By Joshua Burd
Seeing an out-of-state opportunity in southwestern Florida, a Bergen County-based firm has funded a $12 million bridge loan secured by a mixed-use parcel outside Fort Myers.
The firm, Case Real Estate Capital LLC, announced the financing Wednesday for the site in Bonita Springs. The deal comes amid other activity for the Rochelle Park-based business, which has a $100 million lending and purchasing platform for South Florida.
“This loan provides the borrower with the flexibility and time needed to successfully execute his business strategy,” said Sanford Herrick, the firm’s founder and managing principal. “At Case, we bring decades of experience to complex transactions like this and have particular expertise handling assets located in South Florida.”
Herrick pointed to economic and business forecasts predicting that the Fort Myers-Marco Island metropolitan statistical area will experience robust growth over the next year. The forecast is based on steady in-migration, the aging-in-place of existing cohorts and the presence of important service industries.
Case, which provides financing solutions for transitional assets such as land, multifamily, industrial, retail and office assets, said it was ramping up its investment activities. The firm has entered into a joint venture agreement with a New York-based real estate credit fund, with the Bonita Springs deal serving as the partnership’s fourth transaction.
The firm concentrates on deals in the $2.5 million to $30 million range for properties located in the metro New York area and South Florida, according to a news release. Its funds can be deployed as note purchases, bridge and acquisition loans or rescue and restructure capital.
