$500K Rehab Loan: A Historic School's Second Life as Apartments
St. Petersburg, FL — A developer set out to convert a vacant, historic brick school building into multifamily housing. Banks don't lend on empty institutional buildings mid-conversion, so Helvetica funded a $500,000 first-mortgage rehab loan at 30% of the property's market value.
The Borrower's Problem
The 13,092 SF brick school building sat vacant on roughly an acre of land. Its character and location made it a strong candidate for conversion to apartments — but a vacant institutional property mid-repositioning is exactly the kind of collateral conventional lenders decline, regardless of the equity in it.
The sponsor needed construction capital to carry the conversion through its heaviest phase, without giving up the project or bringing in an equity partner at a discount.
The Helvetica Solution
Helvetica underwrote the real estate: a $500,000 first mortgage against a $1,685,000 market value — just 30% loan-to-value — on a 24-month term sized to the conversion timeline. The conservative leverage gave the project room to absorb the surprises that come with adapting a historic structure.
Benefit to the Borrower
- Construction capital without selling or diluting the project
- Low 30% leverage kept the deal safe and the payments manageable
- 24-month term matched the conversion schedule
- Underwritten on the asset, not on stalled historical financials
Deal Highlights
- First mortgage of $500,000 for adaptive reuse construction
- 13,092 SF historic school building on a ~1-acre site
- 30% LTV against a $1,685,000 market value
- Conversion to multifamily housing in St. Petersburg, FL
- 24-month term aligned with the rehab timeline
Converting a building a bank won't touch?
Helvetica funds bridge and rehab loans from $300K–$10M+ on investment and business-purpose real estate, typically closing in 3–10 days following receipt of all requested documentation.
