Greystone Forms JV With Inlet Real Estate Capital

Ryan Jantzen, Co-Founder, Inlet Real Estate Capital. Image courtesy of Inlet Real Estate Capital

National CRE finance firm Greystone, through affiliate Greystone Commercial Mortgage Capital, has formed a joint venture with Inlet Real Estate Capital “to provide short-term, floating rate capital solutions for commercial real estate owners,” Greystone announced on Monday, Nov. 7.

A Greystone spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive that the target raise for the fund is in the neighborhood of $250 million. The joint venture will target transactions ranging from $5 million to $50 million on assets located throughout the U.S.

Greystone Inlet Real Estate Capital will target complex or potentially distressed situations by providing debt and equity recapitalization solutions for multifamily, industrial, office, mixed-use and other asset types that need additional time and capital to execute their business plan and stabilize the property.

READ ALSO: PREIT’s CEO on the Rebirth of Malls

The joint venture will offer flexible structured capital solutions such as first mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, common equity investment, or a hybrid of multiple structures. On stabilization, the strategic venture between Greystone and Inlet will provide sponsors with direct access to long-term, fixed-rate financing through Greystone’s other lending platforms such as CMBS and agency financing.

Rich Highfield, Head of CMBS lending, Greystone. Image courtesy of Greystone

Inlet Real Estate Capital was founded just last year and is led by Ryan Jantzen and Adam Saltzman, both formerly with Ladder Capital. So far, the company has accumulated more than $100 million in assets under management.

According to Jantzen’s prepared remarks, a record number of loan maturities are expected within the next year, and CRE investors and lenders may find themselves in a difficult position to refinance, frequently at less than expected proceeds or less than optimal rates, so the newly formed entity will offer short-term, creative financing solutions to allow borrowers to successfully recapitalize their properties.

Rich Highfield, head of Greystone’s CMBS platform, added that Greystone’s CMBS financing platform as an exit option complements Inlet’s capabilities.

Distress, or not?

Since early in the pandemic, when sizable numbers of office and hospitality properties began experiencing levels of stress similar to the already-beleaguered retail sector, entities have stepped up with platforms to serve owners of distressed assets.

Image by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay

For example, in June 2021 Archway Capital launched a $150 million lending program aimed at complex transactions and/or non-performing CRE assets.

The same month, SKW Funding and Bain Capital Credit LP formed a joint venture to focus on special situation loan originations and sub- and non-performing note acquisitions.

In August 2021, however, Commercial Property Executive interviewed some of the CRE executives who were questioning the extent to which widespread distress has really happened, or is likely to.