Miami, FL – Kawa announces an expansion of their dedicated commercial real estate lending platform. Since the beginning of 2021, Kawa has experienced a significant increase in its ability to source and deploy capital into CRE loans at attractive credit spreads and backed by high quality real estate. As traditional lenders retrench their CRE lending programs amid generalized fears, Kawa’s expanded lending platform will look to take advantage of this current risk-reward opportunity.
Kawa aims to deploy between $75-$150 million in CRE loans backed by high quality real estate at credit spreads raging from +500 to +1000 bps, often where Kawa’s speed of execution, flexible approach to structuring and experience in complex underwriting is required.
Kawa’s expanded lending will focus on:
• CRE loans with an implied basis that is believed to be sufficiently low to weather property value declines
• Real estate markets and asset classes that exhibit strong supply and demand fundamentals and/or barriers to entry
Since 2010, Kawa’s CRE Lending Platform has structured, originated, or acquired nearly $500 million of CRE whole loans and mezzanine loans. The flexible financing platform has the ability to shift between real estate asset classes, geographies and positions in the capital stack as risk-reward dynamics evolve over cycles.
“We take an opportunistic approach to our lending and adapt to cycles.” said Daniel Ades, Kawa’s founder and managing partner. “We feel that lending right now it is one of the better risk/rewards in the CRE space and we are seeing a good flow in niches where we feel we have a competitive advantage.”
All leverage on individual loans will be match-term plus, with “make-current” and “right-to-cure” provisions. Leverage will not be taken if it curtails Kawa’s ability to fully pursue rights and remedies under a loan.
Kawa has been ramping up its ability to originate following the hiring of Michael (Mike) Corridan in 2021. Having done meaningful volume of work with Kawa during his tenure with Citigroup’s CMBS & Real Estate Finance team, Mike joined Kawa to bolster its real estate team.
“I suspect the expanded platform will address a somewhat diverse set of opportunities such as regular-way bridge loans, opportunistically; do-no-harm leverage on ‘out of favor’ asset classes on office, hotel and condo; buy or finance secondary loans depending on marketplace competition for that niche” said Mike Corridan, managing director of Investments and Origination. “All of these opportunities make sense in terms of their risk-return on an unlevered basis. I like to think we’re also especially skilled at financing assets – that’s one of our core skills here – and we’ll use that to optimize our lending platform.”
About Kawa
Founded in 2007, Kawa is a capital solutions provider and alternative asset with approximately $2.4 billion in assets under management. Kawa’s capital solutions arm is an experienced and nimble capital provider, offering a flexible approach to structuring with focuses on real estate financing, including bridge lending, mezzanine financing, structured credit, net leased real estate equity, and credit tenant leases. For more information, please visit www.kawa.com.
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