By Joshua Burd
Case Real Estate Capital LLC, a commercial real estate investment and financing firm, has launched a new program to provide lower-interest loans for properties that are close to stabilization.
The Rochelle Park-based firm said this week that the program will provide property owners and developers with loans in the $2 million to $8 million range, as it seeks to fill a void left by banks. The offering covers all asset types, including office, retail, industrial, manufacturing, hospitality, self-storage and certain entitled land.
“As banks continue to pull back in terms of lending on commercial real estate, private lenders like Case are providing a needed infusion of turnaround capital for a multitude of projects,” said Sanford Herrick, the firm’s founder and managing principal. “We have some of the best rates available in the market today for our ‘bridge light’ program aimed at properties nearing stabilization.”
Case said that, typically, the loans will have an initial term of one to two years with extension options of up to two years. Herrick touted its ability to “do everything in-house from approvals to servicing and … the expertise to get to a ‘yes’ quickly.”
The firm is also introducing a separate program that finances other lenders’ first mortgages and notes with interest rates at around 6 percent for up to 80 percent of the face value, according to a news release. The existing lender retains servicing, while Herrick noted that his firm provides “aggressive senior financing to reduce the holders’ exposure.”
Herrick, an industry veteran of more than 30 years, founded Case in 2013 and has steadily expanded its platform and services. The firm has surpassed the $125 million mark in investments since then, largely through providing financing solutions for transitional commercial assets, in the $2.5 million to $40 million range for properties in the New York area and South Florida.
“The destruction caused by Hurricane Irma has also created the immediate need for reconstruction and the financing of it,” said Chris Mavros, managing director, chief financial officer and principal of the firm. “Case is positioned to be a strategic partner in this massive effort.”
Case is active as a high-yield private lender; a purchaser of performing, sub- and non-performing debt; and a mezzanine and equity investor, the news release said. Funds are deployed as note purchases, bridge and acquisition loans or rescue and restructure capital.
