Ice job as Kennedy arranges theme park funding package.

In an unusual transformation, a 420-acre golf course and tree farm in Wisconsin will become part of a 'water/ice' theme park project, made possible by a land acquisition loan of $2.7 million from Kennedy Funding, a direct private lender based in Hackensack, New Jersey.

Once it is completed, the Aquaplex Project will host world class, national and international water ski tournaments.

Conceived by H20 Development Co. of Plover, LLC, this water-based complex will merge the 27-hole golf course with contiguous tracts.

Three manmade lakes will be dug, as well as the construction of stadium seating, a pavilion, a hotel, a nine-hole golf course, and residential and commercial properties.

While the project is still in conceptual stages, the Village of Plover is close to signing an agreement to bring water and sewer facilities to the site, and to assist in building the site's infrastructure.

The immediate area is experiencing considerable growth, with a new Lowe's, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart Super Center about to open. A campus of the University of Wisconsin is also nearby and provides additional economic momemtum to the region.

Scott R. Neale, one of the principals of H20 Development, noted that Kennedy entered the picture at exactly the right moment.

"The difficulty in assembling the Aquaplex Project made the banks consider it a high risk, and we couldn't get the money," he remarked.

"Plus, the seller of the golf course was under some time pressure from his lenders, which added even more urgency to the deal.

"Kennedy Funding jumped right into this difficult situation and worked diligently to make it happen. They were the key factor in enabling us to get to the next step."

Gregg Wolfer, Co-CEO at Kennedy, said that the urgency was not a deterrent. "We've had to turn loans around in even faster time frames, so this one did not pose a particular problem," he said.

Wolfer also observed that this 'out-of-the-ordinary' situation was fairly common for his firm. "We regularly lend to borrowers involved in atraditional projects," he said.

"A man-made water ski complex in Wisconsin is comparable to other projects we've funded, such as airlines, cellular phone companies, sports centers, and legitimate gaming establishments. We don't have the strict confines of a bank, and can look broader and deeper at the kinds of loans we make. That's part of what makes Kennedy so unique."

Kennedy Funding has streamlined the lending process to the point where it is quick and thorough, without the usual overload of paperwork and red tape.

The firm has the ability to issue loan commitments in as little as 24 hours, which often leads to closings in 2 weeks or less. Available financing ranges from $1 million to over $100 million.

Kennedy Funding specializes in commercial real estate loans, yet their flexibility and diversity has also resulted in loans for a wide range of enterprises. Businessmen and entrepreneurs across the country and around the world have called upon Kennedy to come through when other financial institutions cannot.

They can generate up to 75% loan-to-value for commercial land development, acquisitions, workouts, refinancing, bankruptcies, and foreclosures.