Saluda Grade (SG), an alternative asset management platform focused on emerging asset classes within the U.S. real estate sector, is excited to announce that it has acquired a passive minority stake in Hillcrest Finance (Hillcrest), a minority- and women-owned investment firm with a focus on commercial real estate (CRE) credit opportunities. Prior to this transaction, SG has been predominately focused on the alternative residential lending sectors.

By purchasing a passive minority stake in Hillcrest, SG will be expanding its existing platform to include commercial real estate finance targeting multifamily properties. SG and Hillcrest have also formed a strategic partnership to grow a CRE credit platform combining each firm’s complementary capabilities.

“Saluda Grade sees a compelling opportunity in commercial real estate finance over the next three years, especially across the multifamily property sector. We are excited that the partnership with Hillcrest will bring significant CRE knowledge into our currently residential focused ecosystem, while allowing Hillcrest to benefit from SG’s capital markets and securitization platform with a goal of creating a joint CRE CLO issuance program in the future,” said Saluda Grade Founder & CEO Ryan Craft.

Hillcrest was founded in late 2013 by Kathleen (Kathy) Corton, and since early 2015, has been led by Co-CEO’s Kathy Corton and Sharon Ann (Samm) Miller. Kathy and Samm each have over 35 years’ experience in institutional commercial real estate investments. Kathy spent the bulk of her career at Nomura and Brickman, where she led CRE debt originations nationwide. Samm started her career in CRE lending at TIAA-CREF in the mortgage division and spent the remainder focused on institutional real estate equity at JP Morgan, Hart Advisers, Trammell Crow, and Rockwood Capital.

“Our focus remains on delivering exceptional service and strong performance to our investors in the real estate private credit and equity space,” said Samm Miller, Co-CEO of Hillcrest. "We are confident that Saluda Grade is well positioned to offer its capital markets and securitization capabilities to support Hillcrest’s growth," added Hillcrest Founder & Co-CEO Kathy Corton.

Hillcrest will remain a minority- and women-owned firm and will utilize the transaction’s capital to grow and expand its commercial real estate platform. Under the terms of the investment agreement, there will be no change in Hillcrest’s day-to-day operations or investment process. The terms of the transaction are confidential.

About Saluda Grade

Saluda Grade is an alternative asset manager focused on opportunities in asset backed finance, real estate debt and equity, and hard asset sectors. Headquartered in New York City, the Firm was founded in 2019. See saludagrade.com for additional information.

About Hillcrest Finance

Hillcrest Finance is an alternative investment manager based in New York City, focused on Commercial Real Estate (CRE) credit. Hillcrest Finance specializes in the origination and management of high quality, middle-market, first mortgage and subordinate (mezzanine and preferred equity) credit solutions on behalf of the firm’s institutional investors. See hillcrestfinancellc.com for additional information.

Disclaimer:

This press release is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to sell nor the solicitation of an offer to any for any other securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale. All investing entails risk.

Forward-looking statements:

Statements in this press release have "forward-looking statements," and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements.

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