By Orest Mandzy As Published By Commercial Real Estate Direct On June 13, 2008:

FORMER CARLTON GROUP EXECS LAUNCH ADVISORY, INVESTMENT FIRM

Commercial Real Estate Direct Staff Report

Ruth Barone and Bryant D. Bernhardt, both seasoned players in the commercial real estate market, have formed Glenmere Capital Partners LLC to help clients line up structured debt finance and equity for clients.

The two professionals had been with Carlton Group, a New York investment banking boutique, for years, advising a wide range of real estate-owning clients on financing transactions. Barone had been with Carlton for 12 years until 2006, when she joined hedge fund Stillwater Capital Partners to oversee its real estate investment operation. And Bernhardt had been with Carlton between 2002 and 2004, but left to launch a series of companies, including a residential mortgage lender and title insurance firm. He remained active in commercial real estate circles, consulting for a variety of investor clients and participating in some $2.5 billion of real estate transactions.

Their goal is to position Glenmere as a combination intermediary and principal source of capital, allowing it to provide a property's entire capital stack. The firm will arrange and structure the debt-financing needs of a variety of clients, property owners, developers and investors. At the same time, because of its fund, it would be positioned to inject equity into transactions.

The fund's equity would be raised from a host of high net-worth investors, which Barone termed "friends and family money." Glenmere said it would "institutionalize the sponsor equity portion of the capital stack." Usually, high net-worth individuals can invest only in individual deals, but through its fund, Glenmere will allow them to invest in a diversified pool of assets and alongside experienced property owners, or sponsors. The fund's investments would generally be in the form of preferred equity or joint-venture equity.

The fund, which would initially raise substantially less than $100 million, would hold investments for roughly seven years, with the goal being long-term capital appreciation. At that size, it would be able to invest in five or so transactions.

Glenmere would invest in and advise on a broad swath of property types across the country.

Given the backgrounds of Barone and Bernhardt, who generally worked on highly structured and complex transactions, Glenmere would likely pursue deals that couldn't be classified as 'plain vanilla.' In other words, it will generally favor value-add or opportunistic transactions.

While at Carlton, for instance, Barone arranged the financing that allowed Developer Peter Moore to buy 157 Hudson St. in lower Manhattan and convert the 130-year-old loft building into residential condominium units.

The company is currently advising a client on a search for construction financing for a proposed hotel development in Manhattan's Midtown South neighborhood, and recently completed the $60 million recapitalization of a proposed condominium project in New York as well.