Patrick Hanlon,Evan Linkner, Russell Schildkraut and Jason Krane
Principals at Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group
Last year's rank: 35
Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group proved nimble in 2022 in executing near its 2021 origination volume, despite pressures in the debt markets.
The brokerage arranged $4.8 billion of financings last year on the heels of $5.75 billion of deals it organized as a third-party intermediary in 2021. Ackman-Ziff’s transactions derived from a variety of capital sources beyond senior debt, including credit facilities, subordinate debt, preferred equity, mezzanine equity and joint venture equity.
“The approach of the firm has always been a pretty broad reach into the capital markets, so in any given year we’ve always transacted with a lot of different capital sources,” Russell Schildkraut said. “It helps us a lot in times like this because we have relationships that are so broad.”
More than 75 percent of Ackman-Ziff’s transactions were closed with “unique” capital sources, Schildkraut said. That figure represents the highest percentage in the firm’s 97-year history.
An active 2022 included a $170 million senior construction loan from Bank OZK for developer Rotem Rosen to build luxury condominiums in New York City. The brokerage also sourced a $450 million credit facility and $200 million of limited-partner equity on behalf of an undisclosed sponsor and lender for the recapitalization of single-family rental assets throughout the country.
The last year also saw Ackman-Ziff grow its AZ Educate summer program, which introduces undergraduate and graduate students to the commercial real estate profession. The program attracted a diverse group of 80 students this year from more than 55 colleges across the globe. The initiative will be condensed this spring into a one-day, in-person seminar in New York City that will serve an additional 50-plus students.
“We started that program to help more kids get an interest in real estate,” Schildkraut said. “A lot of those kids are going to go work for people that we want to do business with or are doing business with, whether it be as an investor, whether it be as a lender, whether it be as an owner, so it’s been a fantastic program.” —A.C.
