Pamir Niaz, 31
Vice president of originations at Mesa West Capital
Over his seven and a half years at Mesa West Capital, during which time he rose from analyst to vice president, Pamir Niaz has been responsible for 43 financings representing over $3.5 billion total.
These encompass several financings over $200 million each, including the $273 million refinance of a Midtown Manhattan office building in 2019, and the refinancing of a New York multifamily project in 2018. In 2022, he led the origination and execution of a $180.5 million loan for A&E Real Estate’s acquisition of 140 Riverside Boulevard, a 354-unit multifamily property in Manhattan.
“My role was seeing that one cradle to grave from when we first originated it to closing it,” said Niaz. “That was a big transaction because it had a 421a component, so their business plan was to burn off that tax abatement and then renovate the units. There was a lot of nuance, paperwork and complexity with the rent laws and regulations.”
Niaz recently closed on two other multifamily projects: an $81 million loan for RiverEast, a 32-story, 196-unit apartment tower in Manhattan purchased by a joint venture between the Carlyle Group and Stonehenge from UBS; and a $72 million loan for an Atlanta-based group called Audubon for a property outside Charleston, S.C.
“We now have seven loans pulling over half a billion dollars of gross loan amounts across both North and South Carolina, situated within Charlotte, Raleigh and Charleston,” said Niaz.
Last year, the University of Richmond business administration grad was one of 33 participants in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Future Leaders program. “That’s a really interesting opportunity to network with peers in the industry across the country,” said Niaz. “It came at an interesting time. Coming out of post-COVID and getting to see what other folks are doing across the country is pretty interesting.”
Niaz said he looks forward to growing within the debt side of commercial real estate for both the challenges and the opportunities it offers.
“The debt side of the business really requires you to think in a different way in terms of always being focused on mitigating your downside, and finding ways to protect yourself,” said Niaz “You also get to see more transaction volume, which I enjoy.”
