When Cameron Chandler mowed lawns in high school, it was to support his participation in team sports – and not because he envisioned founding one of Phoenix, AZ’s, leading commercial-landscaping businesses. Today, along with growing GPM Landscape, Inc. into a thriving business that employees 130 people, Cameron can now count commercial-property ownership among his achievements.
Here’s how Cameron secured an SBA 504 loan in partnership with TMC Financing and Bell Bank to achieve a long-held goal.
A modest start, followed by steady growth
GPM started as a part-time service in 2000 and by 2003, Cameron formalized and licensed the business. Today, the company specializes in the design, installation, and maintenance of grass and floral landscapes for residential apartment complexes.
Over two decades, GPM’s reputation for excellence, professionalism, and reliability has led to steady growth throughout the greater Phoenix area. The business’s success also meant changing locations several times to accommodate a growing staff, offices, and space for equipment and maintenance.
“I’d wanted to buy a property for GPM for a long time and had been looking for about five or six years,” Cameron explains. “It was discouraging, though, because the asking prices kept going up and I was always outbid. It was hard for a small business like mine to afford what we needed.”
Persistence pays off
Cameron eventually found the commercial property he wanted for GPM. He says, “If you believe, as I do, that everything happens for a reason, then we missed out on other properties because this was the right one for us.”
The next step was financing it, which he was able to do with an SBA 504 loan in partnership with TMC Financing and his longtime commercial bank, Bell Bank.
“I’ve been really fortunate to have a great commercial banking representative, Rhonda Scarfo, at Bell Bank,” Cameron says. “She recommended TMC Financing and the SBA 504 loan program and she’s never steered me wrong.”
The right loan and a great team
SBA 504 loans are used to purchase commercial real estate and other fixed assets at below-market, long-term, fixed rates with a 25-year loan term. They can be used for new construction, upgrades to existing buildings, equipment purchases, or to improve eficiencia energética.
To purchase his property, Cameron needed a 10% down payment. “I’d leased property for the business for about 20 years, so even though it was something that I wanted for a long time, this was a huge step for GPM and for me,” he admits. Bell Bank financed 50% of the total project cost and TMC financed the remaining 40% of the project cost.
“For a property purchase, I thought the process was pretty straightforward,” Cameron explains, acknowledging that much of the credit goes to the teamwork and excellent communication between TMC, Bell Bank, and GPM’s office manager, Amy Mahan. “Having a great team working on your behalf really makes a difference.”
Property ownership brings many benefits
For GPM, property ownership means added stability, predictable occupancy costs, and numerous tax benefits. Cameron says that while his monthly mortgage payment is slightly more than his last lease, overall it balances out because his new property has everything they need onsite and he doesn’t have the extra location-related expenses that otherwise added up.
For Cameron, the purchase offers the additional benefit of building equity in real estate, which provides a level of financial security that many small business owners never achieve.
“There are so many reasons why owning your commercial property makes sense for small businesses,” says Chris Bane, TMC’s business development officer who led the deal. “For GPM and Cameron, it was the right next step for a well-established and growing business and it was a pleasure helping Cameron achieve his goal.”
TMC Financing can help you secure an SBA 504 loan for your business
“At times I wanted to give up on the idea of owning property for GPM, but I had a great team to help me and the SBA 504 program made it a reality,” Cameron says. “I’m so happy with how it worked out.”
If your business is located in TMC’s service area of California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and Oregon, Contáctenos to get started. If your business is located outside of our service area, try the SBA’s Lender Match tool to find a qualified certified development company (CDC) lending partner near you.
Acerca de la financiación de TMC
Founded in 1981, TMC Financing is the leading provider of SBA 504 commercial real estate loans in the nation, funding projects worth over $14 billion across Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii, and Oregon. Over 7,000 businesses have benefited from this financing, resulting in the creation of an estimated 60,000 jobs.