Real estate middle-market lender Formida Capital has launched in Dallas, backed by funds managed by Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management.

The new company is led by President Wade Hundley, formerly CEO of Starwood/TPG-backed venture ST Residential. Hundley is joined by Jeffrey Giudice, managing partner and head of lending, who leads the firm’s direct lending business.

“With Formida, we see significant opportunities across a wide spectrum of categories in the high-growth U.S. markets,” John Brady, Oaktree’s global head of real estate, said in a statement. “The need to recapitalize assets is immense, given the unprecedented and drastic repricing. Due to the extended pullback in lending by regional and community banks, there’s an opportunity for Formida to bridge the gaps by offering both debt and equity solutions.”

Formida said it offers flexible solutions across the entire capital stack, providing debt, mezzanine financing, and equity for middle-market commercial real estate projects across the spectrum throughout the U.S.

The company said that Giudice brings extensive experience from his recent role as managing director and head of the West Coast office for Ladder Capital. Formida also has brought Jordan Kirkbride on as managing director of the loan originations team. Kirkbride joins Formida from CBRE and Hodges Ward Elliott, where he spent six years advising on hospitality debt.

Balance sheet lending approach

Formida said its core offerings include direct lending, bank capital solutions, and special situations.

Direct lending options encompass fixed- and floating-rate loans on transitional/value-added business plans secured by all asset classes across all U.S. markets. Loans range from $5 million to more than $75 million, specializing in higher leverage stretch senior financing (up to 85%+ LTV), selective mezzanine loans, preferred equity, and participating debt.

“Launching Formida presents a unique opportunity to fill the void of smart institutional capital for higher leverage middle-market deals at a time when borrowers are experiencing one of the largest value resets we’ve seen in recent years,” Giudice said in a statement. “As a private provider of debt and equity capital with institutional backing, Formida aims to bridge this gap.”

With a balance sheet lending approach, Formida said it holds all investments in-house, eliminating reliance on securitization or third-party partnerships, ensuring direct alignment with client goals. It said that each transaction—from origination to asset management—is managed internally, providing clients with a seamless experience.

Replacing a ‘lifeline’ that ‘has dried up’

Formida said its relationship with Oaktree and its deep capabilities and trusted relationships across all aspects of the real estate debt and equity investment markets allow it to lend intelligently into some of the most challenging market sectors.

Oaktree, owned by Brookfield Asset Management, has $205 billion in assets under management.

Formida will partner with regional and community banks and financial institutions, extending lending capabilities through co-lending, creating white-labeled loan products, and offering balance sheet de-risking solutions, it said.

“Middle-market commercial developers and real estate owners have historically relied on community and regional banks to fund quality projects. That lifeline has dried up,” Hundley said in a statement. “These banks and their borrowers are grappling with increased cap rates and significantly higher interest rates. This creates an opportunity for Formida to help these banks retain their borrowers and for developers to sustain their projects by providing essential capital.”

Formida said it will engineer creative solutions for owners, developers, and operators in high-growth markets across the breadth of real estate classes—including in the hotel space, where owners need resources to fuel growth and address specific financial pressures.

The company said that because of Hundley’s previous experience at ST Residential, Formida has an especially strong understanding of luxury residential and condominium capital. 

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