Thomas Whitesell, Jason Baker and Patrick Crandall

When PacWest’s construction lending team went to Kennedy Wilson a mere 14 months ago, nobody could have predicted how seamless a transition it would be. The move coincides with a sea change in commercial real estate financing more generally: the retrenching of bank capital and the advancement of private capital — which works well for Kennedy Wilson. As of March, the Beverly Hills-based team had already amassed $7 billion in loan originations.

“The banks are largely out of the [construction lending] business, which results in an outsized opportunity for those of us who have the capital to deploy into the space,” Patrick Crandall said. “Since we made the move out of PacWest to Kennedy Wilson, we’ve been busier, frankly, than we’ve ever been.”  

They’ve also added big new names to their borrower list. 

“There’s less development trying to get capitalized right now, but the projects that are happening are happening with the top sponsors that are active in the space,” Jason Baker said. “As a result, we’re doing business with the highest quality sponsorship we’ve seen.” 

That includes plenty of headline-worthy loans, like the $166 million financing package it led for Trammell Crow Residential’s 600-unit complex in Long Beach in March. Then, there was the $83.3 million loan for JPI Properties’ new residential complex in Oceanside, San Diego County. 

As market bumps continue to shake out, the team has also begun servicing all of its own loans, leaning into asset management and placing customers’ experience first. They now have the wider infrastructure of Kennedy Wilson to lean on, and team bonds that go back a ways. 

“We’ve been together on and off for over 25 years,” Thomas Whitesell said. “I think that has helped us be successful, and it’s certainly made it very enjoyable for us.”