Today we appeared on the Cincinnati Business Courier's Business Watch to discuss our partnership with CleanFund Commercial PACE Capital Inc., the leading direct provider of commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing, that will bring capital to commercial real estate projects in Ohio and Kentucky.
Here is a portion of the article:
Andy Holzhauser, partner at Donovan Energy, said the financing, which is relatively new in the Greater Cincinnati region, is complementary to other financing such as mortgages, equity and tax credits.
“People ask us, is it debt or equity? Really, it’s neither. It’s PACE,” Holzhauser said.
Here’s how PACE works. Once a local government creates a district, property owners are able to voluntarily sign up for financing and install energy projects or build new projects that have energy efficiency components. The PACE lender provides funds to the property owner to pay for the project and then the property owner repays the PACE loan through the property tax bill for up to 30 years.
Tim Donovan, partner with Donovan Energy, said with the increased efficiency of the building and the lower energy and maintenance costs, these projects are providing more savings than the additional cost.
“They are cash flow positive from day one,” Donovan told me.
The partnership with CleanFund has already resulted in more than two dozen potential projects looking at adding PACE financing to their capital stack. Donovan Energy’s pipeline of projects using PACE financing spans from Louisville to Cleveland. Once project development agreements are in place, these projects will be announced.
Watch the video and read the full article.
