Kennedy Funding Closes Loan to Owners of World-Class Desert Dunes Golf Course in Hot Springs, California
Comments Off Hackensack, NJ, April 27, 2011 – Kennedy Funding, Inc., one of the nation’s largest direct private lenders, announced today that it has closed a $1.2 million dollar loan to DDGC Operations, Ltd and DDGC Holdings, Ltd. The group owns the prestigious Desert Dunes Golf Course, located at 19300 Palm Drive, in Desert-Hot Springs, CA, and the loan will be used to purchase and develop property adjacent to the golf course. Desert Dunes Golf Course has continued to grow revenue since re-opening in October 2010, after substantial course renovations and upgrades.
Carved out of winding sand dunes, and surrounded by native vegetation, the 6,786 yard, 18-hole public-style Desert Dunes is a world-renowned golf destination, designed by the legendary golf course architect, Robert Trent Jones Jr. A major part of the Coachella Valley’s rich golf tradition since opening in 1989, the course has received an abundance of awards and recognition over the years, including being ranked as one of the country’s top 30 public golf facilities, and rated a Four Star Place to Play by Golf Digest. It has also hosted many PGA Tour qualifying tournaments as well as The Canadian Professional Tour.
At a time when loans for commercial real estate, let alone golf courses, have all but dried up, Kennedy Funding has become a veritable oasis for corporations like DDGC. Specializing in fast, short term bridge loans from $1 million to over $50 million, Kennedy structures loans for acquisitions, development, refinancing, construction, bank workouts, bankruptcies and foreclosures. Kennedy has built both a conventional and unconventional customer base that includes owners of residential and commercial real estate developments, amusement parks, TV and radio stations, airlines, sports complexes, and many high-profile golf courses.
Whereas traditional lenders like banks can and will use any small glitch that arises to quash a loan, Kennedy is often a developer’s best shot at seeing their vision becoming funded fast and without red tape. Timing is often critical to the success or failure of a project, and Kennedy has developed a problem-solving reputation, often working to the eleventh hour to close a loan. While traditional lenders will scrutinize a loan for weeks, sometimes months, Kennedy can quickly commit to critical funding fast – often times within days.
“The most challenging lending environment in the last 50 years has changed attitudes towards the real estate market forever,” says Gregg Wolfer, Chief Operating Officer of Kennedy Funding. Even though DDGC had significant equity in place, it’s safe to say that golf courses are in an untenable position securing funds from conventional lenders today. Wolfer continued, “We don’t have cookie cutter rules like banks. We don’t expect every business to fit the same mold. Sometimes loans have to be extraordinarily structured–as unique as the people and projects we’re supporting.”
As pioneers in situational lending, Kennedy Funding looks at each loan on its merits. “Where traditional lenders see uncertainty and complications, we see opportunity,” says Wolfer. “Numbers are important, but we also place a high value on potential, and work extra hard to personalize each loan for each individual situation. The management team at Desert Dunes has done a magnificent job bringing one of the nation’s finest golf courses back to prominence. We’re on board with their vision, and the promise of the future.”
