Axar Capital Management LP (“Axar”) and Morning Calm Management, LLC (“Morning Calm”) today announced the launch of Morning Axe Management (“MAM” or the “Company”), a real estate lending platform formed to offer capital solutions by originating senior loans and mezzanine loans in commercial real estate nationwide. The Company will invest and manage discretionary capital on behalf of life companies and other institutional investors. Morning Axe will setup dedicated headquarter operations in Des Moines, IA with future origination teams spread across the country.
Morning Calm is a vertically integrated real estate investment and management platform with a focus on special situation investing. Axar is a value-oriented investment firm focused on highly flexible, opportunistic investing in the corporate middle market. Since their respective inceptions, Morning Calm and Axar have deployed over $5.0 billion of capital, including real estate investments in target property sectors.
The MAM platform launches with access to approximately $250 million of capital via a separately managed account. MAM has also engaged Raymond James to support additional institutional fund raising. MAM’s strategy is to bring new solutions to commercial property borrowers as traditional lenders work through legacy issues and otherwise seek to deleverage in a rapidly changing market environment. MAM’s new credit and structured finance platform aims to fill that gap. Target property sectors include industrial, multifamily, retail, self storage and office, among others.
“The convergence of rising rates and the decreased availability of real estate credit has created an opportunity for MAM to be a solution to borrowers looking to acquire properties or refinance existing loans. As liquidity remains scarce in the real estate capital markets, we will be well-positioned to be a preferred partner to leading sponsors,” said T.J. Heither, Head of National Originations. “The combination of Morning Calm and Axar Capital bring complementary skill sets, a long history of successful partnerships and significant infrastructure that will allow MAM to efficiently scale and diversify our portfolio of investments.” Prior to joining MAM, Mr. Heither was most recently the Senior Vice President, National Commercial Real Estate, at Susser Bank. Prior to that he held origination and investing roles at Mutual of Omaha Bank and Principal Global Investors.
“This new platform will help borrowers access capital in a challenged market that has seen some of the largest lenders reducing their appetite for risk,” said Mukang Cho, Founder and CEO of Morning Calm. “The real estate credit market has diversified and grown significantly in recent years, and its recent dislocation creates a large void for MAM to fill.”
About Axar Capital Management LP
Axar Capital Management LP is a value-oriented investment firm focused on highly flexible, opportunistic investing in the corporate middle market. Axar's investment team focuses on opportunities across the capital structure in complex situations as a provider of debt and equity solutions that allow its management teams and portfolio companies to realize their long-term value potential.
About Morning Calm Management
Morning Calm Management is a vertically integrated real estate management firm with a focus on special situation investing. Through its affiliates, the firm owns and manages approximately 10 million square feet of commercial real estate throughout the United States on behalf of private and institutional capital.