Gregg Wolfer is chief operating officer of Kennedy Funding
By Joshua Burd
Kennedy Funding has closed four land loans totaling more than $8 million in recent weeks, including three outside its home state of New Jersey and a fourth in South America.
The direct private lender, which is based in Englewood, said the deals include $1.66 million to OFS Ventures for a residential development in McKinney, Texas, and $1.663 million to Abode Communities Kennebunk LLC for a residential community in Kennebunk, Maine. The firm has also provided $750,000 in financing to Schumann Road Indian River LLC for a retail development in Sebastian, Florida, as well as a previously announced, $4.15 million loan to Ecuagarden Farms for the expansion of its floral export business in Ecuador.
“In America and globally, we are known as the go-to lenders for deals that banks categorically won’t consider — even when those deals have tremendous potential,” said Kevin Wolfer, CEO and president of Kennedy Funding. “These recent closings reflect the trust borrowers place in our ability to understand complex situations and execute across borders with certainty and flexibility.”
The firm this week cited its comfort level with land loans, judging each deal on its merits while other lenders dismiss them outright or restrict their volume in certain categories.
“Land loans are generally regarded as untouchable by nearly all conventional lenders — especially land loans outside the U.S.,” said Gregg Wolfer, Kennedy Funding’s chief operating officer. “Closing four of them in just two weeks, including one in South America, speaks volumes about our capabilities, our team, and our commitment to international borrowers.”
He added: “When evaluating a deal, we want to see a clean title, a clean environmental report, and a current appraisal — there’s some flexibility around everything else,” Wolfer said. “We don’t operate from a rigid checklist that automatically locks out promising deals.”
