The C-PACE loan initiative for green projects that benefits 140 communities in Connecticut, including all of Fairfield County, received a cash infusion Monday from global investment firm Carlyle when it announced a strategic investment into North Bridge ESG LLC.
It agreed to provide up to $1 billion to facilitate the origination of commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) loans by North Bridge. The partnership leverages Carlyle’s strategic growth, real estate and asset-backed finance expertise with North Bridge’s ability to address evolving market needs on a larger scale.
“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, North Bridge founder and CEO. “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.”
Carlyle sees the partnership as one where it can provide more for commercial real estate owners.
“Our partnership with North Bridge allows us to further meet the financing demands facing the industry,” said Rachel King, a principal focused on opportunistic real estate credit at Carlyle. “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.”
The partnership was a joint effort between Carlyle’s Credit Strategic Solutions (CSS) and Private Credit teams. CSS is a group within the Global Credit business focused on private fixed income and asset-backed investments. CSS has deployed nearly $5 billion since 2021 and has roughly $7 billion in assets under management as of June 30th, 2024.
C-PACE is now working in nearly 140 municipalities across Connecticut, helping building owners upgrade their building’s energy performance and achieve significant savings. That includes all of Fairfield County.
Support for C-PACE (Connecticut Property Assessed Clean Energy), a program for commercial, industrial and multi-family property owners allows access to long-term financing for energy upgrades to their buildings.
