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PEACHTREE GROUP RECENTLY introduced new branding, logo and tagline, "Guided by Intuition, Grounded by Expertise." The branding update aims to project the company's integrated investment strategies and service platforms. This change consolidates the company's varied brand portfolio, renaming Stonehill as Peachtree Group Credit and Peachtree Hospitality Management as Peachtree Group Hospitality Management, the company said in a statement. "The new branding has given us a competitive edge in attracting top-tier talent, ensuring a consistent influx of the best minds and skills to navigate an ever-changing business landscape," said Greg Friedman, CEO and managing principal of Peachtree Group. "Moreover, our strategic branding approach, aimed at consolidating our diverse range of businesses, is poised to unleash even greater untapped potential within our investment platform. This platform, already proven in its value in the hospitality sector, has played a pivotal role in our expansion and diversification into other real estate sectors and ventures."

Michael Harper is promoted to president of Hotel Lending at Peachtree Group, overseeing the company's entire hotel credit platform and guiding all aspects of the credit business. Similarly, Jared Schlosser rises to executive vice president of hotel lending and head of CPACE, while Michael Ritz is promoted to executive vice president of investments, Peachtree Group said in a statement. "These appointments underscore Peachtree's commitment to its core growth initiatives in hotel lending, as well as fostering talent from within our own ranks, with an eye toward further diversifying its allocation strategies as it taps into new investment opportunities," said Greg Friedman, Peachtree's CEO and managing principal. Since joining Peachtree in 2014, Harper has held a series of leadership positions, overseeing the company's credit business with a focus on loan originations and strategic acquisition of credit portfolios, Peachtree said. He has guided the team through over 500 investments totaling more than $6 billion.

PEACHTREE GROUP, A commercial real estate investment firm with a $6.4 billion portfolio, has secured approximately $660 million in credit investments since Dec. 1, with an additional $350 million expected to close within the next 30 to 45 days. These investments focus on hotels, multifamily, industrial, and student housing, Peachtree said in a statement. "We are witnessing heightened activity in response to the anticipation of sustained elevated interest rates and continued reductions in bank exposure," said Greg Friedman, Peachtree Group's managing principal/CEO. "The pressing need to refinance maturing debt, estimated at $2.8 trillion in U.S. commercial real estate debt by the end of 2028, is a growing concern. Commercial real estate stakeholders are grappling with the challenges of increased capital costs and constrained liquidity, particularly in securing capital for acquisitions, recapitalizations and development initiatives." Peachtree recently closed one of its largest individual credit transactions to date, securing a $102.9 million, three-year loan to recapitalize a 350-room Marriott dual-brand AC Hotel Sunnyvale Moffett Park and TETRA Hotel, Autograph Collection in Sunnyvale, California, the statement added.

PEACHTREE GROUP'S CREDIT division has closed $556 million in loan originations, accounting for half of the $1.1 billion deployed by the company this year. The remaining $526 million was allocated for the acquisition of five hotels and the initiation of three new hotel development projects. The company also launched five hotels that were under construction as of September, Peachtree Group said in a statement. "Commercial real estate owners who have benefited from an extended period of readily available, low-cost capital over the past 15 years are now confronting a new reality," said Greg Friedman, CEO of Peachtree Group. "Commercial real estate participants are faced with the pressures of higher capital costs and tighter liquidity in sourcing capital for acquisition, recapitalizations and development strategies."

PEACHTREE GROUP DEPLOYED $1.6 billion in credit transactions in 2024, up 54 percent from 2023. Hospitality and multifamily led with $876 million and $392.3 million, while $297.4 million went to industrial, land, mixed-use, retail, office and single-family residential assets. The company has executed more than $1 billion in commercial real estate transactions, reflecting its lending reach, Peachtree said in a statement. "As we reflect on 2024, we executed a record level of transactions while expanding our lending platform to serve a broader range of commercial real estate asset classes," said Greg Friedman, Peachtree's CEO and managing principal. "Looking ahead, we expect outsized growth by leveraging our private credit lending programs and launching additional initiatives to address underserved niches in the market."

