Ran Eliasaf’s Northwind Goes Big With $1B Debt Fund
After two successful real estate credit funds, Ran Eliasaf’s firm went gangbusters on Northwind Group’s third debt vehicle.
Northwind raised $1 billion in capital for Northwind Debt Fund III, the Commercial Observer reported, blowing past a $500 million target set last January. It’s easily the largest of Northwind’s three funds in the category, surpassing real estate credit funds of $220 million and $326 million.
The fund is aimed at senior loans in large markets across the country. All but 7 percent of the fund is expected to be geared toward residential properties.
Loans are expected to range from $100 million to $200 million each. Sectors Northwind is targeting include multifamily and condominium properties in New York City.
The nascent fund already originated $1.5 billion in loans across supply-constrained gateway markets around the country. The fund is 60 percent deployed and is expected to hit 90 percent deployment by the end of the year.
Deals made through the fund so far include a $401 million senior completion-to-condo inventory loan in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and a $208 million construction loan for an office-to-residential conversion in Downtown Brooklyn.
Investors in the latest fund include pension funds, insurance companies, banks, family offices and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Many are returnees from the previous funds, Eliasaf told the Observer.
Eliasaf said the close “takes us to the next level as a fund manager.”
Northwind has emerged as the go-to lender for complex New York City real estate deals. Private lenders like Northwind are coming onto the scene as an alternative to banks; they don’t take customer deposits and their loyalty is to their investors.
Northwind carved out a niche by lending to condo developers stuck with unsold units and office owners seeking to reinvent aging offices into luxury residences. Last month, Northwind provided a $219 million construction loan for 100 Wall Street, a 29-story, 463,000-square-foot Financial District office building that is being partially converted into apartments by Lloyd Goldman’s BLDG Management and David Werner Real Estate Investments.
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