$500K Cash-Out Bridge: Special-Purpose Mountain Campus
Olympic Valley, CA — A borrower needed immediate working capital against a 39,146 SF owner-occupied campus while a separate $26,000,000 asset sale sat in escrow. Helvetica funded a $500,000 first trust deed at 2.7% LTV in a situation most lenders will not touch: a special-purpose property with unstabilized cash flow.
The Borrower's Problem
The borrowing entity owned a large owner-occupied campus in the Sierra, acquired in 2016 for $15,600,000 and appraised more recently at $18,450,000. Enormous equity — and no liquidity. The property is special-purpose, the operation was not stabilized, and a much larger asset disposition priced at $26,000,000 was still working through escrow.
Conventional lenders decline this profile on sight: unstabilized coverage on a single-use building, in a seasonal mountain market, with a court-supervised process attached. The borrower needed a modest amount of capital quickly to keep the operation and the pending sale on track, without giving up the asset.
The Helvetica Solution
Helvetica funded a $500,000 first trust deed — 2.7% of appraised value — interest-only over 12 months, with a personal guarantee from a sponsor of substantial net worth. Underwriting was collateral- and exit-driven: an enormous equity cushion behind the loan and a documented payoff from either the pending escrow or a refinance.
Because the request was small relative to value, Helvetica could move on the strength of the asset rather than trailing operating statements — the opposite of how a bank would have approached the same file.
Benefit to the Borrower
- Immediate liquidity against equity that was otherwise locked up
- Approval on a special-purpose, unstabilized property a bank would decline
- Only 2.7% of value encumbered — virtually all equity left intact
- Interest-only payments kept the carry cost minimal
- Twelve-month term matched the pending $26M escrow timeline, not a lender's calendar
- No forced discount sale of the campus to raise cash
- Clear dual exit: sale proceeds or a conventional refinance
Deal Highlights
- Special-purpose, owner-occupied collateral
- Unstabilized debt coverage — approved on collateral and exit strength
- First trust deed at 2.7% LTV against an $18.45M appraisal
- Court-supervised priming structure
- Cash-out refinance with a 12-month interest-only term
Equity-rich but liquidity-tight?
Helvetica funds bridge and special-situation loans from $300K–$10M+ on investment and business-purpose real estate, typically closing in 3–10 days following receipt of all requested documentation.
