KSI Capital aids Diamante Del Mar Resort with $3M loan
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnF...
May 14, 2006
By HUGH R. MORLEY
A luxury golf resort is rising on the Mexican coast, thanks to some pesos from Paramus.
The 8,000-acre, $100 million project, called Diamante Del Mar, was advancing steadily until the developers recently ran short of funds. They needed a
bridge loan.
Fast.
Enter Paramus-based KSI Capital. The company makes commercial real estate loans for the kinds of project others won't touch, says marketing director
Kevin Clark.
"Maybe they are problematic deals," he said. "Maybe they're opportunistic deals where the banks can't move quickly."
In return, KSI charges up to 20 percent interest.
"We are more expensive than a bank, but we are less expensive than having a partner," Clark said.
KSI looked at the Diamante Del Mar project and was impressed, he said. There was a desirable location in Baja California, 200 hundred miles from San
Diego. The partners include "former athletes," he added, declining to name them. And the project design boasts two golf courses, 175 villas, shops,
restaurants and even a 6,000-foot airstrip.
So KCI put up $3 million, he said, and the project is going ahead.
The loan reflects the growing effort by KSI to look for business overseas, Clark said. That's in part because of increased competition in the local
high-risk loan market, and also because globalization has opened up new opportunities.
Two areas of interest are Panama and South America, he said.
"We think there is a huge upside from Baby Boomers who may want to retire down there," he said.
Another potential market is China, he said. But that comes with its own problems.
"If we are going to lend $2 million or $20 million," he explained, "we've got to figure out a way to get that money back."
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