News

Kennedy Funding Closes $3.5 Million Loan for North Dakota Multifamily Development in the Bakken Region

Silver Creek Apartments will total 140 modular units after phased build-out

Watford City, North Dakota – Kennedy Funding has closed a $3.5 million loan to DFH Watford, LLC, announced Kevin Wolfer, president and CEO of the Englewood Cliffs, NJ-based direct private lender. The three-year, interest-only financing is secured by Silver Creek Apartments in Watford City, ND.

This is the second loan that Kennedy Funding has closed in the Bakken region in 2014.

Located at 2046 125th Street N.W. in Watford City, the 10-acre site currently contains 44 completed modular studio apartments. Phased construction is slated to bring the property to 112 units by the end of this year, and 140 units by November, 2015. The remaining 96 modular units have been built and are currently stored at an industrial park in Ogden, UT.

Silver Creek Apartments is situated with proximity to Highway 85 and Watford City’s rapidly developing commercial area in McKenzie County, in the Minot-Williston metropolitan area. Completed infrastructure improvements include site work, electric, water and sewer, and common amenities include recreational and laundry facilities. Upon completion, the property will contain a total of more than 433,000 square feet of building space.

“With its location near the energy market and oil development in North Dakota, multifamily occupancy rates are high in this marketplace,” said Wolfer. “Corporate leases for multiple units are contributing to that trend, and with limited existing housing, rental rates are high as well.

“Manufactured housing is being utilized to help meet that demand, and this particular property also offers amenities that are not common at manufactured housing in the area,” he said. “This site also offers substantial upside potential with five additional acres for future expansion.

“While multifamily expansion is being driven to a large extent by the energy industry’s rapid growth in this region—with resulting low unemployment rates—multifamily properties in general remain a strong investment across the country,” said Wolfer. “Multifamily led the way in the rebound from the last recession and continues to outperform commercial real estate sectors.”

Kennedy Funding, one of the largest direct private lenders in the country, specializes in bridge loans for commercial property including land acquisition, development, workouts, bankruptcies, and foreclosures. The principals of the company have closed over $2.5 billion in loans to date. The firm’s creative financing expertise enables the closing of asset-based loans of up to a 70% loan-to-value ratio, from $1 million to more than $50 million, in as little as five days. Kennedy Funding continues to actively seek new funding opportunities throughout the world.