NEW YORK CITY—Mack Real Estate Group has unveiled a new lending platform focused on transitional and distressed assets throughout North America and in Europe. The direct lending business will be managed by Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies, a newly formed real estate investment management company headed by Richard Mack, CEO, and Peter Sotoloff, CIO.
Initially, MRECS will focus primarily on mezzanine, preferred equity, and first mortgage loans for properties in need of flexible capital and sponsors seeking an experienced, sophisticated real estate lending partner.
MRECS brings together the Mack family's experience operating real estate credit strategy funds, commercial real estate securities funds and investing in debt-based real estate opportunities at AREA Property Partners with Sotoloff's multi-faceted background in real estate structured finance as a co-founder of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies.
“There are three reasons for launching this business now,” says Mack. “First, we believe that the returns currently available for loans secured by transitional assets in the United States, and for almost all European assets located outside of the very few top tier cities, will be superior to most other real estate investments on a risk-adjusted basis. Second, Peter Sotoloff, whom we consider the best real estate debt professional in the market, has agreed to join us. Third, we are now able to invest with partners who supported us in our past businesses.”
Adds Sotoloff, “We plan to build a preeminent real estate debt investment platform, relying on our extensive combined experience of creating value for investors in the real estate debt space while providing creative capitalization solutions for borrowers. Private lending has a major role to play in today's real estate debt markets and we see tremendous demand for flexible, experienced lenders in that segment of the debt financing market, along with limited competition. Our skill set is perfectly matched to the opportunity.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
