300 Centre Island Road in Oyster Bay, New York — Courtesy: Kennedy Funding
By Joshua Burd
Kennedy Funding, an Englewood Cliffs-based direct private lender, has closed a $1 million loan for a nearly four-acre waterfront property in New York’s Nassau County.
The parcel, located at 300 Centre Island Road in Oyster Bay, sits within a popular vacation and residential area, housing a 460-square-foot cottage and a 1,077-square-foot, three-car garage. The borrower plans to use the proceeds to pay off the existing mortgage and other debts.
“We may be living through difficult economic times, but even with so many uncertainties, lucrative opportunities are still coming to the table,” said Kevin Wolfer, CEO of Kennedy Funding. “The difference is, when traditional lenders all but totally shut down deal flow, we are still able to examine each opportunity and make a determination, without restriction, on which loans are worthy of funding, even during an event as unprecedented as a pandemic.”
The property is currently owned by 300 Centre Island Rd LLC, the borrower, but is listed for sale for $3.299 million, Kennedy Funding said in a news release. The firm noted that the property is also large enough for a future purchaser to subdivide into several units rented to vacation-goers or year-round residents.
According to Wolfer, tight restrictions were already being imposed across all deal types before the unfolding health crisis made those restrictions even tighter.
“Even before COVID-19 took hold in the U.S., traditional lenders were already weary about approving loan applications due to low interest rates,” Wolfer said, adding that Kennedy Funding has noticed an uptick in applications for loans related to bankruptcies, workouts and defaults. “This resulted in belt-tightening which impacted all deal types across the board.”
He added that, even though the lending environment is uncertain at the moment, certain sectors will continue to experience growth and demand. Wolfer cited Kennedy Funding’s recent $1.5 million loan to a health care facility in Detroit, just as the novel coronavirus crisis took hold in the Motor City. The borrower’s facility was chosen to be a testing site for COVID-19.
“The world may feel frozen in place right now, but many are thinking toward the future and are continuing to pursue opportunities,” Wolfer said. “Traditional lenders are drastically tightening their already-tight rules for lending, not to mention increasing their minimum credit score requirements or refusing to lend to entire industries. We are committed to making up for this devastating gap in the real estate market.”
