Gold Coast ‘matchmaker’ considering tower project

A ROBINA-based funding ‘matchmaker’ which has done nearly $400 million worth of business since it was set up in 2006 is contemplating its first Gold Coast high-rise deal.

Credit Connect Group is an online peer-to-peer lender that arranges transactions between investors, some from offshore, and developers and other people seeking property funding.

Founder Peter Benson said Credit Connect’s conservative approach had seen it facilitate deals across Australia.

“Yes, we’ve been the catalyst for lending involving Gold Coast properties but nothing in the apartment tower category,” Mr Benson said. “That could be about to change because we’re down the track with evaluating the merits of a waterfront tower that’s already been unveiled in Surfers Paradise.

“The developer’s seeking $18 million and the bottomline for us is the degree of presales.

“We only lend up to 65 per cent of the value of a property and usually a lot less.”

Mr Benson was a lending manager for a Gold Coast law firm before establishing Credit Connect and securing an Australian financial services licence.

He said Credit Connect, which had a Sydney office, prided itself on the transparency of it business.

“We don’t handle anyone’s money – we’re just the middleman,” he said.

Mr Benson said Credit Connect was arranging deals for investors from Hong Kong and also was in the process of doing business with two New York hedge funds.

A Chinese industrialist had loaned $3.5 million on a Sydney property and was looking