Ground-Up Construction

Construction lending is where good sponsors get punished for other people's problems. A lender who's never funded a New England winter will build a schedule that assumes you're pouring foundations in February. One who doesn't understand a GMP contract will hold your first draw for three weeks arguing about mobilization costs.

I place construction debt with lenders who've done this specific work — your product type, your market, your scale — so the term sheet you sign is the loan you actually get.

• Builders doing one to five spec homes a year
• Developers on townhome and small multifamily projects
• Sponsors taking down entitled lots with a build schedule attached
• 40B and affordable-component projects with layered capital
• Anyone who's been told "come back when it's built"

Loan size: $500K – $30M+

Leverage: Up to 90% LTC, 75% LTARV

Construction budget: Up to 100% financed

Term: 12–36 months

Rate: 8.5%+

Draws: 1-day funding, inspection-based

Recourse: Full, partial, or non-recourse on qualifying sponsors

Experience: 5+ completed projects preferred, exceptions considered

A budget that doesn't survive underwriting. Lenders back into hard cost per square foot for your submarket. If your number is 20% under theirs, they re-size the loan and you're short at closing. I stress your budget against lender assumptions before we submit.

Thin track record. If this is your third project and the lender wants five, we either find the shop with a lower bar or structure around it — a partner, a stronger GC, additional recourse.

Interest reserve math. Sponsors routinely under-budget carry. If your 18-month project runs 24, who's paying month 19 through 24? We size the reserve for the real schedule, not the optimistic one.

Entitlement timing. Permits in hand versus permits pending is the difference between a construction loan and a land loan at half the leverage. If you're pre-permit, we structure it in two phases.