Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, a newly formed entity owned by Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National Corp., provided more than $28m for construction and refinance purposes. Berkadia recently originated a $18.7 loan through its Freddie Mac (FRE) approval program to refinance Altamont Summit in Portland, Ore. (pictured above), according to a statement Monday. The multifamily community consists of 439 luxury apartment units, which were 95% occupied at the time of refinance. The firm originated the refinance loan on behalf of Altamont Summit, an affiliate of Arcadia Development Co. “The borrower wanted to close this refinance on the maturity date of the existing loan,” said Mitchell Thurston of the San Francisco Berkadia office, which originated the loan. “We seamlessly coordinated with all parties to fund the new loan on the first business day of 2010.” Berkadia, a special, master and primary mortgage servicer, also has lending approval through Fannie Mae (FNM) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) channels. The firm services more than $236bn of loans, according to a company statement, and offers financing for acquisition, construction, rehabilitation and refinance of commercial real estate properties. Across the continent in Chicago, Ill., Berkadia originated a $9.5m loan through its FHA approval to fund the construction of supported living facility Victory Centre of Galewood. The fully-amortizing loan, originated for Galewood SLF Associates, bears a 4.47% interest rate over 40 years, according to a statement Monday from Berkadia. “This loan involved a unique financing structure with an ‘Insurance Upon Completion’ loan from FHA,” said Tom Sigrist of the Chicago Berkadia office, which originated the loan. “Berkadia’s expertise and our in depth knowledge of FHA programs gained as one of the leading FHA lenders in the national and local markets were an asset in this transaction.” Berkadia recently made headlines as the servicer managing the third-highest volume ($217.9bn) of all commercial/multifamily loan servicers, according to a recent Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) ranking. The news came after the firm bought the North American servicing and mortgage banking business from commercial real estate lender Capmark Financial Group. Capmark and certain subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 25, 2009 as part of a larger restructuring effort. Capmark then received approval to sell its servicing unit to Berkadia from within bankruptcy – for an inititial $515m price tag. Write to Diana Golobay. Disclosure: The author holds no relevant investment positions.