Commercial Real Estate Financing
If capital is to real estate as oxygen is to life, then what we do is important. Selecting the proper commercial real estate financing structure is critical to the ultimate financial performance of a real estate asset. We weigh all of our clients’ objectives for a particular investment to create the right combination of debt, mezzanine and/or equity financing. When you work with Altman Warwick, you work with commercial real estate financing professionals who expertly handle all aspects of the transaction. From identifying the best lender, negotiating the optimal loan terms and micro-managing the entire closing process, our transaction management is the best in the business.
By identifying and resolving issues head-on, we not only provide the smoothest and most expedient execution possible, but we also eliminate any chance of lender re-trades after loan application. Our lenders respect and appreciate our upfront approach to doing business as much as do our clients.
COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE LOANS
We understand financing, our clients understand leverage. Whether utilizing other people’s money or expertise, our clients understand the benefits of both. Our success in the commercial mortgage financing industry is derived from the strengths of the four cornerstones of our business: relationships, market knowledge, experience and service.
Altman Warwick enjoys long established relationships with life insurance companies, regional commercial and savings banks, foreign and domestic commercial banks, securitized CMBS lenders, private lenders, hedge funds, credit unions and pension funds. These relationships continue to inure to the benefit our clients by providing them with the most competitive terms and most reliable execution in the market. Altman Warwick’s lender relationships are at the senior executive level and span multiple decades.
We exploit market inefficiencies. The market for commercial mortgage financing is imperfect. Dynamic internal factors within lending institutions affect their appetites for certain property types at certain times. Even in the most efficient of capital markets, this often creates temporary pricing disparities between lenders. As lenders constantly rebalance their portfolios to adjust their risk and loan concentration levels, they will routinely undercut the market in terms of pricing and/or will offer better proceeds and terms in pursuit of loans on specific property types with certain credit characteristics. Unlike in the consumer products marketplace wherein an automaker may offer a “year-end clearance”, commercial mortgage lenders do not advertise when they have a “sale” for a specific loan or property type. Thus we make it our business to know which lenders are offering the most competitive pricing and terms for any given property type at any given time. Due to the breadth and quality of our lending relationships, Altman Warwick has been consistently successful in identifying these disparities and converting them into advantageous borrowing opportunities for our clients.
We respect our lenders’ time, and they pay us back with great service. Whether marketing a property for sale or financing, we believe that there is the point of diminishing returns when over-exposing a transaction actually impairs both the quantity and quality of offers. At Altman Warwick, we are obsessively dedicated to ensuring that our clients obtain the optimal terms that the market will provide. However, we think our success is derived from striking the right balance of creating a competitive environment and exposing any given transaction to the right players, not the most players. We recognize the basic human trait to expend less time and effort in pursuit of an opportunity that is perceived to offer a low likelihood of success. Thus, we maintain that an unrefined and undisciplined lender selection process threatens to dis-incentivize lenders who would have otherwise been motivated to make competitive offers.
Consistent with our philosophy, Altman Warwick employs a thoughtful and systematic approach to arranging and placing commercial mortgage loans. Altman Warwick’s methodical and disciplined approach always starts by careful underwriting and understanding the transaction. It is critical that we consistently apply our market knowledge to the property specifics and the needs of our client, before we approach the lending community. Because of our dedication to understanding each financing opportunity thoroughly, we are most always successful in identifying the optimal loan structure and terms through our first round of lender solicitation.
Mezzanine Financing
Since construction and permanent lenders have uniformly lowered their leverage levels for most property types in today’s marketplace, there is a growing demand for mezzanine loan products to fill the gap between traditional leverage levels and what is currently available in the senior debt marketplace. Further, with the popularity of treasury defeasance and yield maintenance prepayment penalty structures which can create a huge financial deterrent to refinancing, mezzanine capital has helped owners wishing to access trapped equity. Altman Warwick has arranged mezzanine loans of up to $50 million dollars and is experienced in negotiating inter-creditor agreements and structuring around restrictive subordinate financing clauses contained in many first mortgage documents.
Equity Financing
We don’t just arrange equity, we build partnerships. Equity capital can represent the most widely variable and challenging component of a project’s capitalization.
Altman Warwick specializes in identifying the most compatible and accretive equity capital alternatives for any real estate acquisition or recapitalization. Our extensive knowledge of the institutional equity marketplace allows us to marry the optimal structure to each client’s unique requirement. With regard to equity financing, Altman Warwick offers experienced real estate investors patient, long-term capital for a myriad of property types including retail, multifamily, hotel, office and industrial. From straight 50-50 joint venture equity to preferred equity financing up to 100% of total project costs, and every permutation in between, Altman Warwick has arranged it all.
In addition to offering very attractive equity-split structures, we have long-term relationships with certain equity sources which can add value to your project in many other unique ways. For example, some of our highly rated institutional investors offer their corporate credit enhancement on acquisition and construction loans thereby dramatically lowering your interest rate and/or increasing your leverage levels. For retail projects, certain of our investors have unparalleled relationships and market clout with national and regional retailers to help drive tenants to your project. Further, these investors can provide construction management and operational expertise to ensure that your project is built and operated at the most cost efficient and optimal level. Whether your project is ground-up construction or a re-development of an existing property, Altman Warwick can offer an unlimited variety of equity financing sources and structures for qualified US developers. We are proud of the enduring and thriving ventures that we have created between our clients and equity sources.