Greg Friedman

Peachtree Group’s credit platform has seen significant gains since launching in 2010, and its growth has only accelerated during the market dislocation of the last three years.

The Atlanta-based company (previously known as Stonehill) made a sharp pivot in late 2021 to make its direct lending business more of a focus than its equity investing, given expectations that zero-level borrowing conditions would not last forever. The strategy paid off in a major way, as interest rates soon after rose to their highest levels in more than three decades. Peachtree has capitalized on the market conditions with its arsenal of bridge loan offerings suited for a period of uncertainty.

“In a lot of cases, borrowers are utilizing our program as a bridge until interest rates come down, so we’re in a perfect spot right now,” Greg Friedman said. “Traditional lenders are doing less lending, and we’re filling that void, and we’ve had a spike of business over the last three years.”

Peachtree was especially active over the past year with $1.7 billion of originations from March 1, 2024, to March 1, 2025, from 103 transactions including bridge, construction and C-PACE loans for a variety of property sectors, particularly multifamily and hotels. Its calendar year 2024 lending volume of $1.6 billion was up from $1 billion achieved in 2023. 

Peachtree’s highlighted deals over the past year included providing $114.6 million of bridge financing in January 2025 for McWhinney to recapitalize two Hyatt-branded hotels in Denver and Austin.

On the multifamily front, Peachtree originated a $47 million construction loan in July 2024 for Madison Communities to build a 240-unit apartment community in Bradenton, Fla.

Friedman credits the 2022 addition of Daniel Siegel — who previously developed Rialto Capital’s small balance loan acquisition platform and who is now president of Peachtree’s CRE lending group — for helping to propel the nearly 300-person company’s lending momentum. The more than 40-member credit team is well positioned for further growth, according to Friedman, by constantly being ahead of the curve with market trends. 

“The market has really fallen in favor for us as a private lender, where we have more flexibility in how we do the financing structures,” Friedman said. “Our ability to be very entrepreneurial and gritty, and continue to be very strategic and make quick decisions, has allowed us to really thrive in this type of environment where things are moving very quickly.”