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GreenBarn Investment Group formed from Normandy alumni, expands deals
GreenBarn said it has about $3.5 billion in investments and has worked on office, retail, mezzanine and asset management assignments, including 20 Times Square and several large loans.
Commercial Observer profiles GreenBarn Investment Group, a firm created through the pairing of real estate veterans David Welsh and David Schonbraun after their earlier stints and deal-making across the sector. Welsh co-founded Normandy Real Estate Partners in 2002, sold it to Columbia Property Trust in 2019, and then co-founded Senlac Ridge in January 2020. Schonbraun spent almost two decades at SL Green Realty as chief investment officer, later moving to Carlyle Group’s U.S. real estate credit role, before joining the new firm in the early green stage of GreenBarn’s evolution.
According to Commercial Observer, Welsh bought out his Senlac partners and rebranded the company to GreenBarn in 2023, bringing in Schonbraun as a partner and Rithm Capital as a partner in the business. The outlet says GreenBarn now has roughly $3.5 billion in investments under its belt and is aiming to carve out a niche in a market where, it argues, deal complexity is a differentiator.
Commercial Observer highlights GreenBarn’s involvement in a range of transactions across the capital stack, including restructuring $1.84 billion in debt on a Columbia Property Trust office portfolio and work connected to the recapitalization of 817 Broadway. The outlet also cites financing activity such as a $77 million mezzanine loan for Grubb Properties’ development at 8 Carlisle Street in Manhattan, a $112 million retail loan on Kushner Companies’ Monmouth Mall in New Jersey, and GreenBarn being awarded asset management duties at 20 Times Square.
In the profile, Schonbraun frames the firm’s strategy around comfort with difficult transactions, telling Commercial Observer that it is better positioned when deals are more complex. The outlet also includes Natixis managing director Michael Magner describing GreenBarn as experienced across deal types, saying the firm has seen and can tackle what others may avoid.