Recap with Brandon Roth

Rafi Golberstein is the CEO and founder of PACE Loan Group, which is one of the top C-PACE providers in the country. Our conversation answers many questions, including: How did Rafi get started in CRE and what was his path to eventually starting PLG? What is C-PACE and how has it evolved over the past 10 years? What are the sizing constraints? What are the typical terms today? (pricing, prepayment...

Clint Arrowsmith is the CEO for Genesis Capital, which is one of the top bridge and construction lenders in the country. Our conversation covered many topics, including:  Genesis Capital's history Overview of their loan programs  Competitive advantages  BTR legislation  Impacts of rising rates Areas for growth over the next 12 months If you have any questions, please send me an email at brand...

Kevin Connolly oversees Aegon Asset Management's Commercial Mortgage Lending platform. Our conversation covered many topics, including:  How he got started in CRE Aegon Asset Management history How insurance company lending works Aegon's various loan programs, criteria, & pricing CM ratings and how they impact pricing The types of deals they're winning most frequently How insura...

Eric Smith is a CMBS loan originator at Deutsche Bank. Over the past 28 years, he has closed more than 1,300 CMBS loans.  Our conversation covered many topics, including: - What is CMBS and how does it work? - Why is there a higher concentration of multifamily in CMBS pools today? - What's the role and impact of CMBS rating agencies? - Why is Fitch the primary rating agency? - What is a B-pie...

Alex Tartaglia is part of IPA's multifamily investment sales team in Northern California. They've sold approximately 50% of all institutional multifamily sales in the Bay Area over the past 10 years, including $2B in 2025.  Our conversation covered many topics, such as: - 2025 recap & what's driving more sale transactions - Buyer profiles and target returns - How NOAH deals work...

Stephen Siri is Co-Managing Principal of The Martin Group, a privately held real estate investment firm located in Oakland, CA. Founded in 1984, the company has acquired, developed, and invested in more than 24 million square feet. The firm specializes in multifamily, student housing, and mixed-use real estate projects throughout California. Our conversation covers many topics, including: - The Ma...

Joe Pizzutelli is the Head of National Production for M&T's agency platform, as well as their on-balance sheet multifamily bridge platform focused on transitional and lease-up multifamily assets across the country. Our conversation covers many topics, including: - Lending programs - Loan modifications - Outlook for 2026 If you’d like to receive my weekly market update based on lender conv...

Ryan Sudeck is the CEO of Sage Investment Group, which is a development company that specializes in converting hotels to multifamily and now manages 2,671 units across six states.  Our conversation covers how they execute their business model from start to finish and includes:  - Market Selection - Deal Sourcing - Underwriting - Capital Raising - Construction management - Lease-up If you're a...

Bo Diamond is the co-founder of Caisson Capital Partners, which is a multifamily investment and development company based in Arkansas. Prior to starting this new company, Bo held roles at Ackman-Ziff, UBS, Barclays, and Wells Fargo Securities. Our conversation covered the steps he took to go from a successful investment banking and brokerage career, to founding his own real estate company and buyi...

Paul Lewis is the National Director of Agency Financing for IPA Capital Markets.  Prior to joining IPA, Paul spent over 23 years at Fannie Mae heading several production and credit teams that support its multifamily lenders. Our conversation covered many topics, such as: - Overview of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - The asset types they'll finance - How the securitization process works - Agency...

Alex Tartaglia is part of IPA's multifamily investment sales team in Northern California. They've sold approximately 50% of all institutional multifamily sales in the Bay Area over the past 10 years, including nearly $400M year-to-date.  Our conversation covered many topics, such as: - Current BOV, tour, and bid activity compared to 2023 - Going-in vs stabilized cap rates by risk profile...

Max Nipon is a principal with Montgomery Street Partners, as well as the president of their ground lease vehicle called Ground Lease REIT.  Our conversation covers the following topics: - Overview of Montgomery Street Partners and Ground Lease REIT - How ground leases are used as a financing tool - How their ground leases are sized, priced, and structured - Common scenarios where sponsors are usin...

Chris Robbins is the co-founder of GreenRock and is one of the leaders in the C-PACE industry having closed nearly $500M in C-PACE transactions.  Our conversation answers the following questions about PACE financing: - What is it? - What are the primary benefits? - What are the three most common use cases? - What are PACE eligible measures? - How is the amount of capital determined? - How is it pr...

Erik Hanson is an investment sales broker for JLL that has been selling office buildings in San Francisco for the past 15 years.  His team has been especially busy over the past 12 months selling most of the deals you see in the news like 60 Spear, 115 Sansome, etc. Our conversation covered many topics, including: - Summary recap of the office market from 2009 to today - Recent transactions - How...

Jeremy Driscoll is a managing director for Principal Asset Management. He has been with the firm for 21 years and has closed over $10 billion in total loan volume.   The conversation covers many topics including: - Various loan programs available - Loan sizing and pricing - Pref equity sizing and pricing - Underwriting standards - How life company pricing works (e.g. CM rating and its impact on sp...

Shawn Cully is a managing director in the San Francisco office for Prime Finance. He has been with the firm for 14 years and has closed over 200 bridge loans surpassing $5 billion in total loan volume.   The conversation covers many topics including: - Background on how Prime Finance was started - The reasons why Prime has consistently been one of the top debt funds in the country. - What is a deb...