Use Syndication for new construction in fill project

[Estevan Benavides]

Hi everyone,

I came across a good property (cluster of 4 lots) that can be reconfigured into 9 SFD lots. I can pick it up for a good price and the city is on board with the development as it was underway with the previous owner. I started looking around for financing but seem to have hit a bit of a wall as most of the lenders are asking how many projects I have finished as the owner/on title. The answer is zero, however, I tried to explain that I work for a real estate development company and I run multimillion-dollar projects every day (over 200 MF and 80 SFD in the last 4 years) but that was not enough to convince them. I am also a GC with decades of work under my belt, but they were not impressed. 

My question is this, has anyone started a syndication (I looked into Syndication Pro) to fund projects? On the surface, it seems like a good fit as I would be preparing all of my proforma and scheduling info no matter the funding source so why not pitch it to investors? the plan is to buy the land and start building right away on the two lots that are ready while the other lots are mapped. 

the market I am looking at is solid, low DOM for any good listings in this area and the city is going to waive a lot of fees since they want the housing and I am working on an infill project. Any ideas would be great! Thanks.