NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Criterion Real Estate Capital, an experienced real estate investment manager, today announced the hirings of Adam Matos as Managing Director and Ben Milde as Chief Operating Officer. These strategic appointments add proven institutional real estate debt and equity capital markets and investment expertise to the firm’s leadership team as it gears up for accelerated growth. Criterion is also pleased to announce that Brett Kantor, who has been with the firm since 2014, has been promoted to Managing Director.
In their respective roles, Matos and Milde will work directly with Kantor and Criterion’s Founder and Managing Partner, Chuck Rosenzweig, to advance the firm’s strategy of investing in high-quality assets in U.S. gateway markets through the origination of structured high-yield debt, participating loans, preferred equity, senior equity and joint venture equity. Criterion has invested over $1 billion of equity capital since its inception in 2010 and recently closed its latest discretionary fund, which received commitments from a diverse group of investors.
“As a special situations investor, the market conditions we see are ideal for our differentiated investment platform,” said Rosenzweig. “With access to capital, a vast network of relationships and the ability to invest across the capital structure in all real estate property types, Criterion is positioned for prolific growth. Adam and Ben are proven talents and their extensive experience enhances our ability to capitalize on a vintage of commercial real estate investments that we believe will be incredibly attractive over the next several years.”
Matos joins Criterion from the publicly-traded REIT Safehold Inc., where he served as a Senior Vice President. In this role, he was responsible for sourcing, underwriting and negotiating long-term, leased fee positions across the U.S. Prior to and during his seven-year tenure at Safehold, Matos spent 14 years with iStar – Safehold’s predecessor and founding company – investing over $3 billion across the capital structure and commercial real estate product spectrum.
Milde has spent over 25 years focused on commercial real estate investing, development, lending and asset management. He comes to Criterion from multifamily investment and development firm Richbell Equities LLC. Prior to that, Milde served as a Managing Director and Head of Commercial Mortgage Originations at both Citigroup and Allegiant Real Estate Capital. Mr. Milde also was a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns, where he started his career in its CRE lending group.
Over its history and throughout various market cycles, Criterion has found success with a patient approach and structuring expertise, enabling the firm to capitalize on transaction-level complexity. This core competency lends itself well to a current commercial real estate landscape facing elevated interest rates, a substantial volume of pending loan maturities and transactions requiring creative structuring and nimble capital solutions.
About Criterion Real Estate Capital
Founded in 2010, Criterion Real Estate Capital is an experienced investment manager with a highly successful track record. Criterion opportunistically invests in high-quality assets in U.S. gateway markets through the origination of structured high-yield debt, participating loans, preferred equity, senior equity and joint venture equity. With the ability to invest throughout the capital stack, Criterion offers customized solutions as a comprehensive capital provider and investment partner for property acquisitions, refinancings, recapitalizations and distressed debt/note purchases. Since its inception, Criterion has invested in transactions with a gross asset value of approximately $6 billion. For additional information, visit www.criterionre.com.
