I am new to the outdoor advertising arena. I obtained 4 land leases and had a business partner that was going to split profits with me 50/50. As we were starting the permitting process, he was unable to keep his financial commitment due to some circumstances beyond his controll. Unfortunately, I went through a rough financial time in 2009 and my credit is preventing me from conventional financing options. I have let 3 of the land leases go but still have the best one tied up. I would like to proceed with construction and move forward with business.
Do you have any suggestions who I might turn too for financing options. I am willing to consider a variety of terms including partial ownership.
I would suggest that you attempt to sell the groundlease and permit to another competitor, and then repeat the process until you can save enough cash to build a sign for all-cash. Otherwise, you will need to find a financial partner, which is very difficult when you are just starting out and have no track record. I had to resort to drawing down on my credit cards to build my first units, as I could not find a bank either. Later, I was able to find a small-town bank that would do 80% LTV loans, and then later another bank that would do 100% LTV if the sign met certain criteria. If you have bad credit, it will be a lengthy process to find a bank that is willing to make a loan. But if all else fails, I would try to sell the lease rather than drop it.