NY-based real estate company establishes lending arm

Corigin Real Estate Group created a lending division today, focusing on short-term debt financing for properties in the New York area ranging from $1 million to $20 million, and has begun with three transactions totaling $8.5 million. While the borrowers requested that the real estate builder, owner and operator keep the exact location of the properties private, the company confirmed that two of them were in Lower Manhattan.

Corigin Real Estate Group, formerly Coalco New York, owns property in New York, New Jersey, and Florida and is the developer behind Midtown’s Element and Jersey City’s Canco Lofts Condominiums.

Ryan Freedman, chairman and CEO of Corigin, said that since emerging from the financial crisis, banks are reserving loans solely for their most trusted customers and smaller lenders aren’t as prevelant as they once were, making it more difficult for some developers to secure loans.

“The qualifying process is really long, but many developers are in need of someone who can understand their situation, no matter how complex it is, and understand it quickly,” he said. “We’re in every aspect of the real estate game, so we can do that.”

Freedman pointed to the three transactions unspecified closed before the company officially announced its lending division, as proof of its viability. TRD