“The new center’s design will be a dramatic improvement over our current space limitations,” says Patrica Tursi, the ESPC’s CEO, in a release. “It will be extremely child- and family-friendly with well-conceived space for bedrooms, classrooms, community and quiet rooms, recreation areas, therapeutic suites and family respite.”

A loan of this size for a specialized healthcare facility—it’s reportedly one of only five of its kind in the state—would have been unlikely six months ago. Within the past 90 days, though, “Lenders have begun to tiptoe back into the market,” Berkadia’s Bradley Grainger tells GlobeSt.com.

The uncommon nature of the facility made it a good fit for HUD’s Section 232 program, says Grainger, an SVP and branch manager of Berkadia’s Syracuse, NY office and a specialist in healthcare property finance. According to HUD, Section 232 insures mortgages that cover the construction and rehabilitation of nursing homes and assisted living facilities for people who need long-term care or medical attention.

Grainger says the HUD program is geared toward projects that face creditworthiness challenges, are located in less-desirable urban or rural areas or have unusual and complex space requirements. The ESPC facility comes in under the third of these general headings, he says, adding, “we have complete confidence in the borrower.”

Although Grainger tells GlobeSt.com he’s not at liberty to disclose the lender, the AFL-CIO’s Housing Investment Trust says it’s the source of the $100-million loan. The HIT is providing financing for the ESPC through the purchase of $100 million of FHA-insured taxable Ginnie Mae construction loan certificates and a permanent loan certificate, in the trust’s biggest investment to date.