Northwind Group has completed the final close of Northwind Debt Fund III with $1 billion in committed capital, doubling the fund’s original $500 million target and making it the largest fund raised in the firm’s history.
The New York-based real estate private equity and credit manager launched its flagship real estate credit strategy in 2017. Northwind Debt Fund III focuses primarily on originating senior-secured bridge loans across major U.S. gateway markets.
The fund targets financing opportunities including acquisitions, bridge loans, condominium inventory, construction, office-to-residential conversions, pre-development, lease-up projects, and other specialized real estate transactions.
Northwind said many existing investors increased their commitments to the new fund, while NDF III also added a significant number of new institutional investors. The investor base includes pension funds, insurance companies, banks, family offices, and ultra-high-net-worth investors from the U.S. and international markets.
The strategy is designed to generate current income through senior-secured floating-rate loans backed by real estate assets and sponsors in supply-constrained markets. Northwind believes tighter bank lending standards and regulatory capital requirements are creating a larger role for private lenders in transitional, construction, and bridge financing.
NDF III is Northwind’s third real estate debt fund and fifth credit fund overall. Across its investment vehicles, Northwind has completed more than $11 billion in real estate debt and equity transactions.
Since holding its first close in January 2025, NDF III has already originated approximately $1.5 billion in loans across markets including New York City, South Florida, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Notable investments include a $401 million senior completion-to-condo inventory loan for Ritz-Carlton-branded residences in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and a $208 million first mortgage construction loan supporting an office-to-residential conversion in Downtown Brooklyn.
The fund has also provided a $180 million acquisition loan, including a future good-news funding facility, secured by a 55-story Class A office tower in Los Angeles’ Bunker Hill submarket. Another investment involved a $98 million senior loan supporting the acquisition and pre-development of a condominium property in Miami Beach that is expected to be redeveloped into a 100-unit luxury residential project.
Northwind completed the fundraise internally without using a third-party placement agent. The firm plans to use the larger capital base to expand lending to sponsors seeking flexible financing in situations where complexity, timing, and certainty of execution are important.
Founded in 2008 by Ran Eliasaf, Northwind operates real estate and healthcare credit strategies. Its healthcare platform provides structured financing and bridge-to-HUD loans secured by skilled nursing and senior living properties.
“The final close of NDF III is a defining milestone for Northwind and a strong endorsement of our growing credit platform. We are grateful to our longstanding investors for their continued support and proud to welcome a new group of partners. I’m especially proud that we completed this capital raise entirely in-house, without the use of a third-party placement agent. We believe the current environment presents one of the most attractive lending opportunities we have seen, and NDF III positions us to capitalize on it on a greater scale than ever before. Sponsors increasingly look to Northwind as a dependable source of capital, and NDF III allows us to meet that demand while staying true to our disciplined investment philosophy. Our ability to underwrite complex situations, from condo inventory to office-to-residential conversions, and to close with speed and certainty is what continues to set us apart.”
Ran Eliasaf, Founder And Managing Partner Of Northwind Group
“Demand for flexible, reliable bridge capital remains strong in New York City and other supply-constrained markets across the U.S., as sponsors navigate a shifting interest rate environment and a wave of upcoming loan maturities. The market dislocation we’ve seen over the past several years has fundamentally changed the role private lenders play in commercial real estate finance. With NDF III, we have greater capacity to step into that gap, support high-quality sponsors and capitalize on opportunities where complexity and speed matter. We believe this is an especially compelling time to be deploying capital in real estate credit.”
Michael Ainbinder, Partner And Head Of Commercial Real Estate Credit At Northwind Group
