C-PACE Alliance Announces 2020 Award Winners

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- C-PACE Alliance (CPA), a business association that promotes Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing, announced the winners of its 2020 C-PACE Alliance Awards. 

"These individuals, companies and transactions exhibited best practices, innovation and leadership for the C-PACE industry, a new way to finance projects that improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of commercial buildings," said CPA Executive Director Cliff Kellogg.

Policy & Practice: Stephanie Mah, DBRS / Morningstar for her article, "Earth, Wind, and Fire: PACE Plays a Vital ESG Role."  As a recognized subject-matter expert, Mah's article, published in The Journal of Structured Finance, raises the visibility of this emerging asset class, leading more states and local governments to adopt C-PACE and spread the benefits of green financing more widely.

Facilitating Transactions by Making C-PACE Easy-to-Use: PACE Conservation Solutions, for helping owners of six smaller buildings in rural Colorado ? from coffee roasters to nonprofit housing advisors ? access C-PACE financing under $170,000. 

Deal of the Year for Public Benefits (transactions less than $1 million):  MinnPace for the Renewable Energy Partners' Workforce Training Center, which trains residents from throughout the region, but especially from its surrounding economically poorer community to install solar panels.  The rooftop solar array is a real-life example of the product workers will install, as well as saving utility costs.     

Deal of the Year for Public Benefits (transactions greater than $1 million): Stonehill PACE for the Pearl Point multifamily project in hurricane ravaged Rockport, Texas. After homes and apartment buildings were destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Stonehill PACE provided C-PACE financing to complete the financing and commence construction on one of the first and largest multifamily communities to be built after the storm. The project provided housing for residents and job opportunities in the local economy.

Deal of the Year for Advancing the Industry:

• Greenworks Lending for the redevelopment of the historic DuPont Building, the first C-PACE Project in Delaware. Built in 1908 as the DuPont headquarters, the 1 million-square-foot building is being converted into apartments, retail, a theater, a hotel, and office space. Greenworks closed a gap in the complex capital stack that included commercial mortgage-backed securities and historic tax credits.
• PACE Equity for the redevelopment of two former NASA sites in northeast Ohio where researchers played an integral role in the launch of the Apollo space exploration programs. PACE Equity worked with the developers for 18 months to assemble historic tax credits, tax increment financing and grants for preservation and redevelopment.

About C-PACE Alliance
C-PACE Alliance is a coalition of capital providers and transaction experts committed to achieving the public benefits of C-PACE by increasing the volume of quality transactions. CPA members have advised on program design in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York State and Illinois. 

SOURCE C-PACE Alliance