Cambridge Realty Capital has been around since 1983, and has been specializing in HUD-insured funding since the 90’s. Today, many years later, Cambridge founder Jeffrey Davis and Cambridge President Andrew Erkes are still leading the charge.
Some of Cambridge’s clients also go back to those early years. Alden Healthcare Management of Illinois Chairman Floyd A. Schlossberg is one of Cambridge’s most long-standing. Schlossberg credits Erkes’ professionalism, passion and commitment as the catalyst that first fueled the relationship that has spanned decades.
Back then, Schlossberg was looking to finance Princeton Nursing Home in Chicago. However, he also had big plans for future development. He wanted to find a lender that he could carry on a working relationship with for years going forward, long after the Princeton deal would be completed.
It was Erkes who pursued Schlossberg and ultimately won his confidence, and his business. “Andy came to us and sold us on the fact that Cambridge could do the job,” Schlossberg recounted. “We had worked with other large lending firms prior to meeting Andy, but Cambridge does most of our work now.” Alden Healthcare went on to finance more than 20 other properties with Cambridge after that first deal.
Avrum Weinfeld, CEO of EMI Enterprises of Illinois, agrees with Schlossberg. He had a similar experience when his company came to Cambridge for the first time in 2003 to fund one of its healthcare facilities.
“Andy and his staff are very honorable and very professional. But, best of all, they’re exceptionally quick,” Weinfeld asserted. Even when a major unforeseen problem arose a week before the targeted closing date, Cambridge impressed Weinfeld with its unflappable tenacity. Cambridge worked its contacts, made some calls, and had the problem fixed in time for the target date. Weinfeld was so impressed, in fact, that he went on to finance four more projects with Cambridge.
One of the reasons that clients like Schlossberg and Weinfeld come back to Cambridge again and again is because of its exceptional understanding of the HUD loan program. Michael Cooper, Founder and President of The Cooper Valuation Group, knows this well. He is another who has worked with Cambridge numerous times over the years, albeit in a somewhat different capacity.
The Cooper Valuation Group has completed a substantial number of appraisals and market evaluations on behalf of Cambridge for a decade and has worked closely with Erkes. “Nobody knows or understands the HUD program better than Andy,” declared Cooper. “With the underwriting process there are a lot of moving parts. On complex deals I marvel at his patience and resolve,” he said, adding that “they’re the best at vetting deals first in order to eliminate hiccups later on. A lot of lenders don’t do that.”
