Commercial/Multifamily Briefs Feb. 23, 2023

Mesa West Capital Raises $1.37 Billion for Fifth Value-Add Debt Fund

Mesa West Capital, Los Angeles, raised $1.3 billion for Mesa West Real Estate Income Fund V L.P., exceeding the firm’s original $1.0 billion fundraising target for the Fund. 

Fund V is the latest and largest in Mesa West’s closed-end value-add series that launched in 2005 and represents the first successor vehicle raised by Mesa West since joining Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Surpassing the $900 million in commitments raised for Mesa West Real Estate Income Fund IV, L.P., Fund V’s investors include a sophisticated group of domestic and international public and private pension funds, insurance companies and individual investors.

Fund V was established to originate, purchase and manage loans secured by value-add/transitional commercial real estate assets throughout the U.S., which has seen increased demand due to regulatory changes resulting from the Global Financial Crisis and the current volatility and dislocation in the capital and property markets. The fund intends to create a diversified portfolio of investments designed to produce current income and attractive risk-adjusted returns.

Rutenberg Opens Celestial Fund I LLC in Miami

Eugene Rutenberg established Celestial Fund I in 2018 as a personal investment vehicle; he has now expanded into a capital consulting firm that raises debt and preferred equity for various types of commercial properties on behalf of investors and developers.

Celestial Fund I aims to line up agency and private-label debt on transition and stabilized properties across all major sectors nationwide. Senior loans will range from $2 million to #400 million. Mezzanine and preferred-equity financing will be at least $2 million to $200 million, and the firm will also arrange construction loans of at least $20 million.

On spec home construction (non-owner occupied) and multifamily bridge loans, Celestial Fund I will offer loan-to-cost ratios of up to 85% if the projected stabilized loan-to-value ratios do not exceed 75%.

Rutenberg said he initially plans to hire two originators with at least five years of experience and an underwriting analyst with at least two years of experience. They would join him in the firm’s new downtown Miami office. Applicants should email Resume@CelestialFund.com.