Galman obtains $61M refi loan on Whitney Apartments

The Galman Group has obtained $61.25 million in new financing for its Whitney Apartments in Claymont. | PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOGLE

CLAYMONT – The Galman Group, a multi-family real estate investment and management firm, has obtained a $61.25 million refinancing loan on its Whitney Apartments community, according to county land records.

The Fannie Mae fixed-rate loan, announced this week by Capital One’s Multifamily Finance Office, has a 10-year term. It includes an interest-only provision for the first seven years, and then amortizes on a 30-year schedule afterward, Capital One reported.

Although the bank did not identify the community mortgaged in the loan, New Castle County records show that it is Whitney Apartments, a 511-unit complex located off Naamans Road. The community, built in 1976, features units ranging from roughly 500-square-foot studio apartments to 1,300-square-foot, three-bedroom apartments. The new loan equates to an investment price of about $120,000 per unit.

Galman, based in Jenkintown, Pa., invests in underperforming multi-family communities that present an opportunity to be repositioned. It primarily looks for communities of 100 units or more within a three-hour drive from its corporate offices, according to the company’s website.

Galman’s refinance loan values the Whitney Apartments complex at about $120,000 per unit. | PHOTO COURTESY OF GALMAN GROUP

Galman acquired Whitney Apartments from Fairfield Society Hill LLC in November 2007 for $43.7 million, according to a calculation of its transfer tax payment. That represents a sale value of about $85,500 per unit. At the time it obtained a $37.6 million mortgage on the property from Capmark Bank.

The firm refinanced that loan with New York Community Bank for $49 million in 2014, according to county records. Galman is now refinancing again for a larger sum in order to take advantage of lower U.S. Treasury rates, according to Capital One.

“Our focus with this transaction was to enable The Galman Group to make the most of the favorable rate environment,” said Brian Sykes, senior vice president in Capital One Multifamily Finance’s Boston office, who originated the Galman transaction.

Galman owns more than 7,000 units and manages more than 10,000 units in Delaware and Pennsylvania, primarily within the Philadelphia metro area. Aside from Whitney Apartments, it owns Castlebrook Apartments, and Sophia’s Place East and West in New Castle; as well as Buckingham Place Townhomes, Cooper’s Place, Lehigh Flats and Thorn Flats in Newark.

The investment firm has refinanced several earlier loans with Capital One for properties in New Castle County in recent years. In 2018, it obtained a mortgage for the 432-unit Cooper’s Place off Chestnut Hill Road for $41 million.

That financing also helps it in its expansion efforts, having bought the former Studio Green and Park Place apartment complexes in Newark, renaming them Thorn and Lehigh Flats, for about $40.96 million in 2019. A firm executive told Delaware Business Times last year that they planned to invest $30 million into upgrades at the 702-unit complex, encouraged by its proximity to the University of Delaware’s STAR Campus.

By Jacob Owens

jowens@delawarebusinesstimes.com