S3 Capital writes $35M construction loan to finish Casa Princeton

S3 Capital has written a $35 million construction loan to complete Casa Princeton, a 374-unit multifamily community at 12867 SW 248th Street in Princeton, Florida, IREI reported. The third and final phase adds an eight-story, 162-unit building and a two-story parking garage to a campus that already holds 212 units across two earlier phases.

The underwriting leans on the first two phases. Phase I is delivered and stabilized. Phase II came online in March 2026 and is roughly 40 percent leased. That record gives the lender something most construction loans lack: observed demand for the exact product being built, rather than projected absorption.

Aconcagua Group, a Miami-based developer with more than 3,000 residential units delivered across the U.S. and Latin America, sponsors the project. T&G Constructors, the general contractor on the first two phases, is continuing in that role. The units are one- and two-bedroom apartments with a clubhouse, co-working space, pool, fitness center, playground, and dog park.

Steven Jemal, S3's managing director of origination, told IREI the early phases' absorption validated demand in the 'attainable housing' segment and gave the lender conviction.

Construction lenders often underwrite to a rent roll that exists only on a spreadsheet. Here, the rent roll is real. Phase II's 40 percent lease-up is neither a triumph nor a failure, but it is honest data on how the market prices attainable housing in South Florida. The absorption is the collateral.

At roughly $216,000 per unit, the loan is a middle-market ticket too small for institutional towers and too structured for a standard bank product. Specialized private credit earns its spread in that gap.

The real test is Phase II's path from 40 percent to stabilization. If it fills quickly, Aconcagua has a repeatable template and S3 has a model it can trust elsewhere. If it stalls, the next similar loan gets underwritten with more caution.