Ginnie Mae sets a $147M record.

American Property Financing announced a $147.5 million Ginnie Mae securitization for Manhattan Park Apartments, the largest single multifamily property financing in the history of Ginnie Mae.

Constructed on Roosevelt Island in New York City in the late 1980s, the complex contains 1,107 apartments in five buildings. Twenty percent of the apartments are reserved for low-income elderly residents. The seniors, who live in a separate building, receive housing assistance through a Section 8 project-based program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This transaction was made possible through a tax-exempt bond offering issued by the New York City Housing Development Corporation. The refinanced $147.5 million mortgage will carry a 26.5-year term that will be fully amortized on a straight-line basis.

"Manhattan Park is a well-maintained rental property that demonstrates HUD's commitment to provide affordable, decent and safe housing for market-rate and low-income residents in urban environments such as New York City," said Theodore B. Foster, Ginnie Mae's vice president for mortgage-backed securities. "Ginnie Mae congratulates APF and NYC HDC on this significant achievement," he added.

APF Chairman Alan Wiener concurred: "This project provides further proof of APF's and Ginnie Mae's commitment to support affordable housing in America's great urban centers."

Ginnie Mae was created by Congress in 1968 as part of HUD.

As the only issuer of mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the U. S. government, Ginnie Mae helped 2.4 million Americans become homeowners in 2003, and some 30 million Americans since its creation, resulting in more than $2 trillion in residential mortgages.