Acres Capital Corp. closed around $500 million in transactions in 2018, according to the company.

“In a highly competitive lending environment, we managed to grow our origination volume and cultivate new borrower relationships—all without sacrificing our rigorous underwriting criteria,” said Mark Fogel, CEO and president of Acres. “The significant progress achieved in 2018 is a testament to the competitive advantages of our unique debt platform and advances our mission of becoming the nation’s premier commercial real estate middle-market lender.” a leading commercial real estate middle-market lender

Acres’ customized bridge loans are available to sponsors and are secured by a geographically diverse collection of multifamily properties.

Among the deals the firm completed last year are the following:

• $30.5 million first mortgage loan to finance the acquisition and conversion of an existing residential rental building to an upscale, full-service, boutique hotel located in the historic district of Los Angeles.
• $45.0 million first mortgage loan to finance the redevelopment of a 93-unit residential condominium community in Fremont, Calif.
• $35.3 million first mortgage loan to finance the development of a Class A, 194-unit, 592-bed, student-oriented townhome and mid-rise apartment complex near University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Also, Acres recruited some industry veterans to the firm: Jonathan Gilfillan joined Acres as a senior vice president, focused on alternative lending. He joined from Huntington Bank, where he grew the portfolio of commercial real estate loans to $500 million under assets, from than less $100 million, over three years. Peter Hills has sign on to handle originations and sponsor relations in the Atlantic region. Prior to joining Acres, Mr. Hills contributed to the development and management of finance platforms in the Americas, Europe and Asia for Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Credit Suisse.