Basis Investment Group, Lafayette Square Form Origination Partnership

Tammy Jones, Co-Founder & CEO, Basis Investment Group. Image courtesy of Basis Investment Group

Basis Investment Group, a national commercial real estate debt and equity investment platform, announced a new origination partnership with impact investment platform Lafayette Square, as it continues to build partnerships across the country with diverse led and owned capital providers.

The origination partnership with Lafayette Square, a national investment platform aimed at creating investment opportunities in overlooked places and underserved markets, is the third such partnership Basis has established in the past year.

Basis Founder & CEO Tammy Jones said in a prepared statement the partnerships are part of the firm’s ongoing initiative to deploy capital and credit through diverse led and owned providers across the U.S. Jones said Basis is looking forward to working with the Lafayette Square team to help drive community impact and support inclusive real estate developments that uplift their communities.

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Jones founded Basis in 2009 during the height of the global recession as she sought to create an alternative lending and investment platform focused on diversification, not just among the company’s portfolio and investments, but among team members.

Headquartered in New York City with representation in Chicago, Dallas, Tampa, Fla., and Irvine, Calif., Basis is one of the only diversified CRE investment platforms in the country to be founded and majority-owned by an African American woman. Basis has closed more than $5 billion in transactions across multiple strategies and asset classes focusing on the middle market. The firm is also the only diverse-owned and licensed Optigo lender for Freddie Mac and DUS lender for Fannie Mae. To date, Basis has invested and loaned more than $1.3 billion with qualified diverse owners and operators.

Prior to this week’s announcement of the partnership with Lafayette Square, Basis most recently formed an origination platform in late March with First Independence Bank, a Detroit-based commercial bank that is the only African American-owned bank headquartered in Michigan. In April 2022, Basis partnered with Genesis Bank in California, forming the first partnership of this kind. The Genesis partnership was the first time a certified minority- and woman-owned CRE investment platform and Freddie Mac servicer seller had teamed up with a Minority Depository Investment platform.

Lafayette Square deal details

Onay Payne, managing director of real estate at Miami-based Lafayette Square, said in prepared remarks the firm’s commitment to deploying capital into historically undercapitalized places and with historically undercapitalized people makes the collaboration with Basic highly strategic. She said the partnership will support deployment of property-level capital and address Lafayette Square’s focus on place.

Onay Payne, Managing Director of Real Estate, Lafayette Square. Image courtesy of Lafayette Square

Payne stated the partnership is a meaningful complement to the firm’s recently launched pilot that focuses on people with an initial $25 million first tranche of capital that Lafayette has targeted for company-led debt instruments with diverse developers and owner-operators who face acute challenges accessing capital to allow them to reach scale. Payne said the goal is to advance low-to moderate-income communities and improve the socio-economic notability of residents.

A former equity partner and managing director with oversight of multiple funds and investments across the U.S. and Mexico while at Clarion Partners, Payne joined Lafayette Square in 2022 as its first managing director of real estate. As part of the investment committee, Payne runs all of Lafayette Square’s broader real estate activities, including strategic joint ventures and inclusive real estate development.