How Lenders Are Searching For Pearls In Real Estate’s Choppy Seas

The cranes that dot Miami's skyline are in some ways a relic of a different market, when debt was cheap and stimulus checks came in the mail.

It's a lot harder to get a crane in the sky today, but lenders and developers are engaged in a dance to find the sweet spot where projects make financial sense and investors make money.

Robbie Pinkas, senior vice president at PACE Loan Group, said that his energy-efficiency-focused lending business gives him exposure to a broad range of projects across the country. In other fast-growing markets, infrastructure investments are being made to support the growing population.

“I'm not seeing any of those here,” he said. “That is my single greatest concern about the ultimate resiliency of this market. We don't have the infrastructure necessary to accommodate this growth. That's fine for now, but at a certain point, it won't be.”