Smith Hill Capital, ECI, InterVest Launch $250M Lending Platform
The program will target loans in the $15 million to $100 million range.
Smith Hill Capital, ECI Group and InterVest have formed a $250 million private lending platform to provide financial solutions to multifamily owners and operators. Packages to be offered by the partners include first mortgages, mezzanine loans and preferred equity owners. Target loan amounts are expected to range from $15 million to $100 million and be used for refinancing, new construction and acquisitions.
The new debt platform joins other alternative lending sources that have entered the multifamily sector in recent years to provide financial solutions previously dominated by banks prior to changing market conditions.
The lending platform has already been deployed, according to Brendan McCormick, managing principal at New York-based Smith Hill Capital, the commercial real estate debt investment management business of the Procaccianti Cos. Smith Hill Capital was formed in December 2022 to invest in debt opportunities that exist because of liquidity challenges and dislocation in the CRE financial markets.
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“The platform has an active pipeline of opportunities and currently has two deals signed up that we are working to close during the fourth quarter. The assets are in a dynamic market in the Southeast,” McCormick told Multi-Housing News.
Seth Greenberg, CEO of Atlanta-based ECI, said in prepared remarks that partnering with Smith Hill and InterVest on the lending platform will provide institutional quality multifamily owners and operators with critical funds for refinancings, new development, construction and acquisitions. He said it will also broaden ECI’s capabilities by allowing it to own, develop, manage and provide tailored financial solutions in the multifamily space.
Greenberg said ECI and its partners are initially targeting deals in ECI’s current footprint in the Southeast and Texas but plan to expand to other regions around the United States as the strategy grows.
Rob Rothschild, Intervest SVP, a New York-based investment advisor specializing in asset-based lending, leasing and structured financing, said in prepared remarks the platform’s focus on structuring tailored debt and equity solutions for institutional investors who need capital to grow in the multifamily sector aligns with the growing demand. He said the platform addresses the need for both development capital and refinancing.
Peter Rotchford, Brett Rosenberg and Clayton Ross of JLL Capital Markets advised ECI and Smith Hill on arranging the lending platform.
Recent ECI Activity
ECI, a fully integrated firm with development, construction, investment and property management groups has a portfolio of more than 7,500 multifamily units across the Southeast including Texas. In February, ECI broke ground on The Averly Collins Hill, a 300-unit community in the Atlanta metro area, a project slated for completion in late 2025. ECI’s joint venture in the property is The Griffin Fund. The garden-style development will have eight three-story buildings with one-, two- and three bedroom units. ECI and The Griffin Fund also partnered on the development of The Corwyn Conyers, a 300-unit community in Conyers, Ga.
The company is also expected to deliver the first units of Averly East Village in Roswell, Ga., later this year.
In December, ECI began preleasing at Inscription West Palm Beach, a 191-unit luxury high-rise property in West Palm Beach, Fla. The first residences were available for move-in by February.
