Friendship to Financing

Borrower Stories | Columbus/Cincinnati Metro | October 2026

We’re proud to support borrowers who take on the challenge of revitalizing neighborhoods

In our series, “Developing Stories,” read about these borrowers and their experiences.

It’s all in the name…FINCON, a Columbus-based real estate development company stands for Friends in Central Ohio Network. When FINCON started in 2014, management brought “a bunch of friends to grow together”…62 investors to buy 62 acres that were ultimately sold. So, friendship is at the root of FINCON’s business.

Fast forward to 2023 when Omar ElhagMusa began at Spring Garden Lending as the SVP leading the Columbus/Cincinnati regional market. There was an article in the local paper, Business First, about Spring Garden Lending entering the market. Kesava at FINCON saw the article, was intrigued with our business model, and immediately contacted Omar.

Following a fantastic conversation, a relationship was hatched. After 2½ years of navigating the labyrinth of entitlement and planning the infrastructure for the land, we financed the infrastructure budget where, ultimately, Ryan Homes will build a 17-acre community of 134 condo units named Bowtown Grand. Incidentally, this was Omar’s first lead upon entering the market and Bowtown Grand is FINCON’s first foray into land development. Previously, their business was simply buying and selling land.

Back to friendship. FINCON has been a good friend to the City of Delaware where Bowtown Grand is located. They donated over $300,000 to build public roads to access the development, which is adding to the overall enhancement of the community.

Developing land takes a long time with lots of challenges along the way. Padman at Bowtown explained it this way, “We were persistent, determined to make this project work. We stayed in touch with Omar throughout the process.” He added, “We appreciate the excellent partnership we developed with Spring Garden Lending. They follow through with what they say; we communicated on a consistent basis and the support they extended was beyond limits. We are already working together on our next project!”

Omar added “Bowtown Grand represents more than a successful development project. It reflects what can happen when two organizations invest in a relationship built on communication, follow-through, and trust. From our first conversations to successfully capitalizing our first project together, the FINCON team proved to be outstanding partners. We developed a strong level of confidence in one another throughout the process, and I believe that trust will serve as the foundation for many successful projects to come.”

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In this challenging market, Spring Garden Lending is doing our part financing developers like the FINCON partners who work hard to provide good, affordable housing options and opportunities for all home buyers. We support our developers, who are at the core of our business, with quick closings and rapid construction draws. We have our customers’ backs every step of the way.

– Omar ElhagMusa, SVP, Columbus/Cincinnati Metro Market Leader