Vertical Harvest Farms
USDA Construction-to-Permanent Financing | Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)
In Brief
Discover how Waterside Commercial Finance helped deliver one of the largest USDA B&I and REAP construction financings completed to date—supporting a multi-story vertical farm in Westbrook, Maine. This landmark project combined multiple USDA programs with C-PACE and state-level funding, setting a precedent for how blended government-backed capital can advance sustainable agriculture finance.
Capital Stack
Waterside led the USDA financing component of a larger capital structure that blended multiple sources of federal, state, and private capital into a unified construction-to-permanent facility. This included delivering the USDA B&I and REAP combination loans that anchored the project's long-term debt and enabled alignment with complementary C-PACE and state funding.
$25MM USDA REAP Loan
Long-term, fixed-rate financing that provided stability and predictable debt service.
$23.8MM USDA REAP Loan
Financing for energy-efficient agricultural equipment, paired with the B&I loan as part of the overall construction-to-permanent financing.
$8.6MM C-PACE Loan
Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) loan — first of its kind in Maine.
Direct Capital Participation
Waterside provided direct capital to complete the stack.
Execution Outcome
The result was one of the most significant USDA B&I and REAP combination construction loans completed under the programs. Waterside identified a pathway to eligibility (including NEPA), coordinated program approvals, and facilitated a multi-layered capital stack across USDA B&I, REAP, C-PACE, and state funding to close the construction-to-permanent facility. This project reinforces Waterside's expertise in complex USDA program eligibility, CEA project finance, and multi-program capital execution.
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