Tishman Speyer gets into the CRE debt market

Tishman Speyer is getting into the commercial debt market. 

The firm’s new credit business, first reported by PERE Credit, places it alongside a slew of competitors that have launched debt platforms in recent years. 

RXR teamed with Hudson Realty Capital to launch a joint lending platform in 2022 to back more than $2 billion in projects. SL Green Realty started raising funds for a property debt vehicle to target tri-state area deals in January. Peebles Corporation followed suit and founded a private credit arm called Willowbrook Partners in early 2024, the Commercial Observer reported. 

Tishman Speyer also announced Amit Rustgi was joining from Pacific Investment Management Company to head originations. Rustgi worked as vice president and portfolio manager at PIMCO for the past three years after eight years at Brookfield Asset Management. 

Rustgi will report to senior managing director and global head of debt, Randall Rothschild.

Rustgi will be starting the role with 100 actively managed lender relationships, Tishman Speyer told the Observer. The firm said in its announcement it has closed more than $29 billion in financing from 130 of its own deals since 2011, according to the Observer. Rustgi’s role will target CRE loans in major US cities, the Observer said. 

“The current commercial real estate environment provides an excellent opportunity to earn attractive risk-adjusted returns,” Tishman Speyer CEO Rob Speyer told the Observer. “This is the right moment for nontraditional lenders with regional and operational expertise to execute on market-driven debt strategies.”

-Christina Previte