Jeff Friedman and Mark Zytko
Co-Founders and Principals at Mesa West
Last year's rank: 47
Mesa West Capital’s wide assortment of financing platforms enabled the private bridge lender to persist with commercial real estate transactions through the storm clouds of the pandemic.
Los Angeles-based Mesa West originated $700 million in debt for the one-year period ending April 1, 2021. Lending volume was down considerably from 2019’s $3.2 billion of originations, but Mesa West’s breadth of loans designed for construction, mezzanine and vacant office at prices typically below 4 percent enabled it to provide a compelling cost of capital to institutional investors, who would otherwise typically borrow from banks or insurance companies.
“We expanded our lending platform to include rescue capital, mezzanine and preferred equity up to $100 million secured by a wide variety of commercial real estate assets,” Jeff Friedman said. “While our focus continues to be on financing high-quality real estate, with strong sponsors and in markets that have durable, long-term fundamentals, this program is a natural extension of our existing business and allows us to provide efficient solutions for our clients as they navigate a challenging economic environment.”
Notable deals from the past year included a $135 million construction loan for Ares Management Corporation and CapRock Partners in North Las Vegas for a warehouse that was partially preleased by Amazon. It also closed on a $40 million mezzanine loan for a $150 million Chicago office building at 123 North Wacker Drive for LaSalle Investment Management.
The Chicago deal was part of a newly formed special situations lending program Mesa West established. Meanwhile, the past year also saw a major executive move by Mesa West: the promotion of Jessica Hobbs to head of capital formation and business development. Hobbs first joined Mesa West in 2015 as a vice president.—A.C.
