When a real estate developer dropped out of a military housing project in Texas, partner Scott Rafshoon’s client stepped into the void.

Balfour Beatty Communities LLC last month closed on a $142 million deal to acquire a project to privatize housing at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Balfour Beatty Communities will manage one phase of a project that has already been completed, according to Rafshoon. Balfour Beatty Communities will also complete the design, construction and management of a second phase at the same location. Balfour Beatty Communities acquired the project from Realm Holdings Inc. of Austin, Texas.

Realm Holdings was forced to sell its interest in the project because it was unable to obtain financing for an expansion of the project that was desired by the U.S. Air Force, Rafshoon said.

The deal was closed in spite of the “incredibly tight credit market,” Rafshoon said. They were able to close in part because the deal had the backing of the U.S. government. Although Capmark Financial Group Inc. is the primary lender, the deal also has the imprimatur of the U.S. Air Force.

It also helped that the deal closed during a narrow window of time in December when interest rates and credit spreads “tended to match up where it was financeable,” Rafshoon said.

Further, Capmark knew that Balfour Beatty Communities had a solid reputation for completing these types of projects at other U.S. military bases, he said.

Balfour Beatty Communities was formerly known as GMH Military Housing. In April, the British construction/engineering giant Balfour Beatty PLC acquired GMH Military Housing and changed its name. Rafshoon had counted GMH Military Housing as a client and has continued to represent the company under its new owner.

Balfour Beatty’s deal for GMH Military Housing came about a year after the U.K. company acquired one of GMH Military Housing’s key development partners, Centex Construction. Centex, which had been a unit of residential homebuilder Centex Corp., focuses on commercial building projects.

Rafshoon managed about a dozen McKenna attorneys on the transaction, from various practice groups including corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, tax, construction, environmental, government contracts, government affairs, real estate and real estate finance.

Kutak Rock represented Capmark. Andrews Kurth advised Realm Holdings.