ST. PETERSBURG, Florida- With the housing market taking a beating every day in the press and many lenders decreasing their exposure to for-sale residential housing it was no surprise to David Repka, Founder of Bison Financial Group, when he learned that a local developer needed to replace their current lender. While the lender originally agreed to fund the land acquisition and some initial soft costs, they would not fund the start of infrastructure construction without a massive cash injection by the borrower. Since dirt was already flying and the developer was using his own resources to fund this 86-unit townhouse project located in St. Petersburg, FL - time was of the essence to find a new lender. Bison was able to secure an acquisition and development loan for $3.15 million from a community bank at Prime plus 1.5%.

According to Jared Repka of Bison, "We needed to find a lender that believed in the strength of the location, the tremendous visibility, easy access to I-275, strong sponsorship and reasonable price point. This deal was highly unusual in that the original lender was actually pleased that we were taking them out of this deal after only a few months as they realized their overexposure to this market segment. All parties worked hand in hand as we assisted our client in making a move in order to preserve capital, reduce closing costs and keep the construction schedule on track."

The Founders of Bison, David Repka and his brother, Jared, have built a reputation for closing complex real estate deals by being able to clearly define a borrowers needs and match them with the right lender to provide a positive outcome for all parties. Bison is an advisor to a network of local, regional, national and international real estate entrepreneurs that buy and develop properties in Florida and select markets nationwide. Bison funds development/ value-added properties and stabilized income producing properties.