Of all the forks in the business world, Darien Rowayton Bank President and Chief Operating Officer Robert Kettenmann said real estate development is the sector asking for and receiving the most commercial loans in lower Fairfield County. He said an uptick in owner-occupied residential construction is part of the reason behind this loaning trend.
Kettenmann fielded several questions from the Fairfield County Business Journal about the state of commercial banking loans.
- Robert Kettenmann, president and chief operating officer of Darien Rowayton Bank. File photo
What is the current availability of commercial loans?
“I think commercial loans are readily available. At our bank, we have no inability to lend. We are well-funded. I actually see that across the marketplace. A number of banks we compete with here in Fairfield County are in the same position.”
Is your bank a good candidate for commercial loans, and why?
“I think so. We are obviously a bit biased, but I think we are a really good bank to work with. We get good feedback from clients we work with, and we have experienced lenders at the banks we work with.”
What does the ideal candidate present to you (e.g. a good credit rating) to receive a positive response for commercial loans?
“Credit at the end of the day is a relatively traditional process. We need organizational and financial information behavior such as a credit rating that indicates they have conducted. When someone is looking for commercial loan, something like interest rate is also very important.”
What specific sectors (e.g. health, law, real estate) are seeking the most money? Who is seeing the most money these days?
“Most of what were seeing right now is commercial real estate development. There is a lot of rehabbing buildings and putting up new office buildings. That”™s usually a sign people are optimistic about the economy. We have been seeing it mainly in our core marketplace ”” Darien, Stamford, Greenwich. We have also seen it spill into Westchester County.”
What have been the recent patterns involving structures? Do you have too much money to lend?
“More recently, we have tended to make more real estate development loans, which tend to be midmaturity structure four- to seven-year loans. We also do some owner-occupied residential construction, seen an uptick in that. I can”™t speak for all banks, but I would think that most would not have too much money to lend.”
You have three branches ”” in Darien, Rowayton and Southport. Are you thinking of expanding, and are you open-minded toward expansion?
“We don”™t have any specific plans at the moment. For some time, we have said we would be opportunistic of a natural extension into Greenwich or Stamford. We”™re not in a hurry, but it”™s something we keep on our radar.”
