TMC Financing helped Filiberto Fonseca and Gino Borello, co-owners of NewPath Landscape Services, secure over $1.6m in SBA 504 financing that funded two different projects. The funds were first used to acquire 8 acres of vacant land, then later to purchase a 4,608 square-foot building in Morgan Hill, CA. Their land acquisition replaced several inconveniently located storage yards and the building purchase only required a 10% down payment. By utilizing multiple SBA 504 loans, Fonseca and Borello escaped unpredictable lease rates, eliminated the need for outsourced storage space and solidified their occupancy costs for the long term.
NewPath Landscape Services offers customized landscaping solutions for Bay Area retail centers, condos, parks, corporate campuses and residential properties. New Path is dedicated to building and maintaining landscapes with integrity from strategy to execution.
“NewPath was founded in 2006 but our services were limited. We only had three employees and a small plant nursery,” explains Fonseca. “2017 was our most significant year, revenue grew by 25% and staff grew to over 100 employees. However, we still had to outsource materials and lease storage space. It wasn’t cost effective – I knew we had to find an alternative.”
Before Fonseca and Borello purchased land with their first SBA 504 loan, they stored equipment and plants at various sites. The acreage they acquired in Morgan Hill allowed NewPath to have one centralized storage location near their main offices.
Bruce Whitaker, TMC Financing’s senior vice president of business development, who facilitated the loan explains, “The SBA 504 Loan Program was the perfect solution for New Path. The terms of their loan were unbeatable. They secured 90% financing for the parcel of land, coupled with a below market long-term fixed interest rate. Now, rather than having to manage multiple storage yards – they have one conveniently located space.”
“If I had to rate TMC, I would give them a 5 out of 5,” says Fonseca. “We didn’t run into any stumbling blocks and the team knew what they were doing. That’s why I came back to Bruce two years later when I decided to buy my building.”
In 2019, Fonseca and Borello made the decision to stop leasing office space and purchase a stable operating location for their business. Already familiar with the process, Fonseca knew that securing a second 504 loan would be the best financing option.
“The 10% down payment is what really attracted me to the 504 Program. We didn’t have to put up a huge amount of money up front. Instead, we could keep that cash for other business expenses. Now that we own the property, we have a sense of security and control that we didn’t have before. I am no longer at the mercy of a landlord who could unexpectedly raise our lease rates.” said Fonseca.
As for working with TMC, Fonseca boasted, “TMC was integral in helping to make property ownership a reality. They guided us through our SBA loans and were there to answer all my questions. SBA 504 financing allowed us to keep operating costs intact and look towards future expansion. I hope to repeat this process with TMC Financing one day.”
NewPath’s landscaping portfolio can be found at www.newpathlandscape.com.
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