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Specialist short-term secured asset lender Assetline Capital has launched a new construction funding division headed up by commercial broker George Khoury.
Assetline Capital has launched a new NSW-based construction finance fund, Assetline Development Finance (ADF), to serve as a specialist lender to the property development and construction sectors in the eastern state.
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The division targets NSW-based residential, commercial, industrial and retail developments needing funding of between $5 million and $30 million with a loan-to-value ratio of up to 65 per cent of net realisable value.
The division, which is headed up by construction broker turned ADF director George Khoury, aims to fill a void in the market.
Speaking to The Adviser, Mr Khoury elaborated: “There is a huge demand in the market for the market segment that we are targeting, which is $5 million to $30 million loans for construction building in NSW.
“We’ve built up a strong team and a solid foundation to make sure that we’re dealing with the right deals with the right sponsors in a very quick and efficient way. So, we’ve identified an opportunity while securing the right expertise around us to implement that new fund.”
According to Mr Khoury, by building a team with extensive development and construction experience (for example, all the project managers are qualified in the building and engineering space), the fund can help see projects “complete on time and within budget” – with the fastest turnaround to date being 10 business days.
He noted that the lender aims to be a hands-on partner for brokers and their clients, by undertaking weekly site visits and attending all quantity surveyor inspections, for example.
“We are really involved with the borrower to ensure that everything is going well and, if there ever is a problem, we can be proactive and mitigate it early rather than being reactive when it has advanced. We have a high-level presence in the project and work closely to keep brokers in the loop as well,” he told The Adviser.
The new ADF director said that brokers were the “lifeblood” of the business and that the lender had “streamlined” the loan submission process for brokers that represents the scenario and the client history to ensure that “when a broker gets the deal, they are asking the right questions and also submitting the deals so that they can be assessed within a 24-hour window”.
According to the new director, ADF may look to roll out broker training on construction finance and how to mitigate risks in the future, but would continue to work on educating broker partners about any specific issues on a deal-by-deal basis in the meantime.
He concluded: “Our moral is to be efficient and honest and to give brokers the solutions to the right borrowers to ensure that they complete on time, in budget, as quickly as possible.”
[Related: New lender to rely on third-party channel]
