FORT COLLINS — A 264-unit multifamily apartment complex in south Fort Collins has secured permanent construction financing.

Berkadia Proprietary Holdings LLC, which is a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Jefferies Financial Group, arranged the construction financing for The Granary, a garden-style multifamily property at 4919-5001 S. College Ave., near the city transit center, the MAX bus line and the Ken Garff Ford dealership.

Jennifer Quigley, managing director of Berkadia’s Denver office, secured the $55.9 million on behalf of the borrower, Fairway Apartments LLC. Fairway is a Fort Collins company with registered agent Ryan Will.

The deal closed April 20. 

The 40-year construction loan, financed through HUD’s Green Program, features a 5.10% interest rate, Berkadia said in a press statement.

“I am fortunate to have clients who after working together for half our careers have become good friends and their projects like The Granary become a labor of love,” Quigley said.  “We’ve experienced increased rental housing demand along the Front Range of Colorado as well as strong rent growth, which helps to support these kinds of developments in the face of ongoing construction cost increases.  With the run up of interest rates in 2022, we were certainly glad to be able to lock a fixed rate non-recourse construction loan for this valued client at a rate almost as low as 5%.”   

“We are excited to commence the construction of The Granary,” said Will, principal of Keystone Real Estate, which is developing the Granary in a joint venture with Jensen LaPlante Development. “Fort Collins is in significant need of rental housing, and The Granary will provide an additional high quality housing option for the residents of Fort Collins.”

Jensen LaPlante’s filing with the city of Fort Collins said the development at West Fairway Lane and South College Avenue will have 264 units — 36 studios, 94 one-bedroom apartments, 104 two-bedroom apartments and 30 three-bedroom units. It is 220,000 square feet in three stories. 

The project will include a clubhouse with fitness center, coworking lounge with private offices, game room, community kitchen, resort-style swimming pool with sun deck, picnic/barbecue areas, electric car charging stations, car care station, playground/tot lot, dog park, pet wash station, bike/ski shop, and an on-site management office. 

The clubhouse and first units will be completed in late spring 2024 and construction on the entire community is set to be completed by December 2024. The general contractor for The Granary is Shaw Construction, and Infusion Architects is the architect of record.