Walker & Dunlop Arranges $117.3 Million Refinancing for Three Texas Multifamily Communities
Walker & Dunlop announced Oct. 29 that it has arranged $117.3 million to refinance three Class A multifamily communities totaling 960 units across the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas in Texas. Benefit Street Partners provided the floating-rate, interest-only financing.
Walker & Dunlop's Capital Markets Institutional Advisory group served as exclusive advisor to an institutional client. The loans were arranged by Jordan Casella, Aaron Appel, Adam Schwartz, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Christopher de Raet and Nicholas Gilhooley, according to the firm.
Walker & Dunlop Financing Details
The three communities comprise approximately 922,623 rentable square feet. The loan amount works out to roughly $122,188 per unit and about $127 per rentable square foot across the portfolio. Those figures are implied calculations based on the reported loan amount, not sale prices, property valuations or loan-to-value ratios.
"Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth are seeing improving multifamily fundamentals as strong renter demand and slowing new construction help bring supply and demand into a better balance," said Casella, managing director of Capital Markets Institutional Advisory at Walker & Dunlop. "This portfolio represents an attractive collection of recently developed properties in growing suburban markets. Working alongside our client and Benefit Street Partners, we secured financing that provides flexibility and supports the portfolio's long-term investment strategy."
David Elgart, managing director at Benefit Street Partners, said, "This financing reflects our focus on recently developed multifamily communities in markets with long-term housing demand. We were pleased to work with Walker & Dunlop to provide a financing solution that supports the borrower's business plan across three Texas communities."
The Three Texas Multifamily Properties
The portfolio includes the following properties:
- Austin Avenue: A 312-unit community in Georgetown, Texas, completed in 2022. It has approximately 298,788 rentable square feet across studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Amenities include a resort-style swimming pool, outdoor kitchen, 24-hour fitness center, dog park and community garden.
- Aven Ridge: A 312-unit community in Leander, Texas, completed in 2021. It has approximately 299,835 rentable square feet across one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Amenities include a resort-style swimming pool, a fitness center with a dedicated spin room, a business center and outdoor entertainment spaces.
- Latitude Magnolia: A 336-unit community in Aubrey, Texas, within the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, completed in 2021. It has approximately 324,000 rentable square feet and offers one- and two-bedroom residences. Amenities include a swimming pool, fitness center, dog park and resident clubhouse.
The properties are in suburban markets where population growth continues to support housing demand. According to U.S. Census Bureau data cited in the announcement, Georgetown and Leander have grown 58.5% and 53.8%, respectively, since 2020. Four of the nation's five fastest-growing cities in 2025 were in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, the data show. The communities also offer access to major employment centers, transportation corridors, retail, dining and recreation.
Market Backdrop for the Refinancing
The financing comes as national apartment supply pressures ease. About 250,000 U.S. apartment units were delivered through the first three quarters of 2026, down 25% from the comparable 2025 period and the lowest year-to-date total since 2021. National multifamily vacancy fell to 8.6% in the third quarter, while asking rents rose 2.3% year over year to $1,950.
Conditions differ between the two Texas metros. In Austin, vacancy was 13.7% and rents declined 4.8% year over year through the third quarter of 2026. In Dallas-Fort Worth, vacancy stood at 6.1%, absorption reached 6,736 units in the third quarter, and trailing-12-month deliveries declined 23% to 26,062 units. The average Dallas-Fort Worth multifamily cap rate reached 5.66%, up for 19 consecutive quarters and 111 basis points above its fourth-quarter 2021 low.
Interest-only structures can preserve near-term cash flow while owners wait for rent growth, occupancy and valuations to normalize. The floating-rate structure leaves the borrower exposed to future interest-rate movements, and Austin's elevated vacancy and negative rent growth remain factors for the portfolio.
Walker & Dunlop and Benefit Street Partners
Walker & Dunlop said its Capital Markets team sourced more than $13.9 billion from non-Agency capital providers in the first half of 2026, including nearly $9.6 billion for multifamily properties. The company reported $14.4 billion of total transaction volume in the second quarter of 2026, up 3% year over year, with debt-financing volume up 8% and its servicing portfolio up 6% to $145.8 billion. In the first quarter, it reported $13.7 billion of total transaction volume, a 94% year-over-year increase.
Walker & Dunlop also reported that multifamily transaction volume had recovered to within 3% of its pre-COVID average, though transaction count remained about 20% below that benchmark.
Benefit Street Partners is a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton with $97 billion in assets under management as of Aug. 31, 2026, including Apera. The firm manages strategies spanning direct lending, real estate debt, structured credit, liquid loans and asset-backed finance. The refinancing adds to its multifamily real estate credit exposure in two major Texas metros.
Sources
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