FirstPathway, Clearwater PACE Lend $95M for Utah Resort

Developer Charles Heath has landed a $95 million debt package to develop a wellness resort near Park City, Utah, Commercial Observer has learned.

FirstPathway Partners provided $62 million of senior construction financing backed by funding from the EB-5 visa program for Heath’s Ameyalli well-being resort project in Midway, Utah. Clearwater PACE also supplied a $33 million Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) loan for the $130 million project featuring an 80-room hotel and a wellness center. 

Ameyalli is part of a larger development that also includes includes 23 cottages and 24 townhome residences along with a private clubhouse.

Jonathan Seabolt, CEO of Clearwater PACE, said the C-PACE loan was structured as long-term, fixed-rate debt secured by a senior special assessment on the property, senior to all mortgage debt and on equal footing with the real estate taxes. The C-PACE proceeds will fund energy efficiency and water conservation measures associated with the development..

“Ameyalli represents the institutional evolution of the C-PACE market,” Seabolt said in a statement. “Sophisticated sponsors are choosing C-PACE not because they must, but because it is the most effective capital at this point in the cycle.”

Located at 832 Wellness Drive 17 miles south of Park City, the hotel will have a spa, mineral pools, wellness programming and a restaurant run by celebrity chef Charlie Palmer, who partnered with Heath on the project. The development also includes 24 townhome residences not included in the $95 million debt package. 

As part of the larger development, FirstPathway Partners  closed on a seperate $1.6 million EB-5 loan to the residential components of the project. 

“EB-5 investors are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their underwriting criteria,” Daniel Wycklendt, president of FirstPathway Partners, said in a statement. “As an EB-5 lender, we recognize that investors are seeking not only to secure a permanent green card but to participate in institutional-grade credit facilities, with a priority position in a quality asset.”

Clearwater executed the Ameyalli resort loan on the heels of closing an up to $300 million C-PACE platform from capital supported by Ares Alternative Credit funds. Seabolt said the Utah deal paired with EB-5-backed debt underscores the expansion of C-PACE as a financing vehicle in recent years that can reduce the basis of the senior lender. It underscores the types of deals Seabolt said he plans to pursue more of with the Ares Alternative Credit backing. 

“Construction capital remains constrained across most asset classes and sponsors are looking to alternative sources to bridge proceeds gaps and improve blended cost of capital,” Seabolt said. “C-PACE has emerged as a meaningful solution in that context, particularly for transactions that can demonstrate institutional sponsorship, credible cost basis and a clear path to stabilization.”

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com.