Fannie Mae Lends $77M on Channel District Tower

Fannie Mae isn’t just betting on Tampa’s high-rise residential rental market.

The quasi-governmental lender is also laying odds that the Mav, one of the bigger towers to take shape in the city’s Channel District, will fill out fast and get a handle on the recent rise in interest rates.

That’s a premise of the $76.8 million “Near-Stabilization Execution” loan Fannie Mae provided on the Mav. It’s a fixed-rate deal for five years, with specific terms undisclosed, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported.

Birmingham, Alabama-based Daniel Corp. developed the 324-unit property in 2020 with a $68.9 million construction loan from Cadence Bank. The Channel saw a boatload of new construction at the time, with four projects totaling 1,500 units proposed.

Three of the four projects are now leasing and one has yet to break ground.

The Mav is 90 percent leased, according to Alan Tapie of brokerage BWE in Atlanta, which arranged the loan. The “Near-Stabilization” moniker on the loan suggests it’s needed in the wake of rising interest rates, intended to to allow the developer time to secure its holding as it seeks to get fully leased and pencil-out operations with higher borrowing costs a factor.

“Fannie Mae’s Near-Stabilization Execution proved to be the perfect execution for what they were seeking,” Tapie said. “And this loan will give the sponsorship the capital structure they need to ensure the Mav can stabilize operationally while hedging interest rate volatility.”