PEACHTREE GROUP'S CREDIT team recently crossed $1 billion in year-to-date loan originations, marking a key milestone and setting a new benchmark for early-year performance. The firm projects reaching $1.75 billion in originations by the end of 2024, according to a company statement. Peachtree provides diverse financing solutions, including permanent, bridge and mezzanine loans, as well as CPACE financing and preferred equity across all sectors, the statement said. "While the Federal Reserve has lowered rates to provide some relief to the overall economy, the commercial real estate sector will continue to face significant headwinds over the next few years," said Jared Schlosser, Peachtree's executive vice president of hotel lending and head of CPACE. Peachtree is led by CEO and managing principal Greg Friedman, CFO and managing principal Jatin Desai, and principal Mitul Patel.

Five Star Group affiliates, Five Star Hospitality Management and Dream Capital, recently named Justin Patel senior associate, investments and asset management and Kimberly Rowell to executive vice president. Patel was previously a senior asset management analyst at Peachtree Group while Rowell joined in February 2023. Dalton, Georgia-based Five Star Group, founded by Naren Patel in 1990, announced the changes. At Peachtree Group, Patel managed more than 20 hotels nationwide and assisting in 12 dispositions. Prior to Peachtree, he was asset manager at 33 Degrees, a commercial real estate firm. "Justin takes an insightful approach to project management, making him an invaluable member of the Dream Capital team as we continue to provide our investors with the opportunity to invest in both credit and equity investments in various asset classes in commercial real estate," said Ankit Govan, Dream Capital's managing principal and co-founder. "We remain committed to pursuing acquisition and development opportunities with well-branded hotels such as Hilton and Marriott in markets with high barriers to entry. With a wealth of asset management and investment experience, Justin is the ideal candidate to help us along the path."

STONEHILL, A COMMERCIAL real estate direct lender and Peachtree Group affiliate, is now ranked as the 8th largest U.S. commercial real estate hotel lender by the Mortgage Bankers Association's 2022 loan originations rankings, a two-spot increase from its 2021 ranking. Stonehill deployed $1.2 billion in real estate investment, with $813 million for hotels in 2022, the company said in a statement. Meanwhile, Stonehill is also ranked as the 16th largest U.S. commercial real estate retail lender by MBA, having deployed $163 million in 2022, the statement added. "Our performance is a testament to our commitment to understanding our sponsors' business plans and accomplishing the transactions by having stable capital despite market turbulence," said Mat Crosswy, Stonehill's president and managing principal. Stonehill expanded its commercial lending business to originate and make investments across all real estate sectors by forming Stonehill CRE in 2022. This CRE group focuses on heavy transitional assets and sectors of the credit market that are traditionally undersupplied, the statement further said.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE direct lender and Peachtree Group affiliate, Stonehill, completed $1.2 billion in investments in 2022. Most were through loan originations and commercial property assessed clean energy financing primarily in the hospitality and retail sectors, a statement said. The investment includes $813 million in loans and $163 million as CPACE financing and the remaining $269 million was distributed across the industrial, land, mixed-use, multifamily, office and senior living real estate sectors, the company said. Stonehill said that its 2023 target is $1.5 billion and expects to invest $300 million in the first quarter. "Economic volatility coupled with uncertainty surrounding interest rates has severely decreased overall financing availability with capital providers. However, Stonehill not requiring capital markets execution has allowed it to remain active and to fill the gap in lending supply," said Mat Crosswy, Stonehill president and principal. In May 2022, Stonehill formed Stonehill CRE with Daniel Siegel as president to expand its commercial lending business. It focuses on heavy transitional assets and sectors of the credit market that are traditionally undersupplied. "We have spent years working on our capital formation, specifically so that we can be active and grab market share during periods of economic uncertainty. Also, by building our CPACE division in 2019, which completed $235 million in CPACE financing for the year, and now with Stonehill CRE, we are better positioned to provide lending solutions to a multitude of the market's current inefficiencies," said Crosswy.