Links Financial has played a behind-the-scenes role in many Florida real estate deals, both large and small. President Penny Parks has extensive experience working with real estate developers and securing commercial real estate financing. Their familiarity with real estate loans and connections in the industry recently gave the firm and its client, Mosaic, a needed advantage in securing construction financing for The Forum, a multi-family development project in Ft Myers, FL, that broke ground in August 2016.
Commercial Real Estate Financing for Multi-Family Development
In the State of Florida, securing construction financing for multi-family developments is next to impossible. The lingering perception of market saturation amongst lenders has made it nearly impossible for commercial real estate developers of multi-family housing to obtain financing. Heavily regulated banks are concerned about lending in a potentially saturated asset class and have therefore ceased extending construction financing, particularly to borrowers without a prior relationship.
The general perception of market saturation among lenders combined with no prior lending relationship created a sizable hurdle for Mosaic’s Forum development project, but it was nothing Links Financial couldn’t overcome. With Links Financial’s guidance of the loan process on the company’s behalf enabled us to get the real estate development financing needed to make the Forum a reality.
How Links Financial Overcame the Hurdle
Left to right: Leigh Fletcher, Marc Mariano, Barbara Hammock and Ben Smith at the Mosaic Grand Opening in Kissimmee, FL.
In our partnership with Mosaic, Links Financial acted as a financial liaison working directly with the bank, equity provider and developer. Our firm handled all aspects of financial documentation for our client, including: market studies, bank requests for additional financial records, loan closing documents and first draw requests. By knowing how to best structure the loan and having insight into what the bank wanted to see and would ask ahead of time, Links Financial provided connections and experience that proved invaluable in securing real estate development financing for Mosaic.
Links Financial secured $25.7 million in commercial real estate financing for The Forum project in Ft. Myers – and not just any financing. Keeping the client’s best interest in mind, our firm worked out a deal to finance this project through a flexible debt structure which can take the project from the construction phase to stabilization and beyond. The support we provided Mosaic as the company’s financial liaison helped Mosaic focus their own resources elsewhere and kept the project on track.
