Dan Baker

KeyBank has consistently placed among the top 10 lenders for originations for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, finishing as the No. 8 originator for both government-sponsored enterprises in 2022.

For the 12 months ending March 15, KeyBank originated $23.4 billion across its real estate capital platform, with that number rising to $47.2 billion when accounting for loans originated and partially syndicated during that time.

One reason for KeyBank’s 2022 success during a difficult year was the long-term relationships the bank has fostered.

“We have very close relationships with very good institutional, professional owner/operators of real estate,” Dan Baker said. “With market volatility, with rates increasing rapidly, our clients really need us to step up and be there for them when their liquidity dries up. We’re stepping up for our clients, and our clients are there for us as well.”

Notable deals for KeyBank during the last year included a $760.75 million Freddie Mac 10-year, fixed-rate refinancing for Nexpoint Real Estate Advisors for 6,636 apartments over 18 properties in six states; a $199.726 million Fannie Mae 10-year, fixed-rate multifamily refinancing for The Orlo Fund for Seneca Village in Gaithersburg, Md.; a Federal Housing Authority (FHA) 35-year, fixed-rate multifamily refinancing of $56.1 million for the Ivanov Investment Group for the Northplace Apartment Homes in Salem, Ore.; and a $46.5 million refinancing for Northwood Real Estate Partners for the retail complex Hillside Village in Dallas through an investor placement debt fund.

This sort of deal variety is another reason KeyBank is flourishing in challenging times.

“One of the strengths of our platform is that we have so many different products, including our balance sheet, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, life company and CMBS,” said Baker, ticking off KeyBank’s various practices. “That’s our strength — the broadness of the platform and our ability to pivot to different products.”

So, when one type of lender demurred, KeyBank was able to shift on a moment’s notice, leading to an excellent year. 

“Early in 2022, Fannie and Freddie were being very conservative. They weren’t as active on the lending front,” said Baker. “But the life insurance companies were very active. So a huge amount of our volume that historically went with Fannie and Freddie just shifted. We have that ability to pivot. So we had a record year with the life companies, dealing with 29 different investor relationships on that side.” —L.G.