St. Louis BOOST loans help buy places to build businesses. (Photo Credit: CC BY-SA/Daniel Schwen/Wikipedia)
Most businesses need a location in order to operate, which means purchasing real estate is necessary. Numerous programs exist to help businesses obtain funding to buy land on which to build or lease, and in St. Louis, Mo., one such program is the St. Louis BOOST loan program. A BOOST loan gives the borrower a leg up in financing a building project.
St. Louis BOOST loans finance up to 90 percent
Like the U.S. Small Business Administration’s SBA 504 loan, a St. Louis BOOST Loan grants the borrower half of the total project cost. The St. Louis County Economic Council then lends up to an additional 40 percent through other avenues. The borrower is left having to foot only about 10 percent of the development bill.
St. Louis BOOST loans are an attractive option for those businesses who don’t qualify for SBA loans and don’t want a 20-year fixed rate loan that comes with a prepayment penalty attached for the first 10 years, said St. Louis County Economic Council Senior VP Rick Palank to St. Louis Small Business Monthly.
Flexible terms
With fewer eligibility requirements than SBA loans, the 20-year St. Louis business installment loans offered via the BOOST program give businesses financial flexibility. Loans can be fixed- or variable-rate, and borrowers need not meet a net worth, income size or personal liquidity requirement. What is perhaps most attractive about St. Louis BOOST loans is that there is no prepayment penalty.
Business borrowers can qualify for the St. Louis BOOST loan if the business is in St. Louis County and commercial, owner-occupied real estate and equipment are desired. While there is no official cap to project size, the St. Louis County Economic Council has found that in most cases, the largest BOOST loan approved has been about $500,000. For projects exceeding $1.25 million, a provision does exist that specifies the participating bank loan must exceed 50 percent and borrower equity must be higher than 10 percent of total cost.
For additional information on St. Louis BOOST loans and similar small business installment loans, contact the St. Louis County Economic Council at 314-615-7663 or visit the website below.
Sources
St. Louis County Economic Council
St. Louis Small Business Monthly
