan, which carries with it one year of interest-only along with 30 years of amortization. Eastern Union was the mortgage brokerage firm in the deal. "The borrower was specifically seeking short-term, very low-interest financing to refinance this property and had previously worked with banks on previous deals. However, through our strong relationship with Eastern Union, we were able to introduce Mr. and Mrs. West to the new Freddie Mac Small Balance Loan offering, which was able to provide very competitive terms that weren't available through other competing lenders," said York. "Through this deal, we believe we received the best financing available in the market at the terms we desired, including the non-recourse provision, which is difficult to obtain with such a low rate," said borrower Steven West. "This was our first agency loan and I believe we will focus on pursuing agency financing again in the future with Arbor." An historic property originally built in 1899 as a shoe factory, Nettleton Commons was rehabilitated into a multifamily building in 1988 and also contains nine commercial office spaces and one retail space. Steven and Silvia West have owned the property since acquiring it in 2007. "As one of only a select few Freddie Mac Small Balance Loan lenders in the country, Arbor was pleased to be one of the very first to fund a loan under this highly competitive new program that serves the multifamily small loan market," said Ivan Kaufman, chairman and CEO of Arbor. "Arbor has more than two decades of history funding small multifamily loans and understands the expertise required to execute this product." Nashwa Moussa, senior director of Freddie Mac Multifamily, said, "We are excited that our Small Balance Loan initiative is quickly gaining momentum in the marketplace and providing a strong financing option. We look forward to working with Arbor Commercial Mortgage, which we partnered with as one of our first Small Balance Loan lenders specifically because of its deep-rooted small loan track record and experience that we knew would greatly enhance the program."