Michael Lavipour and Jeffrey Fastov

For the dynamic duo of Michael Lavipour and Jeff Fastov, leaders of Affinius Capital’s credit platform, 2024 success hinged on maintaining a business built on whole loans secured by prime assets, as well as making new construction and bridge loans to rescue CRE deals rocked by high interest rates. 

Affinius completed $5.8 billion in total credit transactions in 2024, up from its $4.7 billion volume in 2023. The team focused mainly on two sectors, multifamily and industrial, which represented 65 percent and 20 percent of Affinius’ deal volume, respectively. The firm loved its hometown of New York, with the metropolitan area representing 40 percent of firm transaction volume, though the team originated credit in deals across 13 states.

Lavipour told CO that the last 12 months felt like “three different markets.” The firm experienced a decreased supply of new development as interest rates stayed high for nine months, which led to a pullback from banks on construction lending, but created an opportunity for Affinius to fill the credit gap.

“We’ve been heavily investing in development finance and bridge lending really all the way through last year,” he said. “And the bridge loan space was really active.”

But Lavipour noted that “a race to the bottom” has occurred since late 2024, once the Federal Reserve cut rates, as lenders pushed leverage levels and spreads came in. That has forced his team to pivot to warehouse lines with banks to source capital from balance sheet lenders dealing with risk-based capital requirements and seeking safe havens for their real estate loans. 

“A lot of focus in the coming year is about partnerships with banks to take advantage of Basel III regulatory changes, which as a result allows us to compete more on gross loan spreads while maintaining returns for the investment base,” he said. 

Lavipour said that credit is “definitely a darling,” and added that the firm’s fundraising for its credit vehicles “has been having a lot of success” in recent months.  

As for the deals … well, they speak for themselves. Affinius provided $355 million in construction financing to the Durst Organization for the multifamily project Halletts Point in Queens; a $184 million whole loan to Gencom and GFI for a 587-key hotel in New York City; and a $174 million whole loan to Goldman Sachs and Lincoln Property Company to refinance a 2.4 million-square-foot industrial park in Glendale, Ariz. 

“As a credit investor, rate cuts give and they take,” Lavipour mused. “But we can make loans in any rate environment as long as there’s some level of activity.”