Two local real estate firms have launched a joint venture lending operation.
E2M Ventures and Lariat Capital launched E2M Lariat with an $8.5 million loan for a residential development site in Vail’s Lionshead Village.
The new operation is geared toward providing senior mortgage loans in the $5 million to $100 million range, and subordinate mezzanine and preferred equity in the $2 million to $25 million range, according to Lariat Capital founder Scott Kraus.
“We will pursue any opportunity that we see as attractive from a risk-adjusted basis,” said Kraus, who is CEO of the new venture.
E2M Ventures was founded in 2023 by Marc Perusse, a former Revesco Properties executive, with a focus on both lending and investments. The firm has made two notable downtown office acquisitions, buying the tower at 410 17th St. in conjunction with Cress Capital and the towers at 621 and 633 17th St., which the firm quickly resold while retaining a parking garage.
E2M Ventures’ investment business will continue to be a standalone company. But the lending side of the business has merged with Lariat Capital in the new venture.
Kraus worked for Ares Management before launching Lariat Capital last year. He and Perusse, both 40 years old, met through E2M’s acquisition of 410 17th St. The firm and Cress bought the tower’s loan from Ares.
“I was pulled in to coordinate the deal,” Kraus said.
When Kraus went out on his own, Perusse offered him space in E2M’s office in the building.
“As our respective business and strategies matured over the course of this year, we started talking about partnering up,” Kraus said.
“It just naturally happened,” Perusse said.
Kraus is working full-time on E2M Lariat and said $300 million in annual lending is a target. Perusse said he’ll split his time between the firm and E2M Ventures.
Perusse said the company expects to do deals on “mostly transitional real estate,” where owners will likely secure a different loan when they stabilize a property or start construction.
The joint venture’s first deal in Vail fits into the latter mold. The loan was for 616 W. Lionshead Circle, currently home to a retail building. Perusse said the deal gives the buyer time to plan a project and secure a construction loan.
E2M Lariat has another deal in Los Angeles in the works, Perusse said. The company is most interested in working with experienced operators in supply-constrained markets.
Kraus said the company can be more nimble than larger loan operations.
“Our business plan is to play around those margins, because folks box themselves into a particular type of deal,” he said.
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