FIESTA KEY, FL-Locally based development group MM70 LLC has secured $75 million in senior and mezzanine financing for Fiesta Key, a 150-unit townhome development. The development will be located on Fiesta Key, a 28-acre private island at mile marker 70 in the Florida Keys.

The financing will be used to pay off existing debt for the project and provide some proceeds for the horizontal development entitlement process. The lender is a New York City-based private equity firm, says Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman director Dave Karson.

The project, which will include a marina, will be located on a former KOA RV Park and will include 54 wet slips. The developers are hoping to break ground early in 2008, with the project expected to be completed in 2011.

Karson says obtaining the financing was a challenge due to the oversupply of housing that currently exists in South Florida. "The biggest challenge was the overall state of the debt markets in South Florida right now," he says.

However, unlike many other parts of South Florida, development in the Florida Keys has significant barriers to entry. "It's extremely difficult to build in the Keys. There is a limited amount of supply," he says. "Ultimately, the lender was able to disassociate this project with others in South Florida."