Evan Bell, Ilan Rubinstein, Erez Rubinstein Launch New Lending Platform
The debt vehicle has $250 million already on the market and hopes to double its assets over the next year
By Brian Pascus February 18, 2025 3:13 pm
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A trio of commercial real estate industry veterans is teaming to form a new lending platform, Commercial Observer can first report.
Evan Bell, co-founder and former principal of Unity Capital, is partnering with brothers Ilan Rubinstein and Erez Rubinstein to form Lorimer Capital, a CRE debt platform that will specialize in first mortgage, mezzanine debt, and bridge and construction financings along the East Coast.
The Rubinstein brothers are co-founders and serve as principals at Ruby Ventures, an international investment CRE company. Their families have also helped found H&R Developments and H&R REIT.
Lorimer Capital will have a total of six professionals and be headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, Bell said.
Bell told CO that his friendship with the Rubinsteins “goes back 25 years,” and that the two sides have originated $250 million of loans together over the last 14 months. He emphasized that Lorimer Capital is “the institutionalization of a partnership that started as a friendship,” as the two sides have often worked together on “a deal-by-deal basis.”
“In the aftermath of COVID, we saw interesting opportunities that we thought would be great to partner up on,” said Bell. “We closed loans during COVID, and the rise in interest rates presented more opportunities that we were able to take advantage of together … Now we’re looking to expand on the loans we’ve closed and grow this the way we’ve been doing over the last few years.”
Bell added that Lorimer Capital will specialize in multifamily and condo loans, but will also “stay nimble” through office, retail and hospitality financings. The firm will be able to lend up to $150 million in senior mortgage and mezzanine debt per deal, with bridge financings starting in the $5 million range, and construction loans starting around the $25 million threshold, according to Bell.
“The market right now has been presenting more construction opportunities than bridge opportunities, but I think that will change over the next seven months, and we’ll do more first mortgage or mezzanine [loans],” said Bell. “We have a lot of flexibility in terms of assets and size of deals we can do. If a deal makes sense, we’ll try to find a way to get it done.”
Bell added that the debt vehicle is capitalized through an investor network that includes high-net-worth individuals, family offices and private funds.
Lorimer Capital co-founders and partners Ilan Rubinstein and Erez Rubinstein said in a statement that the firm’s investment strategy will be “value-driven and disciplined,” with a focus on delivering “risk-adjusted returns” for investors.
“Our borrowers benefit from our substantial financing capacity and can rely on our proven execution, giving them the resources and confidence they need to capitalize on today’s opportunistic market,” the brothers said in a statement.
Bell said the new partnership hopes to expand on the $250 million loan portfolio they currently have and is prepared to double their assets over the next 12 months.
“We’re looking to grow this thing, to double where we are now, and see where we are from there,” said Bell. “We haven’t lacked capacity in terms of capital — we’re trying to establish ourselves as a go-to lender for bridge and construction.”
Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com.
