Walker & Dunlop Arranges $142M HUD Financing for Bonaventure's Two Virginia Multifamily Projects
Walker & Dunlop has arranged approximately $141.9 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 221(d)(4) construction financing on behalf of Bonaventure for two multifamily developments in Virginia. The transactions will fund a combined 612 market-rate apartments across Chesapeake and Chesterfield County.
Two Projects, Two Virginia Submarkets
The financing covers two separate developments under Bonaventure's Attain brand. Attain at Greenbrier, located at 1553 River Birch Run in Chesapeake, will comprise 268 apartments across three four-story buildings. One-, two- and three-bedroom units will average approximately 1,037 square feet. Walker & Dunlop secured a $62 million HUD 221(d)(4) loan for the project, which carries a total estimated cost of $74.5 million.
Attain at Swift Creek, situated at 6805 Greenyard Road in Chester within Chesterfield County's Swift Creek submarket south of Richmond, will deliver 344 apartments across three four-story buildings. Units will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts averaging approximately 1,058 square feet and will be adjacent to the Kroger Iron Bridge Marketplace. Walker & Dunlop arranged a $79.9 million HUD 221(d)(4) loan for that project, which has a total estimated cost of $93.3 million — Bonaventure's largest project to date. Bonaventure broke ground on Swift Creek in 2026 and expects to deliver its first units in early 2028.
Financing Structure and Key Metrics
Both loans were originated under HUD's Section 221(d)(4) program, which combines construction and permanent financing in a single execution and provides a 40-year, fully amortizing, fixed-rate loan structure. That structure reduces refinancing exposure compared with conventional construction loans that require replacement upon project completion.
Across the two transactions, blended loan proceeds total approximately $231,862 per unit — $231,343 per unit at Greenbrier and $232,267 per unit at Swift Creek. The comparable per-unit figures indicate that HUD underwriting produced similarly leveraged executions for the two developments despite their different locations and unit counts. Combined announced project costs total approximately $167.8 million, implying a blended loan-to-cost ratio of approximately 84.6%.
The financing is structured as construction debt and does not represent a property sale. Bonaventure indicated it is backing Swift Creek on its balance sheet during construction while pursuing a long-term equity partner, meaning the HUD debt establishes the project's construction financing while the sponsor continues to optimize the equity side of the capital stack.
Market Context: Supply-Demand Dynamics
Occupancy in Chesapeake's Greenbrier submarket exceeds 97%, and Bonaventure has characterized housing demand in the area as outpacing new supply. Bonaventure described the Greenbrier site as an underutilized property being converted into new housing. Both developments are designed to capture demand for newer Class A apartments in established, employment- and retail-oriented submarkets.
The HUD financing structure carries particular relevance in the current capital markets environment, where multifamily developers have faced higher borrowing costs, tighter conventional lending standards, and uncertainty over exit financing. A long-duration HUD execution locks in permanent financing characteristics at the construction stage, reducing exposure to those conditions.
About the Transaction Parties
Walker & Dunlop served as the capital markets arranger for both transactions. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provided the construction debt through its Section 221(d)(4) program. Bonaventure, the Virginia-based multifamily developer and sponsor, is the borrower and project owner across both developments.
Sources: Walker & Dunlop press release