Stephen Whitehead, senior vice president/senior producer in NorthMarq Capital’s Dallas regional office, arranged $136.36 million in permanent financing for the Diamond Student Housing Portfolio.

The portfolio consists of six class -A core student housing facilities with a combined total of 5,112 beds in 1,852 units. The properties are located near major university campuses in Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Kansas. Financing was based on a 5-year term at a rate of 4.02 percent interest only and was arranged for the borrower, Diamond Realty Investments and Real Estate Capital Partners, by NorthMarq through its seller-servicer relationship with Freddie Mac.

According to Whitehead, during the past five years, student housing has become a very favorable product type with investors and lenders because of its stability throughout the recession. Moreover, it is easier to quantify the supply and demand to justify investment or new development, Whitehead adds.

“Diamond Realty Investments understands the student business and is geared up to expand its footprint,” Whitehead said in a statement. “They have a very high quality student housing portfolio and an operations team that keeps their properties performing at best in class. Freddie Mac came through with very attractive terms to meet all of the requests of the borrowers and with a very smooth closing.”