John Lewis, 32

When John Lewis was looking to move from the institutional banking side of commercial real estate, he seized an opportunity to help scale a young financing source poised for growth. 

After nearly 12 years of originating loans at First Citizens Bank and Aareal Capital, Lewis joined North Bridge, an early innovator in the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) lending space in March 2026. The decision was in large part sparked by Lewis’s admiration for Laura Rapaport, who founded North Bridge in 2021 and has helped pave the way for C-PACE to expand in New York City and nationally. 

“I thought that there was a real runway for me to make an impact because of the growth of C-PACE in general, the growth of this team,” Lewis said. “I felt it was the right next step in my career.” 

Lewis brought an extensive balance sheet lending perspective with him to North Bridge, having originated $5.1 billion of loans across all major property sectors, which included structuring complex senior debt similar to C-PACE.

The largest transaction Lewis has executed in his young career involved a $460 million senior loan originated while at Aareal in 2021 to refinance the Beverly Hilton and the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills hotels. As lead underwriter, Lewis helped facilitate a cross-collateralized structure for the two luxury Beverly Hills hospitality assets in a deal that also involved a $40 million mezzanine loan from Goldman Sachs’ Broad Street Real Estate Credit Partners III fund. 

Physical exercise has played a large role in Lewis’s deal flow in recent years. Each workday has started before 5 a.m. with a workout or a run since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lewis took his exercise regimen to another level in 2023 when he competed in his first Ironman Trialthon.

“That routine clears my head, resets my focus, and sets the tone for the day ahead, and I carry that energy through everything I do professionally,” Lewis said. “In a business built on relationships and execution, the discipline and consistency required to maintain that routine are the same qualities that drive my career.”