Stratton Capital Group, a private credit firm focused on complex, transitional real estate and infrastructure-backed financings, announced the successful closing of a $13.7 million senior secured land bridge loan supporting a large-scale energy and ag-tech development in Maurice River, New Jersey.

The financing supported the acquisition of a 2,100-acre parcel positioned for a multi-phase development incorporating controlled-environment agriculture, utility-scale solar generation, battery storage, and digital infrastructure. Stratton’s capital bridged the asset from land acquisition through anticipated institutional project-level financing.

The transaction presented challenges increasingly common in today’s market but rarely addressed with precision, including a land acquisition sourced through a bankruptcy process, a multi-layered future capital stack, and a compressed execution timeline driven by downstream project finance milestones. Rather than forcing the transaction into a conventional lending framework, Stratton approached the opportunity with a structuring-first mindset.

“The value in this transaction wasn’t just in the land,” said Lantz George, Co-CEO of Stratton Capital Group. “It was in the timing, the permits, and the sequencing of capital. Our role was to finance certainty while protecting downside.”

Stratton structured the financing as a short-term senior secured land bridge with a first-priority mortgage and enhanced lender protections designed to align execution risk with capital preservation. Key elements included conservative leverage against current land value, defined milestones tied to the borrower’s institutional takeout strategy, and lender control mechanisms to address potential timing or market volatility. The loan carries a 12-month initial term, providing flexibility for project advancement while maintaining a clear and enforceable path to repayment.

Importantly, the transaction was underwritten based on as-is collateral value and sponsor capability, not projected development outcomes.

“Speed alone doesn’t close complex deals — judgment does,” added a Stratton Capital Group principal. “We focus on understanding where real risk sits in a transaction and structuring around it. That discipline is what allows us to support sponsors in complicated situations without compromising credit standards.”