Capital Access Group (www.capitalaccess.com), a commercial real estate lender specializing in U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loans for growing businesses, recently helped Holly Pranger, owner of Pranger Law PC, purchase a 1,369-square-foot commercial condominium located at 88 Guy Place, #403, San Francisco, CA. Pranger Law is a premier boutique firm specializing in intellectual property and advertising law. This is the second facility purchased by Pranger Law through the SBA 504 loan program to house this growing business.
Prior to purchasing its own office space, Pranger Law leased offices in a building with a few other small law firms in San Francisco’s Marina district. Eventually, as Pranger Law expanded, it outgrew the shared facility, and Holly knew it was time to get the firm its own space. Initially, she explored leasing another office, but she was disillusioned by the high prices.
“I upped the budget, and realized that the amount of money I would need to lease a space would be close to a mortgage payment,” said Holly Pranger, Founder, Pranger Law PC.
Holly began the process of searching for an office space to purchase.
Initially, Holly didn’t think she would be able to afford the down payment for a commercial real estate loan, because it would have taken too much cash flow out of the business, but then someone referred her to the SBA.
The SBA 504 program’s low down payment “blew me away,” according to Holly. “When I found out it was only 10% down, I thought, I can swing that. I don’t know if I would have been able to do it if the down payment was 20-30%.”
The SBA 504 program’s low down payment impressed Holly, as did the “fabulous” service she received from Capital Access Group. “The SBA process was quite elegant,” said Holly. “The process was shockingly easy, and the people I worked with were fantastic.”
“We bought our space and made it our own,” said Holly. “When people come to the office, they are impressed and surprised to see the look and feel of the place. It’s very different for a law office.”
When another office condo in the building became available — right on the other side of the wall of Pranger Law’s current space — Holly knew that she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“I worked with Capital Access Group twice,” said Holly. “I expected things to be challenging, but the process was pleasant and easy. I would never go back to leasing office space ever again. When we are ready to expand again, I’ll go back to Capital Access and say: Get me another business loan!”
“We were so pleased to help Holly buy her second commercial condo using the SBA 504 loan program,” said Claudia Cohen, SVP, Capital Access Group. “The 504 program was created for business owners just like Holly who realize that, instead of leasing, they can actually own their own space (or two!) and start building equity in the business. We loved working with Holly and we wish her all the best.”