The Corridor Journal of Strategic Alliances Building Arts & Real Property | страница 7

tax-exempt debt to finance infrastructure. “Our firm is at the very forefront,” Rubenstein says.  Demand for new hotels on Long Island continues to be brisk—we are still below average in rooms for our size market. But of all business sectors, the RMF real estate partners view medically-related uses as the prime area for future growth.  During the Great Recession, national banks, Wall Street and insurance companies all suffered real estate losses, including some deals on Long Island.  There were workouts and deals that got started had to be scaled back. Have lenders since come all the way back in? Rubenstein answered, “The lenders are more conservative than before, and with more stringent underwriting, so while they say they are willing to lend to real estate developers, they take longer to approve deals and are lending smaller amounts as a percentage of the project.”   Nonetheless “two years ago it was hard to get a commitment even on a small financing needed for a property acquisition,” Leno says. “Now it’s the opposite-- the banks want to put their money to use and are back in the market.”   The local banks of Long Island also play an important role as relationship banks for deals in the $5 to $25 million range, and RMF represents some of them in their active pursuit of good projects, or as lower-tier lenders in some bigger projects.   Rubenstein and Ambrosino once had a meeting in Virginia with the general counsel for a European manufacturer. He said that his firm expected to get the usual tax breaks when they acquired property in a high-cost area like Long Island. But what really sells them about LI, he shared, is the incredibly good schools and high workforce productivity. RMF helps its clients to leverage those assets.    Sometimes you build a project, and hope that after years waiting for it to be finished the market demand will still be there. “It requires fortitude, vision and creativity. But if we build well and identify the right projects, then the tenants and the market demand is likely to follow,” Leno says. Ruskin Moscou Faltischek P.C. may be contacted at: 516-663-6600. Visit the website www.rmfpc.com for detailed information about the practice and attorneys’ areas of expertise. • Huntington • Babylon • Smithtown • Islip www.villageconnectionmagazine.com • 1 Village Connection Magazine is Long Island's magazine for arts, lifestyle, dining and entertainment. Call To Advertise: 631.988.5465 villageconnectionmagazine.com Frank G. Zarb School of Business Leaders are made here. You want more than a degree. You need a graduate business education that will prepare you to lead, and propel you to the top of your field. The Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University can give you that edge. Five academic departments with accomplished faculty who are leading scholars in their fields. State-of-the-art facilities, within easy ɕ