Smith Hill Capital (“Smith Hill”), ECI Group (“ECI”), and InterVest have launched a $250 million private lending platform to provide financial solutions including first mortgages, mezzanine loans, and preferred equity investments to multifamily owners for refinancing, new construction, and acquisitions.
Target loan amounts are expected to range between $15MM and $100MM. Peter Rotchford, Brett Rosenberg, and Clayton Ross of JLL Capital Markets advised ECI and Smith Hill on arranging the lending platform.
ECI CEO Seth Greenberg emphasized the potential of the partnership for the debt platform, saying, “ECI is excited to partner with Smith Hill and InterVest to provide institutional quality multifamily owners and operators with critical funds for refinancing, new development, construction, and acquisitions.” Greenberg continued, “This platform broadens ECI’s capabilities, allowing us to own, develop, manage, and provide tailored financial solutions in the multifamily space. We are prepared to move quickly to put our debt platform to work and have already begun to target deals.” The company and its partners will initially target deals in its current footprint in the Southeast U.S. and Texas but, as the strategy grows, expand to additional regions within the United States.
Smith Hill Managing Principal, Brendan McCormick, said, “Smith Hill is excited to partner with ECI, one of the most respected and experienced multifamily owners and operators in the country, and InterVest, a premier investment manager within the real estate and structured credit space. We believe that there is a large opportunity to serve as a capital solutions provider in the multifamily space and look forward to leveraging the collective expertise of our platform to provide innovative financing solutions.”
InterVest SVP, Rob Rothschild, commented, “InterVest is excited to partner with ECI and Smith Hill to provide institutional investors with the capital needed to accelerate growth in the multifamily sector. Our focus on structuring tailored debt and equity solutions aligns with the growing demand for both development capital and refinancing.”
