ST. PETERSBURG, Florida - Bison Financial Group, Inc., a real estate advisory firm based here announces the closing of their first loan of 2002. Sensing a vacuum in the small commercial real estate finance world (loans under $2 mm) Bison has entered into a series of strategic relationships with institutional investors intent on providing liquidity to this cash starved market in the wake of the tragic events of 9/11/2001.

The loan closed during the first week of January 2002; funds were used to acquire a 10,000 sf office building in Downtown Clearwater, Florida that was about 80% occupied at loan closing. The lender was a community bank that Bison has placed multiple loans with since 1997. The borrower was a new single purpose entity organized by a Florida businessman with extensive real estate development and renovation experience. The loan was based on 79% of the purchase price and had a term of 5 years and featured a 7% start rate.

Bison was referred to the borrower through a local architect familiar with Bison's track record of closing hard to do deals in rapid timeframes. One of the principals of Bison, David Repka, said, "The buyer needed speed and surety of closure. We negotiated the loan terms within 2 hours of getting the facts, the property was inspected the next day and the deal closed in about 40 days from start to finish which is pretty miraculous considering all the Holidays from Thanksgiving to New Year's."

Bison helps real estate entrepreneurs buy, sell and finance investment real estate and has closed over $200 million in transactions since 1994.