In today’s highly competitive and constantly evolving real estate market, sponsors of retail commercial properties need a reliable financial partner to help them navigate the complexities of this space. There is a perception that capital is non-existent for this sector, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Peachtree Group Credit has emerged as an industry leader – ranking as the 16thlargest U.S. commercial real estate retail lender ranking as the 16th largest U.S. commercial real estate retail lender – providing creative financing solutions to help clients realize their vision for maximizing return on investment.
The fact is retail, including malls, is experiencing strong leasing momentum with increased foot traffic allowing sponsors to stabilize cash flow levels, which took a hit during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brick-and-mortar retail locations are a necessary and growing component of a retailer’s multi-channel strategy. While traditional retail struggled before COVID, the pandemic has brought greater appreciation for in-store experiences for certain shopping items. This trend bodes well for retail as an investment.
To remain competitive, retail investors must accelerate their plans and expand their thinking to find ways to keep their retail locations relevant in a changing landscape.
Retail investors are looking at this sector with compelling strategies, including reimagining portions of the property to bring in new tenants, densifying the property by spinning off excess parking into pad sites or value-add components with a plan for re-leasing and some potential redevelopment opportunities.
Peachtree provides needed liquidity for maturing loans, new acquisitions and construction projects.
Some of the recent coast-to-coast mall transactions completed, include:
Peachtree actively collaborates with sponsors from the initial concept stage until closing, offering expedited financing explicitly tailored for their business, allowing all parties to achieve a best-in-class financial outcome. Throughout the process, Peachtree keeps up regular touchpoints, ensuring the transactions go smoothly. This further demonstrates Stonehill’s commitment to supporting sponsor capital strategies with execution certainty amid a highly unpredictable funding landscape, increasingly a critical variable impacting retail real estate acquisition competition outcomes.
Having access to an experienced lender can provide valuable expertise and guidance to help you with your investment. With specific retail knowledge, Peachtree can provide insights into effective strategies for success. At Peachtree, we have the expertise to guide you through your options.
Greg Koenig is a senior vice president at Peachtree Group Credit. Before joining Peachtree, he was an executive director at A large private equity firm, focusing on debt originations in all asset classes. Prior to that, Greg was a senior vice president at Newport RE, a German-based real estate investment company, focusing on acquisitions and asset management for its U.S. portfolio. Previously, he was a vice president at Rialto Capital, where he helped underwrite and asset-manage loan portfolios. Before joining Rialto, Greg worked at TriMont Real Estate Advisors facilitating loan workouts and maximizing returns on distressed assets. Greg holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut, where he majored in Real Estate and UrbanEconomics.
Contact Greg at gkoenig@peachtreegroup.com or 1-860-833-2285.
A wave of maturing debt has been a boon to business for Atlanta-based Peachtree Group. Peachtree Group, through its Peachtree Group Credit division, has deployed $556M in loans and another $526M to buy five hotels and develop another three projects. Recent deals include a $48M construction loan for a 215-room Autograph Collection hotel in Huntsville, Alabama, a $42.2M first mortgage loan to refinance the 133-room Motif on Music Row hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, and a $42M mortgage loan for the acquisition of Town Center at Cobb mall in Kennesaw.
The transaction market in the hotel industry has hit a stalemate over the past couple of years, with high borrowing costs sinking property values and regional and small banks struggling to originate debt. There is still opportunities to be had in this environment, though. Peachtree Group has deployed more than $1 billion in commercial real estate investments year to date, including $526 million to acquiring five hotels and three new development hotel projects.
Stonehill, a commercial real estate direct lender, ranked as the 8th largest U.S. commercial real estate hotel lender by the Mortgage Bankers Association ("MBA") 2022 loan origination rankings, a two-spot increase from the 2021 rankings. In 2022, Stonehill deployed $1.2 billion in real estate investment, with $813 million related to hotels.
Stonehill was also ranked as the 16th largest U.S. commercial real estate retail lender by MBA, having deployed $163 million in 2022.
"Our performance is a testament to our commitment to understanding our sponsors' business plans and accomplishing the transactions by having stable capital despite market turbulence,” said Mat Crosswy, Stonehill's president and managing principal.
Last year, Stonehill expanded its commercial lending business to originate and make investments across all real estate sectors by forming Stonehill CRE. This CRE group focuses on heavy transitional assets and sectors of the credit market that are traditionally undersupplied.
"Amid economic volatility and rising interest rates, traditional lenders have pulled back on real estate lending, creating a dislocation in the capital markets. At Stonehill, we have spent years building our capital formation, allowing us to originate loans and provide financing to real estate owners across all sectors looking to execute their business plans, even during periods of uncertainty," said Daniel Siegel, president, Stonehill CRE.
MBA's annual originations rankings report is a comprehensive set of listings of 149 commercial/multifamily mortgage originators, their 2022 volumes, and their different roles.
About Stonehill
Stonehill, a part of Peachtree Group, is a direct lender providing permanent loans, bridge loans, mezzanine loans, commercial property assessed clean energy (CPACE) financing and preferred equity investments secured primarily by hotel assets. Founded in 2013, Stonehill provides creative finance solutions for acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings and renovations and has completed over 510 transactions totaling over $5.4 billion. The principals of Stonehill have combined to originate, structure or purchase over $10.0 billion of debt.
