Michele Pitale is managing director and head of C-PACE at CounterpointeSRE, a Connecticut-based financial services firm. Seniors Housing Business recently conducted a Q&A with Pitale to get her thoughts on the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing mechanism and its place within the senior living landscape.
SHB: C-PACE financing enables commercial property owners to fund resiliency, energy-efficient, renewable energy and water conservation projects for their properties. What void has this financing vehicle filled in the seniors housing sector that traditional lenders couldn’t provide historically?
Pitale: C-PACE credit underwriting is more tolerant of properties with low operating margins and of non-traditional real estate. Interest rates tend to be more in line with multifamily housing pricing rather than the healthcare sector, making C-PACE very attractive financing in senior housing.
SHB: Why is C-PACE financing becoming more of a household word in the seniors housing world?
Pitale: We are marking 10 years since we first provided C-PACE financing for a skilled nursing facility in 2016. We see seniors housing as an early adopter. There has been a continuous effort to educate and raise awareness of the benefits of C-PACE to match the rising demand of resilient and efficient seniors housing developments.
SHB: Why does this financing vehicle appear to be gaining momentum now?
Pitale: C-PACE financing is increasingly recognized as an accretive solution for the broader category of multifamily development, particularly in the current environment of constrained liquidity and elevated interest rates.
This market’s lower liquidity and high-interest rate environment follows the 2019 advent of C-PACE usage in major metropolitan areas such as New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston, which brought the tool to the attention of major real estate investors.
SHB: Is C-PACE financing better suited for renovations or new ground-up construction? Or can the financing be effectively used for both renovations and new development?
Pitale: C-PACE has always been well suited for renovations and is currently a very strong prospect for financing new development, given the high-interest-rate environment.
SHB: What do you think will be the biggest determining factor(s) in overall C-PACE financing activity nationally in 2026 and why?
Pitale: Since our inception in 2013, we have been focused on education. Growing awareness around C-PACE, along with its ability to solve a wide variety of financing needs, is a core component of driving market activity.
SHB: What was the total dollar volume of C-PACE closings at your company in 2025 and how did that compare with 2024 deal volume? Do you expect an increase in C-PACE closings in 2026, and if so by what percentage?
Pitale: From 2013 to 2020, we saw slow but steady growth as new jurisdictions learned of and enabled C-PACE. Exponential growth began after 2020 with the growing incorporation of C-PACE into the mainstream financing world. C-PACE is now considered by a wide spectrum of stakeholders ranging from small owners and operators to institutional investors.
The current landscape is that of a barbell market, with transactions between $1 million and $30 million and others that are in the range $100 million to $200 million and above.
SHB: C-PACE loans are nonrecourse, and interest rates might start as low as about 7 percent. How does that interest rate compare with competing finance sources?
Pitale: Rates might be low for stabilized properties and are competitive even for affordable and age-restricted housing.
For new construction, rates tend to be very accretive, and financing is available for all seniors housing subsectors, from active adult to skilled nursing. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is a strong advocate of C-PACE for multifamily properties.
SHB: Do property owners have any misconceptions about the financing program and how do you clarify C-PACE for them?
Pitale: This is government-sponsored financing through agreement with the taxing authority and funded with private capital. Agreements are with the taxing authority, and then collected revenues or tax lien are assigned to private capital. C-PACE capital providers can be thought of as tax lien purchasers that enter agreement with municipality to fund measures that serve a public benefit.
SHB: What are the biggest challenges, if any, to getting C-PACE deals across the line right currently?
Pitale: C-PACE financing is a short, easy process with less legal work than other financings, and it involves fewer, more standardized documents from the municipality and program.
The biggest challenge is reassuring the property owner and their lawyers that it is indeed simple, though it is not a mortgage nor a mortgage process. Another challenge is walking parties involved in the deal through the transaction, as they expect it to be more complicated, akin to other financings.
SHB: Is there a recent example of a C-PACE financing deal completed by CounterpointeSRE that you would like to highlight?
Pitale: One case study is that of Legacy at Lake Talmo in Winter Springs, Florida. A nursing home vulnerable to hurricane damage sought to upgrade poorly performing elevators while also upgrading the building’s roofing and windows. Hoping to reduce the cost of capital, the developer turned to CounterpointeSRE for C-PACE financing.
The elevator was modernized by ThyssenKrupp with more efficient controls, wiring and a hydraulic power unit, as well as a larger cab for greater transport capacity. By optimizing performance and increasing transport capacity, the elevator modernization was projected to save a modest amount of energy annually. Utilizing C-PACE financing reduced future operating expenses and allowed the property owner to conserve capital for other aspects of the build.
— Interview by Matt Valley