Avatar Financial Group provides $1.95 million bridge loan to finance Blackwood industrial property

Blackwood, NJ Avatar Financial Group LLC provided $1.95 million in financing on a 162,000 s/f industrial building at 521 Rte. 168.

The two-year bridge loan recapitalized a portion of the sponsor’s all-cash acquisition of the property, which had been purchased out of the prior owner’s bankruptcy estate roughly three weeks earlier.

With the asset secured, the sponsor turned to Avatar for financing that could return a portion of invested capital while leaving room to continue ramping operations and prepare for a conventional refinance.

“This deal had two clocks running,” said T.R. Hazelrigg IV, Avatar’s president and co-founder. “The sponsor had to move fast to win the asset out of bankruptcy, and once they did, they needed capital back on the balance sheet just as quickly. Deals on this kind of timeline need a private lender with capital on hand and the autonomy to underwrite without waiting on a committee.”

Situated on 3.7 acres in Camden County, the property is occupied by Arway Linen, a privately held subsidiary of the sponsor that provides linen services to restaurants and hotels throughout South Jersey. Arway’s in-place financials and the affiliated tenancy supported the underwriting and the sponsor’s operating plan, which calls for continued growth before refinancing Avatar’s loan into permanent debt.

The Philadelphia/South Jersey industrial market entered 2026 on solid footing. According to Cushman & Wakefield, the region posted its second consecutive quarter of positive net absorption in Q1, while Camden County recorded a 7% vacancy rate with no industrial space currently under construction.

Avatar Financial Group LLC (Avatar) was founded in 2003 and provides real estate bridge loans for borrowers with capital needs that don’t conform to bank standards or traditional lending timelines. A leader in commercial hard money bridge loans, the firm offers solutions for nonconforming, income-producing real estate nationwide (excluding Nevada). Since its inception, Avatar has followed a client-first approach, consistently emphasizing smart capital deployment and preservation. Principals of Avatar have completed more than $1 billion in bridge loan funding collectively. While the current market has created a lack of credit availability for real estate investors and small business owners, Avatar is positioned to meet the market needs and expand its portfolio of loans in the $1 million to $100 million+ range without the regulatory constraints that large banks and institutional lenders are now facing. In 2021, the company introduced Avatar Commercial Mortgage REIT LLC, a mortgage fund with a REIT structure that potentially benefits investors.