Berkadia arranges $27.7 million in equity for GW Real Estate Partners to develop

Berkadia announces it has sourced a joint venture equity partner for GW Real Estate Partners, a vertically integrated multifamily development and construction firm, to build a new Class A apartment community in Williamsburg, Va. Construction has already commenced on the $77 million, 265-unit garden-style “Montage at Marquis Apartments,” which is slated for delivery in May 2024.  

Cody Kirkpatrick, Noam Franklin, and Chinmay Bhatt of Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital secured the equity partner, a fund manager, which provided $27.7 million in equity behind $48.06 million in senior debt issued by Citizens Bank.  

Based in Charlottsville, Va., GW Real Estate Partners is a vertically integrated multifamily development and construction firm focused on select Mid-Atlantic and Southeast markets with strong supply and demand fundamentals. A second-generation real estate enterprise, GW Real Estate Partners and its related affiliates have been active investors in the multifamily sector since the late 1980s. The principals have collectively acquired or developed more than 11,000 units totaling $2.4 billion in property value.

“We were excited to work with the team at GW Real Estate Partners on their first development in Williamsburg, and after touring with them, felt confident in the need for new multifamily product in this market on account of many compelling demand drivers,” said Kirkpatrick.

“We pride ourselves on finding the right equity partners for developers and identified a capital source that had the same vision and goals for this project,” said Franklin.

“Montage at Marquis Apartments marks GW Real Estate Partners’ first ground-up multifamily development in the Williamsburg/Hampton Roads/Newport News MSA,” said Robert Gordon, a GWREP principal. “This submarket in particular benefits from a diversified and growing population and economy, with limited new supply and high barriers to entry, which places it squarely within our wheelhouse. Thanks to the Berkadia team, we have a capital partner whose vision aligns with ours. We’re also grateful to long-term design partners, Heffner Architects P.C. and civil engineering firm Timmons Group, for their role in this project.”

Located at 1200 Marquis Parkway, Montage at Marquis Apartments will be a Class A, four-story, elevatored and conditioned-corridor property offering best-in-class community amenities and surface parking. It will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 942 square feet. The property is located less than 10 minutes from downtown Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary, 20 minutes from Newport News, and proximate to a variety of employers including nearby military bases.

GW Builders, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GW Real Estate Partners, is the general contractor.