YBOR CITY, FL-Ybor Hospitality Properties LLC, the owner of the 138-room Hampton Inn & Suites Tampa-Ybor City, has received $13 million in an interim refinancing loan carrying a floating rate of interest. In an unrelated deal, Kennedy Funding of Hackensack, NJ provides a Fort Pierce entrepreneur a $3.86-million loan, using his land as collateral.

GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp. of Horsham, PA provided the loan for the property at 1301 East 7th Ave. in Tampa's historic Downtown district. GMAC brokers H. McCorad Fraser, Vince Butorac and Bruce Lowrey handled the transaction.

In an unrelated financing transaction, Kennedy Funding of Hackensack, NJ accepted raw land as collateral in a $3.86-million acquisition and buyout loan for Jeffrey Freedman of Kings Highway Village LLC in Fort Pierce. Freedman used the funds to buy out his two partners and purchase four parcels totaling 79 acres on South Kings Highway between Interstate 95 and the Florida Turnpike, just outside the city limits in Lucie County.

Jeffrey Wolfer, president and CEO of Kennedy Funding, says other lenders had rejected the loan application because they would not accept undeveloped land as collateral. "We take a rather unique approach to collateral," Wolfer says. "Most standard lending institutions are hesitant to consider raw land as collateral, but we thrive on it, even if we are not providing any construction financing."