Mission Blvd

Most lenders underwrite from financial statements. We underwrite from the street. Two of Trinity's principals, Danny McColl and Steve Cupps, live in Mission Beach and had walked past this stalled-out liquor store on Mission Boulevard for years. They watched it start a renovation, stop, and sit half-finished while permits stalled in the city.

When the deal came across our desk through a broker, we didn't need a market study. We knew the foot traffic on this block, the neighborhood's demand for a quality shop, and the commercial dynamics of Mission Boulevard. We funded $1.25 million to complete the transformation: a modern two-story liquor store with a deli counter, replacing what had been an eyesore.

This deal illustrates something that doesn't show up in a pitch deck: we live in the markets we lend in. That's not a marketing line. It literally means our principals are walking past our collateral on their way to get coffee. We see the construction progress in real-time. We notice if work stops. We know if the finished product is attracting customers.

The owner completed the renovation and secured long-term financing to pay us off. The store is busy, the neighborhood is better for it, and we protected our capital with the kind of on-the-ground visibility that no out-of-state lender can replicate.