Bridger Fund Case Study: Bridge Refinance Creates Runway for Future Sale and Long-Term Business Plan for Winery and Museum

Bridger Fund delivered a cross-collateralized bridge refinance in time to retire a maturing loan, giving a longtime Sonoma and Marin County property owner the certainty and runway needed to carry out a planned sale.

The Challenge

The Sponsor, a husband-and-wife ownership group that has held the two properties since 2004 and 2012, respectively, was facing the maturity of a $5,000,000 bridge loan with its existing lender. The Sponsor needed a lender who could move quickly to retire the maturing debt while it carried out a longer-term plan to sell the larger of the two properties.

The Collateral

The loan is secured by two cross-collateralized properties brought to Bridger Fund by Paul Schroeder of Slatt Capital. 1995 S McDowell Blvd in Petaluma is a 37,775-square-foot flex industrial building the Sponsor has owned since 2004, occupied by a third-party commercial tenant under a lease running through March 2028 and by the Sponsor’s own wine and sports car business, which occupies the remaining space. 83 Caribe Isle in Novato is a 1-4 unit residential property the Sponsor has owned since 2012, leased on a month-to-month basis at $75,000 per year. Together, the two properties carried a total market value of $8,520,150, supporting Bridger Fund’s loan at a conservative 61.6% loan-to-value.

The Solution

Bridger Fund structured the transaction as a $5,250,000 cross-collateralized bridge refinance. Proceeds paid off the Sponsor’s maturing $5,000,000 bridge loan in full, along with accrued interest and closing costs, ahead of the existing lender’s maturity deadline.

The loan closed with the following key terms:

• $5,250,000 cross-collateralized bridge refinance, full recourse
• 12-month term, no extension option, no prepayment penalty
• 9.25% fixed interest rate
• 61.6% loan-to-value against a combined $8,520,150 market value
• No impounds, no holdbacks, no interest reserves

Bridger Fund’s underwriting looked past the properties’ in-place cash flow to the Sponsor’s long ownership history, sizable equity position, and verified personal liquidity, allowing the loan to close quickly and with certainty ahead of the existing lender’s maturity deadline.

The Exit Strategy

The Sponsor’s primary plan to retire Bridger Fund’s loan is the sale of 1995 S McDowell Blvd, which is being marketed at a target list price of $8,499,000, well above the loan amount. Once the sale closes, the Sponsor plans to relocate its business to a new headquarters better suited to their long-term needs. The new location is planned to include a small tasting room for the wine business, along with a dedicated museum space honoring the family’s decades of history in professional sports car racing.