Environmental, Social and Governmental (ESG) continues to be at the forefront of investors’ minds as firms look for new opportunities to dispense capital, especially in commercial real estate. With large alternative lenders showing little interest in the space, middle-market firms are filling the gap in investing in emerging women- and minority-owned (MWBE) commercial real estate firms.
T30 Capital, a women-led, multi-strategy real estate investment firm, has partnered with Blueprint Capital Advisors, an independent alternative investment firm. The duo will work to scale T30’s commercial real estate lending activities while also enhancing its social impact. The combined firm will look to execute $5-50 million senior bridge and construction loans for a variety of real estate projects while also committing to open door sourcing with a focus on lending to minority- and women-owned enterprises.
“At Blueprint, we not only recognize our responsibility to our investors, but also our corporate and individual responsibility,” says Blueprint CEO Jacob Walthour Jr.. “We’ve embedded these values into our hiring, vendor selection, investment decisions and allocation of financial resources. This partnership with T30 is a natural extension of our existing ESG and impact principles.”
The partnership has identified an industry shortage that has faced funding challenges and represents a chance to create an impact through empowering a demographic traditionally left behind by institutional investors. “We believe this partnership expands our impact, as we have committed to an open-door sourcing policy, working our networks to identify MWBE sponsors, emerging sponsors who aren’t already on the radar of mortgage brokers and directing lending there,” says Margaret Grossman, managing partner and president of T30.
As ESG and impact investing activities continue to grow in scale and capacity, it will be interesting to see which firms follow suit. T30 Capital and Blueprint have identified a market segment that may open the floodgates for the larger lenders to join in on the fun.
-Cole Lipsky
