Commercial Observer | May 1, 2023
Dwight Capital thrived during the market dislocation of the past year with a versatile platform.
The Manhattan-based lender originated $3 billion over the one-year period ending March 15 from construction, bridge and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-backed loans. The Federal Housing Administration ranked Dwight as the top overall HUD lender in the first half of HUD’s Fiscal Year 2023.
“It is the cornerstone of our business,” said Josh Sasouness, who co-founded Dwight alongside his brother Adam with a primary focus on HUD multifamily lending nine years ago before broadening into HUD-focused health care deals in 2016.
The company is also aided by its private real estate investment trust, Dwight Mortgage Trust (DMT), which works in conjunction with Dwight Capital to evaluate lending opportunities nationwide. DMT makes it easier for the firm to provide borrowers with bridge loans for short-term capital needs, since closing HUD loans can often take six to 10 months.
“The idea was to marry relatively inflexible HUD capital with very flexible balance sheet capital, which allows our clients to be as nimble as possible,” Sasouness said.