| |
|
| |
Pleasureland
Financing a $5.7 million RV sales facility turned out to be easier than expected.
Certified Development Company:
Minnesota Business Finance Corporation
Location:
St. Augusta, Minn.
Client:
Pleasureland, Inc.
Case Study:
$1.24 million SBA 504 loan to construct $5.7 million RV sales and service facility
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
| |
|
Pleasureland is about convenience and comfort on the open road. Founded in 1971, the company is a retailer of motor homes and campers in all sizes and shapes. The business also provides service-after-the-sale and rents recreational vehicles.
Pleasureland began in St. Cloud, Minn., and has stores in suburban Minneapolis and Fargo, North Dakota -- opened in 1999 and 2001, respectively. Company President and CEO Dan Pearson has been with the company from Day One, starting in the rental department and working in parts and accessory sales until 1975. He then moved into RV sales and was there until 1982, when he assumed his current position in the company. Pearson is a “player” in his industry, having served as President of the Minnesota Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association and in various capacities for the Recreation Vehicle Dealers of North America, including as Chairman of the Board.
By 2000, Pleasureland had outgrown its St. Cloud location and was looking for larger and better space. Pearson contacted the Minnesota Business Finance Corporation (MBFC) about financing for land and a 48,600 square foot building that would include a showroom, reception area, and restrooms on the main floor and office space totaling 9,000 on the second floor. MBFC and Pearson put together a financing package for the $5.7 million project, which included a $1.24 million SBA 504 loan from MBFC, a $3.3 million first mortgage loan from the American National Bank of St. Cloud, and a borrower’s equity injection of $1.2 million.
Pearson has great things to say about the advantages he gained by working with MBFC.
“It was important that we could acquire the land with a lower down payment the SBA and MBFC were able to get us,” Pearson said. “It made the project affordable for us.”
Pearson admits that, at first, he was leery about working with a government agency.
“I was expecting nothing but red tape,” he says. What I got was a group of people who were very comfortable to deal with and who helped me through the process.”
Pearson looks forward to further growing his business -- again, he hopes, with help from MBFC. “Securing financing can be a long, arduous process, and frankly, I’d rather be rolling down the road in a mobile home from Pleasureland,” he says. “But MBFC made it as easy and painless as possible, and the terms were outstanding.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
