Petros PACE closes $1.7 million loan to help build sports complex in Lincoln

Petros PACE Finance, LLC has closed a $1.7 million Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) transaction with Manzitto, a Lincoln, Nebraska-based commercial and residential real estate developer, marking the first C-PACE project in Lincoln.

The project, which broke ground in February, will incorporate energy saving measures in the construction of the Lincoln Sports Facility, a 92,000-square-foot amateur sports facility at 150 Southwest 14th Place in Lincoln, Nebraska. The project will include eight basketball courts that can convert into 12 volleyball courts, along with a 5,000-square-foot athletic training center, and will host practice games and regional tournaments for area youth.

Energy efficient features include lighting, roofing and windows, along with heating and cooling systems. The Greater Nebraska PACE District is the C-PACE program administrator.

C-PACE is a long-term, fixed-rate financing product secured as a property tax assessment and solves many problems that have historically prevented commercial property owners and developers from investing in energy efficiency or renewable energy improvements.

For this development, C-PACE was a natural complement in the capital stack that also included Tax Increment Financing and New Markets Tax Credits, both of which incentivize investment in economically distressed areas.

The project comes amid rapid growth of C-PACE as a financing tool for commercial property owners and developers in Nebraska to boost sustainability and economic development. Nebraska’s first C-PACE deal closed last summer and Petros PACE Finance has seen steady market growth in the state over the past year, closing the nation’s largest C-PACE deal of 2018 in Omaha last December. This marks Petros’ sixth deal in Nebraska.