Nuveen Green Capital closes inaugural deal with key partner in New York

Nuveen Green Capital, a leader in sustainable commercial real estate financing solutions, announced today that it has closed its first Commercial Project Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) project with NY Green Bank, a State-sponsored, specialized financial entity that works with the private sector to increase investments into New York’s clean energy markets.

The project, Hyatt Place, will be a newly developed, fully electrified hotel in Albany, NY. Upon completion, Hyatt Place will be a seven-story, 73,971 square foot, energy efficient, upscale, select service hotel, with 110 guest rooms and a public meeting space. Located in downtown Albany on the west bank of the Hudson River, the hotel will serve the immediate needs of the New York state capital and surrounding areas, as well as the demand driven by its midway location between the Hudson Valley to the south, the Adirondack Mountains to the north, Buffalo to the west, and Boston to the east. The project is expected to create 120 full time construction jobs, as well as an estimated 20 full time employee jobs upon completion.

Nuveen Green Capital provided $6.4MM in C-PACE capital and NY Green Bank provided $12MM in senior debt financing to fund the construction of the hotel, including its energy efficiency measures, e.g., lighting, insulation, plumbing, windows, roofing, and associated soft costs. This transaction demonstrates that fully electrified, energy-efficient, carbon neutral design hotels are attractive investment opportunities. The project further highlights that traditional senior debt financing can be structured alongside C-PACE capital, thereby providing commercial property owners and developers access to low-cost, long-term, fixed-rate financing for energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy, and resiliency commercial real estate projects.

“NY Green Bank was pleased to work alongside Nuveen Green Capital for the financing of this all-electric hotel and new development project,” said Dinush Kurera, Vice President at NY Green Bank and lead for this financing. “This project was NY Green Bank’s second senior debt financing alongside a C-PACE lender, demonstrating lender comfort with C-PACE financing in addition to highlighting the attractiveness of fully electrified, energy efficient hotels to other lenders. Hyatt Place will be a meaningful complement to the neighborhood and Albany’s economy, supporting job creation in an Opportunity Zone. We look forward to further collaboration with C-PACE lenders on future building electrification opportunities.”¹

“NY Green Bank is a key component of New York’s nation-leading climate and clean energy agenda, and we are thrilled to have closed our first C-PACE project with them. We are confident there will be many more projects to come with NY Green Bank as we work to achieve our shared mission of mitigating climate change,” said Jessica Bailey, President and CEO of Nuveen Green Capital.

About Nuveen Green Capital

Nuveen Green Capital is a national leader in sustainable commercial real estate financing solutions and an affiliate of Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA. Established in 2015 by the C- PACE industry’s founders and standard-setters, Nuveen Green Capital is a private capital provider dedicated to making sustainability a smart financial decision for commercial real estate owners who seek to improve the energy, water and resiliency performance of their property.

¹https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2022/09/26/downtown-albany-hotel-green-financing.html