Sapphire Services
Ground Lease Capital
Sapphire Capital Group (SCG) creates ground leases on commercial real estate through the separation of the investment in the land (Fee Investor) from the investment in the improvements (Leaseholder). This execution enables the leaseholder to achieve higher leverage at a lower cost of capital, thereby improving returns and decreasing the amount of equity required vs a fee simple execution.
For acquisitions and recapitalizations of projects valued at $30 million or greater, SCG has cultivated a variety of leased-fee capital investor sources, allowing sponsors a tax-free way to monetize a portion of the equity already in their projects.
SCG’s Ground Lease Capital Strategy often includes buyback/repurchase options for the land, allowing sponsors to eliminate the ground lease and reconstitute the fee simple ownership of the property – effectively locking in very long-term debt-like permanent capital.
Debt & Structured Finance
Sapphire Capital Group has relationships at every level of the capital stack, a reach that gives our clients a competitive advantage. Since SCG is not beholden to any particular lender, we can select the best lender for each specific deal. Andy Weiss is one of three Directors of the CFBN (Commercial Finance Broker Network), a national alliance of approximately 40 mortgage brokerage firms, which provides SCG with access to an extensive lender database.
SCG has secured the following types of capital:
- Permanent, fixed-rate debt from life insurance companies, balance sheet, CMBS lenders, and agency lenders (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac)
- Bridge and floating-rate loans for non-stabilized properties
- Construction financing for ground-up development and major renovation projects
- Mezzanine debt and preferred equity financing
Equity Placement
Sapphire Capital Group carefully underwrites each investment opportunity and maintains relationships with a wide variety of institutional equity investors and family offices. SCG’s family office investors have a net worth from $50M to $1B+. We have closed joint venture equity for acquisitions, recapitalizations, and ground-up development deals.