North Carolina's Legasus Properties LLC borrowed over $30 million for the development of two upscale Smoky Mountain communities. In St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, Wintdots Development needed $6.5 million to create a vacation community overlooking the Charlotte Amalie harbor and the fourth loan, a $1.5 million restructuring deal went to MOA Properties LLC, a hospitality company with moderately priced accommodations.

Legasus developers Robert A. Corliss and Theodore C. Morlok needed a major loan to build the Tuckasegee neighborhood of River Rock, a community in Cashiers, NC, along the Highland-Cashiers Plateau. As a longtime permanent or vacation home destination for affluent buyers, this area holds promise for success despite the oft-reported housing market downturn. With wooded hiking trails, a planned entertainment and fitness complex, and accoutrements consistent with high-country living, Tuckasegee will present buyers with scenic settings and desirable lifestyle elements. The $20.5 million loan will pay off existing debt and fund improvements including new roads, footbridges, an entrance feature, utilities, community lodge design, and construction startup for Phase I. The builders offered 677 acres of appropriately zoned land for collateral.

The same team is putting together High Grove Estates on more than 500 acres along mountain ridges in Whittier, 40 miles northwest of River Rock. Thirteen of the 91 lots already have buyers, leaving the remaining 78 lots as collateral. Additional acreage will eventually hold 85 single-family lots. The builders also own an existing 12,000 sq. ft. lodge and cottage and an industrial building along the nearby highway. Corliss and Morlok needed $9.54 million without a long waiting period to refinance present debt and to renovate a community center, complete an overlook pavilion with spectacular views, and finish the entire property's roads and bridges.

The Legasus loans demonstrate Kennedy's acumen and willingness for funding based on raw land collateral, virtually shunned by other lenders, while recognizing property potential for solid development and financial appreciation.

"The four deals represent a very positive force in tough economic times," says Kennedy President and Co-CEO Jeffrey Wolfer. "Our own business structure joins a superb support team in the field, allowing us to expedite loans that encourage progress. By putting our confidence in Legasus and the other deals that closed in a single day, we're putting our confidence in the ultimate growth of the economy.

"We do not shy away from raw land collateral," he continues. "Our experience over more than two decades demonstrates that acting quickly on loans based on our ability to extensively research collateralized property energizes clients who may have been roadblocked by traditional lenders where financing turndown has become the norm."

Wolfer notes that the third April 16 closing involves a twofold collateral package combining raw property and an existing commercial structure in St. Thomas. Wintdots Development, LLC (Glenn and Dorothy Elskoe) received $6.5 million to realize the potential of approximately 22 acres of vacant land and an existing 6,000 sq. ft. building in separate districts of Charlotte Amalie. On a hilltop overlooking the picturesque harbor famous for docking cruise ships, the undeveloped tract ranges from 250 feet to 950 feet above sea level, with a tram traversing the incline. Wintdots plans to build 80 high-end condo units in five buildings, a clubhouse, gym, and tennis courts. In addition to placing aesthetically pleasing buildings along a landscaped filled with indigenous greenery, Wintdots will install utilities and systems that are self-sustainable in accordance with the highest environmentally "green" standards. On a main street, surrounded by retail establishments, the Elskoes' commercial building is a prime location.

The final transaction for $1.5 million went to MOA Properties LLC to restructure a mid-2007 loan. Since then, the company sold two of the four hotels that served as original collateral. The new loan's collateral involves a Louisville, KY, Super 8 and a Greenwood, SC, Days Inn. Both under long-term lease agreements and currently undergoing renovations, they are experiencing gradual upturns in income that Kennedy felt warrant substantial appreciation in value. This, and the sell-off of the previous two collateral properties, contributed to the lender's willingness to participate in MOA's restructuring. -- Kennedy Funding