Live Oak backs coastal property manager Nicholas with credit line, insurance launch
What's the deal? David Nicholas Building & Property MaintenanceDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has secured a seven-figure revolving credit facility from Live Oak BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and launched a coastal property insurance brokerage in partnership with ECBM. The Margate, New Jersey-based firm, a portfolio company of Keystone Equity PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, manages luxury coastal homes worth over $650M.
What's the endgame? Nicholas wants to become the country's first full-service residential real estate asset manager. It advises high-net-worth homeowners across the life cycle of coastal property ownership — maintenance, capital improvements, and now insurance.
Why now? Coastal homeowners face soaring premiums, insurer non-renewals, and coverage gaps. As the party managing and maintaining these properties, Nicholas argues it is well positioned to mitigate risk and advocate for owners in a fragmented insurance market.
What's the endgame for the money? The Live Oak facility supports both organic and acquisitive growth, giving Keystone's Shoreline Platform extra capacity to pursue deals. "Nicholas is already well capitalized, yet our relationship with Live Oak provides ... significant incremental capacity and strategic flexibility to opportunistically chase acquisitive growth in a fragmented market," said Matthew Malinowski, Keystone co-founder and Nicholas co-chief executive officer.
The company has served the South Jersey coast for more than 25 years and is on pace to grow its customer base 50% year-over-year. Its insurance partner, ECBM, is a top-10 Philadelphia region broker with over 50 years in the business.
The signal: The financing and insurance launch reflect a bet that luxury real estate services can be consolidated under one manager. "HNWIs have over 30% of their assets invested in real estate, and that asset class lacks coordination and is materially underserved by current vendors," said Tony Frick, Keystone co-founder and Nicholas co-chief executive officer.
Read more: AP News
