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Piermont Bank

A Bank Defined In A Time Of Crisis

Piermont’s Enduring Commitment to Real Estate <br> By Rob Rynarzewski, Head of Commercial Real Estate, Piermont Bank

A study from The National Multifamily Housing Council highlights a 15 percent monthly drop in rent paid. With the worst potentially still yet to come. An article from Curbed highlights the confusion and uncertainty as various cities struggle to define real estate development and construction as ‘essential.’ And, some forecasters are predicting the cumulative default rate across commercial mortgages will rise to 8% (up from the current 0.4% default rate). With all the recent news one might think twice about commercial real estate. Not us.

While nobody knows for certain what will happen as a result of COVID-19, we know that it takes even more creativity, tenacity, and humility to be in real estate given the current environment. In good times and markets, anyone can be your banker; but it is times like these where you find out who your real bankers are. That’s why I am especially proud to be in this business. Commercial real estate lenders like Piermont are partnering with owners to come up with out-of-the-box, high-touch solutions to ensure the sustainability of our prospects and clients during unsettling times.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything that we have seen in our lifetimes and New York is the epicenter, history tells us that a crisis like this will pass and New York City will come out even stronger. Over my own lifetime, I have experienced “black swan events,” which seem to occur every seven to ten years and leave an indelible mark on history and in our minds. But ultimately real estate, especially in and around New York City (where we focus), always seems to endure and we remember who was there to help.

Of course, there will be obstacles for the real estate industry, but we are confident that there will be more opportunities for real estate owners and operators in our market to not only survive but thrive. That’s why we’ve doubled down on our commitment to commercial real estate, providing loans up to $10 million for multi-family, retail, office, mixed-use, and condo properties with increased fervor.

Despite working remotely the last few weeks, we continue to deliver for our clients.  We recently launched our deal submission portal making it easier for you to get flexible solutions and fast answers. Using the latest, innovative technology you get a dedicated relationship manager to answer your online submission, within 24-hours, to serve as a true advisor giving you clarity and certainty. In addition, we continue to fund, recently delivering $8 million for a multifamily property in the Bronx, $3 million for a retail site on Long Island, and $2.3 million for a mixed-use property in Jersey City. These are just a few examples.

Whether you’re scaling your properties or gaining economies of scale, Piermont has four main products to help you grow.  We offer floating and fixed-rate commercial loans from $500,000 to $10 million, Value Add Bridge loans from $1 million to $10 million, lines of credit and note on note financing up to $4 million.

Banks are often defined in times of crisis. For Piermont, a bank that was born in 2019, that holds even more true. At Piermont, we see an opportunity to provide commonsense banking solutions to fit the needs of today’s enterprising businesses. We built an integrated, tailor-made digital platform and blended it with experienced bankers so that you can get fast answers, innovative solutions, and a partner that will help you deliver your strategic goals. During these extraordinary times, we’re happy to be a bank that steps up to provide support to our community not only offering PPP (paycheck protection program) loans to clients, but also giving you a banking product that only charges you if you use our services.  We offer these solutions not only to you but to your tenants and referrals as well, since they are vital to your success.

As a Commercial real-estate owner and operator, you will be comforted during these uncertain times that our underwriting criteria has not changed and that you can get an answer within 24-hours just by submitting deals directly on piermontbank.com/talk-to-us-about-your-deal. After all, time is money in real estate.

As an enterprising commercial real estate owner and operator, you do the hard work. We see our job as providing practical banking solutions to make your hard work pay off. Take advantage of this historically low rate environment, and discover a bank that’s made for today’s enterprising businesses. Reach out directly with a deal or contact us at cre@piermontbank.com.