Pat Crandall, Thomas Whitesell, Jason Baker and Jeff Teetsel

The fact that Kennedy Wilson’s debt investment group originated the same $3.6 billion in loans in 2025 as it did in 2024, one year after the firm acquired Pacific Western Bank’s construction loan portfolio, shows that Kennedy Wilson is settling in as a desired and trusted lender for the sector.

“We established ourselves in 2024 and 2025 as a go-to senior lender in the construction space,” said Thomas Whitesell. “We saw more repeat business from repeat borrowers and repeat subject items. We drove home more business from repeat sponsors.”

“Sixty-five percent of our $3.6 billion was relationship business, with either prior sponsors or prior capital partner relationships,” said Pat Crandall. “I think we will continue to see that sort of ratio of business going forward. We’re going to do a lot of repeat business.”

Whitesell credits the firm’s consistency of operation for its solid and growing reputation. 

“We’re strictly a construction lender right now,” said Whitesell. “In construction, there’s a problem or two every single day on a site. As a lender, you have to be prepared for that and be able to roll with the punches.”

The firm’s highlight deals of late have included a $306 million construction loan for a high-rise apartment project on the Jersey City, N.J., waterfront; a $254 million construction loan for a purpose-built student housing project at Arizona State University; and an $82 million loan for an office-to-residential conversion project in Alexandria, Va., that will be 100 percent workforce housing.

Whitesell noted that Kennedy Wilson considers itself a partner on its loan projects, going beyond the letter of the deal to help solve problems with a “whatever it takes” attitude. 

“We have consistently worked in a very intelligent way with borrowers when they have cost overruns, delays or whatever,” said Whitesell, who works on the debt side with Jason Baker and Jeff Teetsel as well as Crandall. “We’re flexible. We need to help the borrower get the property built. That’s the No. 1 goal. So we’re not like your typical bank, where if you don’t meet the letter of the law in the documents, then it’s like, ‘OK, stop.’  If you have to fix something, we’re more willing to work with you.”