Meridian Capital managing director Seth Grossman may have been joking yesterday, when he said he left his suits behind in New York to helm the Carlsbad office three years ago. Though this pic of Seth building houses with Habitat for Humanity in Guatemala attests to his wardrobe variety. In the last quarter, he closed 13 loans totaling $94M. Seth tells us the financings span an array of product types (multifamily, retail, hotel, manufactured housing communities) and locations, including California, Illinois, Minnesota, Arizona, and Colorado. The sponsors run the gamut, too, ranging from mom-and-pop owners to private equity funds to REITs.
The message? As long as you have realistic expectations and a deal that make sense, the entire spectrum is wide open right now. That said, a couple categories are hard to fill: owners that have misaligned expectations, and creative structures for smaller deals where there's less flexibility. Seth's financings included Emerald Isle Senior Apartments in Placentia. They were among $550M in transactions that Meridian's Carlsbad office closed last year. The largest: $110M from a life insurer for a Decron Properties refi deal in Playa del Rey.
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