Petros PACE Finance Closes On Largest Deal In Commercial PACE History With CleanFund

$40 million Property Assessed Clean Energy loan for Seton Medical Center

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May 23, 2017, 06:22 ET

AUSTIN, Texas, May 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Petros PACE Finance has closed on the largest Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy ("C-PACE") transaction ever completed in the commercial PACE market, a $40 million deal co-financed and originated by San Francisco-based CleanFund Commercial PACE Capital, Inc.

Petros contributed $20 million of the PACE loan to Verity Health System, which will use the money to make mandatory seismic upgrades to the company's 11-story, 357-bed Seton Medical Center, a key acute-care hospital in Daly City, Calif.

"This is a milestone event in our industry," said Petros CEO Mansoor Ghori. "This transaction breaks down barriers and sets a precedent on how C-PACE financing can be used for much larger and more ambitious projects than C-PACE funding has traditionally enabled. In this case, we're funding a critical seismic project that will allow Seton to continue serving the San Mateo County community for decades to come, and we're doing it in a way that minimizes additional constraints on the hospital's budget since it is being financed over 30 years."

Required by the California Attorney General to be completed by 2020, the Seton Medical Center seismic upgrades will be financed without any out-of-pocket expense to them through the CalFirst PACE program, which allows commercial property owners in California to retrofit their buildings for energy efficiency as well as certain health and safety upgrades by borrowing money from a private lender and repaying the loan via a special assessment on their local property tax bill.

Like all C-PACE loans, repayment is secured as a property tax special assessment. The assessment obligation automatically transfers to the next owner if the property is sold before the loan is repaid.

"Verity Health could not be more pleased with C-PACE being utilized to fund the life-saving seismic improvements required at Seton. These improvements will allow us to continue our focus on providing the safe, quality patient care and vital services to meet the needs of our community," said Verity's Chief Administrative Officer Mitchell R. Creem.

Verity's Chief Financial Officer Stephen Forney added, "C-PACE met both the requirements of obligations under the Master Trustee as well as our own financing criteria. We are pleased to have long-term financing in place for Seton's seismic upgrades."

Petros is one of the first specialty finance firms in the U.S. to dedicate all of its resources to the commercial PACE market nationwide and has funded transactions in 6 different states to date.

Enabled by state legislation, PACE programs are currently up and running in 32 states and Washington, D.C.

For more information visit http://www.petros-pace.com.