A large stretch of undeveloped land along Highway 59 in Loxley is now under new ownership after a fast-moving financing deal cleared the path for a major multifamily housing project. Vision of Loxley APT, LLC secured a $1.5 million loan to help fund its purchase of a 41.09-acre site that has already been fully entitled for 420 apartment units, according to details of the transaction released this week.
The loan was arranged by Kennedy Funding, a New Jersey-based direct private lender that specializes in fast-turnaround commercial real estate financing across the country. The company says it closed the deal in just 18 days, a timeline the borrower needed in order to meet a contractual deadline for completing the land purchase. The overall purchase price for the property is $3 million, with the loan covering a portion of that acquisition cost.
Why the Highway 59 Site Stands Out
Highway 59 is one of Baldwin County’s busiest north-south corridors, linking Interstate 10 to the growing communities of Loxley, Robertsdale, Summerdale and the county’s beach towns farther south. Because the parcel is already “fully entitled,” meaning local zoning and development approvals for a 420-unit multifamily project are already in place, the buyer can move toward construction without the lengthy rezoning and permitting process that often delays new housing developments.
Land that is ready to build on, particularly in fast-growing parts of coastal Alabama, has become harder to come by. Developers and lenders alike have pointed to a shrinking supply of entitled sites as a key bottleneck slowing new housing construction even as demand keeps climbing.
A County Feeling Growth Pressure
Baldwin County has been among the fastest-growing counties in Alabama for more than a decade, driven by a mix of retirees, remote workers and families drawn to its schools, beaches and lower cost of living relative to other Gulf Coast destinations. That population growth has been matched by an expanding industrial and manufacturing base in the region, which has, in turn, fueled demand for rental housing near job centers.
Local officials and housing advocates have repeatedly flagged a shortage of available apartments and workforce housing across the county as new residents and employers continue to arrive. A 420-unit development, once built, would represent a significant addition to the area’s rental housing stock and could help ease some of that pressure, particularly for workers employed by the region’s growing industrial employers.
How the Financing Worked
Kennedy Funding describes itself as one of the nation’s leading direct private lenders, a type of lender that typically provides short-term, asset-based loans outside the traditional bank lending process. These loans are often used by developers who need to move quickly on land acquisitions or who may not yet qualify for conventional bank financing because a project is still in its early stages.
In this case, the speed of the loan closing, 18 days from start to finish, allowed Vision of Loxley APT, LLC to meet a deadline written into its purchase contract for the land. Missing such a deadline can jeopardize a deal entirely or force a buyer to renegotiate terms, so bridge financing of this kind is a common tool developers use to keep acquisitions on schedule while longer-term construction financing is arranged separately.
What Comes Next
The transaction announced this week covers only the land acquisition. No construction timeline, site plan details or property amenities have been released publicly. As with any large-scale multifamily project, next steps would typically include finalizing construction financing, site engineering and infrastructure work before vertical construction could begin.
South Alabama News will continue to follow the project as additional details, including a construction schedule, become available.