On a Thursday afternoon in early March, the Finance team was set to close a $6.8 million refinance deal at the Falls at Settler’s Walk. Our associates increased the value of the property nearly $11 million and worked hard to hit their revenue target. Everything (well, almost everything) was in place.
VP of Debt Brock Wright was on his way to Dallas when he learned a security breach completely shut down our access to emails, phones, and our company networks at the Central Support Office.
“We immediately called an all-hands-on-deck meeting,” Brock said. “Pushing back the loan closing was not an option.”
It would have been easy to push off the closing for another day or two. But Kevin Hyland (in-house legal counsel) and Josh Staley (junior analyst) believed the Falls team hit its goals and delivered, so they had an obligation to do the same.
“We set a date, and we don’t miss dates,” Brock said. “That’s our culture.”
Kevin and Josh both knew they needed to think creatively to get this loan across the finish line. The terms of the loan were still not 100-percent finalized, and we needed signatures on several documents to close.
Josh drove to Kinkos in Dayton to make copies of documents for all parties involved and brought them back to the Central Office for signatures. Since email was down, this ensured everyone had an original copy. Josh also worked in conjunction with chief of staff Krista Henehan to craft a handwritten document with Larry’s signature to authorize the swap (a bank transaction that locked in our fixed rate on the loan). The handwritten document stood as a substitute for documents typically sent and signed via email.
“I think the bankers probably thought we were a little bit nuts,” Brock said. “They probably aren’t wrong.”
Kevin was still working to negotiate the final terms of the agreement in the late afternoon. He picked up his cell phone and negotiated the deal while driving to the lawyer’s office in Northern Kentucky to make sure all physical copies of our loan documents were in the right place at the right time. Josh dropped off documents at the title office in Dayton simultaneously, making sure we hit all of our deadlines.
“We did whatever it took to close the deal,” Kevin said. “Honestly, it was fun thinking outside the box and finding creative solutions to close the transaction.”
Thanks to the relentless pursuit, the Falls refinance returned 226-percent of the initial investment of $3 million to the investors.
“It was an interesting turn of events, and it was our culture in action,” Brock said. “I couldn’t have been prouder of our team for closing the deal.”
Congratulations to the Josh, Kevin, and Brock for a miracle of a closing!
Check out photos from the Falls team’s refinance dinner:
