WC Smith Secures $108M to Refinance Park Chelsea Apartments in DC
By Keith Loria August 11, 2023 12:36 pm
reprints![](https://commercialobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/08/Park-Chelsea.jpg?quality=80&w=535)
WC Smith has received $108 million to refinance Park Chelsea, a 429-unit apartment building in Washington, D.C., completed in 2016.
The Fannie Mae financing consists of a five-year fixed rate at 5.19 percent with a full-term interest-only loan, replacing a seven-year fixed-rate loan originated by Walker & Dunlop and Fannie Mae in 2016.
Located at 880 New Jersey Avenue SE, Park Chelsea was part of the first phase of WC Smith’s The Collective, a 1,138-unit apartment community in D.C.’s Capitol Riverfront.
“This was a highly sensitive refinance coming up for maturity at the end of this year,” Brendan Coleman, Walker & Dunlop’s senior managing director who led the financing, told Commercial Observer. “As a testament to [our two companies’] long-standing relationship, the Coleman team drove a competitive process, culminating in an expedited approval to allow rate lock within 24 hours of application to catch a much-appreciated dip in the volatile treasury yields. This ensured a seamless payoff in a very challenging capital markets environment.”
Walker & Dunlop also arranged the financing for the first three phases of The Collective for a combined $364.2 million. Both the 336-unit Agora and 373-unit The Garrett apartment complexes make up the other developments in The Collective and opened during the pandemic. Combined, the three properties were 99 percent leased at the time of the new loan closing.
Other features in the building include a 24-hour concierge, game room, library, conference room and garden room. Throughout the project’s phases, residents have access to indoor green space with an amphitheater, a basketball court, an outdoor tennis court and a coworking space.
Joining Coleman on the deal was Walker & Dunlop’s Connor Locke.
Update: This story originally misattributed source material. This has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
Keith Loria can be reached at kloria@commercialobserver.com.