Jamie Henderson and Joshua Howes

At a time when banks have pulled back some from lending, Capital One’s commercial real estate team, led by Jamie Henderson and Joshua Howes, originated $24 billion in balance sheet, bridge-to-agency and agency finance loans spanning asset types, including conventional multifamily, manufactured housing, student housing and industrial.

The company was particularly strong on the affordable and workforce housing side, originating construction debt, LIHTC equity investment, and Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA financing. Capital One is a top-10 agency lender by volume and also earned the distinction of being named Freddie Mac’s top workforce housing preservation lender for 2023.

“Housing affordability is a critical problem that Capital One is focused on addressing,” said Howes. “We remain very active in both lending in the affordable arena and investing in it via our community finance group.” That group provides capital in the form of debt/equity investments for affordable housing through LIHTC.

The company’s 2023 transactions included providing about $66 million in total debt, equity and agency financing for an affordable housing development in Silver Spring, Md.

Capital One also provided roughly $77 million in debt, equity and agency financing for Fischer Senior Apartments, an affordable housing complex in the Bronx, which included a $32.9 million construction loan, a forward commitment for a $19 million Freddie Mac fixed-rate loan, and a $25.2 million LIHTC equity investment, which will preserve the long-term affordability of the property.

“Fischer Senior Apartments will bring much-needed senior affordable housing and a range of resident services to the community,” said Howes. “The transaction showed how we can manage and execute on requirements across funding types, including construction and permanent financing and a LIHTC equity investment.”

After a year of high achievement, Howes said that Capital One will seek to expand even further in 2024.

“We’re looking to grow production this year relative to last year,” said Howes. “We’re hopeful that rates will be agreeable in terms of providing stability around values and confidence of market participants that will allow general transaction activities to pick up. We’re well positioned across our client base and with the products we deliver to execute around that growth objective.”