Name & Title: Michael Lee

Company Name: HKS Capital Partners

Address: 38 West 21 Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10010

What was your most notable project, deal, transaction or professional achievement in 2017? 

A sponsor came to us looking to build a 70,000 s/f retail and residential project  in Queens. The sponsor was strong, however they had never built a ground-up project before. Even worse, they already failed to get a construction loan with another mortgage broker after months of shopping. We took the assignment with everyone’s expectation of failure. After negotiating for two months, we convinced a bank that had previously turned down the loan to give them $17 million, 60% LTC, 6% interest with a PG. Everyone walked away from the closing with big smiles. Now the project is already 75% complete.