Kennedy uses little bit of magic to held Florida developer

Real Estate Weekly,  August 1, 2007  

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

William Planes of Trinity Town Center, LLC knew a good thing when he saw it. What's more, he had an excellent memory. And when he needed another good thing, he knew exactly where to find it.

In March of this year, Kennedy Funding had helped him out with a fast $13.5 million loan when another lender was unable to fund after months of excuses. The object of this attention was a 13.49-acre parcel that Planes' company owned in the Trinity area of Pasco County, Florida. It was his plan to develop a mixed-use Retail and Office Complex with over 200,000 square feet of space in 15 buildings of one, two, and three stories. The project would be a destination lifestyle center, with restaurants, commercial and medical businesses, and 845 vehicle parking spots, many of which would be in a covered structure. The entire complex would combine a traditional look and a contemporary feel, with masonry construction and streets surfaced with pavers.

That first loan had helped him get things started with the infrastructure and the first two buildings. In June, however, it became clear that more was needed--specifically, a refinancing loan. Planes needed to restructure some elements of his first loan, and he also needed additional funding to completely build out the project. So he picked up the phone and called Kennedy. Again.

Kennedy Funding, headquartered in Hackensack, New Jersey, is renown for having flexibility that lets them look at each loan as a discrete entity, evaluate it without applying preconceived, unyielding templates, and deduce ways to make it happen.

More than once, it's been said by the competition that Kennedy pulls rabbits out of hats. "There's a little more to it than magic," chuckled Jeffrey Wolfer, Kennedy president and Co-CEO.

"We look at every loan with a 'can-do' attitude, which is the exact opposite of what most traditional lenders do. When William came to us for his first loan, his collateral was raw land, which conventional institutions seldom touch. Plus it was in Florida, a state many lenders today are shying away from. We had no such inhibitions.

"For one thing, we like raw land loans, and we probably do more of them than anyone else. And we knew Pasco County was growing quickly, the project's location was ideal, and the Center would be a valuable and popular addition to the area.

"So we had no problem with restructuring his original $13.5 million loan into in a $45 million package. We were happy to be there for him-twice."

COPYRIGHT 2007 Hagedorn Publication
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning