Financing Solutions Delivered Across Commercial Real Estate

A sponsor group needed to refinance a 21-building multifamily portfolio totaling nearly 1,000 units — a transaction of unprecedented scale in the sponsor's portfolio. At over $50 million, the deal required an agency lender capable of underwriting government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) financing at that size, while evaluating the aggregate cash flow of 21 separate properties with varying occupancy levels, rent rolls, and lease structures. Most lenders simply don't have the bandwidth or the programmatic capacity to consolidate and underwrite a portfolio of this magnitude as a single credit.

Shulem Capital leveraged its deep agency lending relationships to position the portfolio for GSE execution. We consolidated the financials across all 21 properties into a single underwriting package, presenting combined NOI, weighted-average occupancy, and stabilized rent projections. By framing the portfolio as a single credit rather than a collection of individual loans, we unlocked agency pricing and proceeds that a fragmented approach could not achieve. The agency lender underwrote the deal as a $50.6M unified facility — the largest single transaction in the firm's history.

The loan closed at competitive agency pricing with long-term, fixed-rate debt and non-recourse provisions. The sponsor consolidated multiple existing loans into a single facility, reduced overall cost of capital, and extracted equity from the portfolio for future acquisitions. This transaction — the largest in the firm's history — demonstrates our ability to source institutional capital at scale and structure portfolio financing that few lenders can execute.

Congregation and religious institution properties are among the most difficult assets to finance in commercial real estate. Traditional lenders frequently decline these transactions because the income structure — driven by membership dues, donations, and community support — does not fit standard DSCR underwriting models. Compounding the challenge, specialized property use limits the pool of comparable sales, and many lenders have no internal framework for evaluating religious institution credit. A congregation needed $5.4 million to acquire and expand their facility, and had been turned down by multiple banks before engaging Shulem Capital. Compounding the challenge, refinancing a non-profit in New York State requires Attorney General (AG) approval — a regulatory hurdle that adds significant time and complexity to the transaction. Navigating the AG approval process demands specialized legal coordination, and many sponsors are unprepared for the documentation, filings, and attorney engagement it requires.

Shulem Capital has spent years cultivating relationships with a select group of lenders who understand congregation financing — including several regional and community banks. For this transaction, we packaged the congregation's financial profile in a format tailored to how these niche lenders underwrite: multi-year donation and membership revenue trends, community financial support commitments, and the real estate value of the facility itself. We presented the deal to a balance sheet bank whose team has specific experience with religious institution lending and could evaluate the credit on its own merits rather than forcing it into a standard commercial mold. Beyond the lending itself, Shulem Capital guided the congregation through the New York State Attorney General approval process — leveraging our extensive experience coordinating with the right attorneys who specialize in non-profit regulatory compliance to ensure the AG filing was prepared, submitted, and approved without delay. This is a step that derails many congregation refinancings, but one we have navigated repeatedly across our portfolio of NYS non-profit transactions.

The $5.4 million loan closed through a balance sheet bank at terms aligned with the congregation's cash flow profile. Beyond this single transaction, Shulem Capital has placed over $28 million in congregation financing across more than a dozen deals — including a $6 million facility through a balance sheet bank — establishing the firm as a leading capital advisor for religious institutions in the New York Metro area. This track record gives congregations confidence that their financing needs will be understood and executed, not dismissed.

A sponsor needed to refinance a multifamily portfolio that didn't fit the profile of the investment bank transactions we had been placing. The portfolio required a lender with deep agency lending expertise — one who could underwrite across multiple properties and geographies while offering government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) pricing. At over $30 million, the transaction scale narrowed the field to a select group of agency lenders capable of executing at that level.

Shulem Capital identified a leading agency lender — one of the largest multifamily lenders in the country — as the ideal partner for this transaction. We engaged their agency lending platform to position the portfolio for GSE execution, presenting combined NOI and stabilized rent rolls across all properties. By framing the deal as a single portfolio credit rather than individual asset loans, we secured agency pricing and proceeds that exceeded what traditional balance-sheet lenders could offer.

The $30.2 million loan closed through an agency lending platform at competitive agency pricing. The sponsor refinanced the entire portfolio under a single facility, reducing administrative complexity and securing long-term, fixed-rate debt with non-recourse provisions. This transaction demonstrates our ability to match the right lender to the right deal — our reach extends well beyond any single institutional relationship.