Jeffrey Fastov and Michael Lavipour
Senior Managing Director of Credit Strategies; Managing Director of Credit Strategies at Square Mile Capital
Last year's rank: 25
The past year was an incredibly active one for Square Mile Capital, according to Michael Lavipour. The firm’s lending arm originated about $6.4 billion, including $3.1 billion of originations in the fourth quarter alone.
On the origination side, the company focused on asset classes with proven resilience (Class A multifamily and well-located industrial assets), fast-growing sectors with significantly increased demand (life sciences and data centers), and COVID-19-impacted industries with strong long-term fundamentals (hospitality and residential condominiums).
With creative restructurings and modifications on existing loans, Square Mile managed to stay ahead of potential issues in its portfolio. Over 50 percent of its loans were deployed in multifamily nationwide. In addition, the company continued to build its expertise in life sciences, focusing on ground-up construction and office conversion in the primary lab markets.
Transactions of note in 2021 included a $368 million bridge loan for Atlas Capital Group’s multifamily development located at 123 Melrose Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn; a refinancing to purchase the $187 million HRR bonds on One Vanderbilt in Midtown with a sponsorship group of SL Green Realty Corp., Hines and National Pension Service of Korea; a $142 million construction loan for PMG and Greybrook’s multifamily development in Miami. Square Mile also closed two separate loans for Stream Realty Partners’ 300-acre site in west Houston.
To boost diversity at the firm, Square Mile is participating in the Pension Real Estate Foundation’s SEO (Seizing Every Opportunity) program, which trains and places diverse candidates in internships in the real estate industry, by committing to hire and mentor an intern this summer.
For the future, the company “will focus on high-quality real estate, probably more so than we have in the past,” Lavipour said. “We will narrow the box in terms of the credit quality of the assets that we’re doing. We’ll also look to expand into different capital flows.” —E.F.
