• $1B Financing Commitment: Carlyle pledges up to $1 billion to fuel North Bridge’s C-PACE financing, marking the largest commitment in the industry to date.
• Expanding C-PACE: The partnership aims to address commercial real estate capital needs, offering flexible financing for projects like new construction, renovations, and recapitalization.
• Strategic Growth: Carlyle’s expertise in real estate and asset-backed finance will enhance North Bridge’s capacity to scale and meet growing market demands.

Carlyle has announced a strategic partnership with North Bridge ESG LLC, committing up to $1 billion to boost the origination of commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) loans. This partnership leverages Carlyle’s deep expertise in real estate, strategic growth, and asset-backed finance to help North Bridge expand its reach in the market.

“Carlyle’s $1B commitment to C-PACE, the largest to date, enables North Bridge to lead the transformation of the industry to better meet the needs of institutional sponsors and their lenders,” said Laura Rapaport, Founder and CEO of North Bridge. “We are excited to partner with Carlyle, an established leader in the private credit space, given their exceptional track record of partnering with companies to drive growth.”

C-PACE financing provides a flexible, fixed-rate solution for institutional borrowers in major markets across the U.S. This form of private credit, secured by local property assessments, is increasingly popular due to its ability to enhance commercial real estate capital structures. It is particularly suited for new construction, renovations, acquisitions, and recapitalization efforts.

“We are pleased to bring together Carlyle’s significant expertise in asset-backed finance and real estate credit to help commercial real estate owners address their financing needs,” said Akhil Bansal, Head of Credit Strategic Solutions at Carlyle. “North Bridge has a proven capability to deliver C-PACE financing solutions of substantial size to borrowers and sponsors, and we are excited to partner with them to drive growth in an increasingly important financing market.“

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As banks retreat from commercial real estate lending, C-PACE lenders like North Bridge are well-positioned to fill the gap. Rachel King, a principal at Carlyle, highlighted this trend: “Banks have pulled back from commercial real estate lending due to concentration risk in the sector, resulting in a dynamic that we believe should yield attractive relative value opportunities for C-PACE lenders with capital to deploy today.“

This partnership was facilitated by Carlyle’s Credit Strategic Solutions (CSS) and Private Credit teams, who focus on delivering tailored asset-backed financing solutions. CSS has deployed nearly $5 billion since 2021 and manages approximately $7 billion in assets as of June 30, 2024.