Nuveen Green Capital Celebrates 10-year Anniversary, Characterized by Innovation, Impact, and Numerous Successes and Milestones

Co-founders, CEO, Jessica Bailey and Chief Investment Officer, Alexandra Cooley launched startup Greenworks Lending in 2015 and have since helped shape and expand the C-PACE industry

Nuveen Green Capital (NGC), a leader in sustainable commercial real estate financing solutions, announces today that the company is celebrating its 10th anniversary since its founding in 2015.

In just 10 years, the firm has played a crucial role in the growth and development of the C-PACE industry, enabling C-PACE to go from a niche financing mechanism to a mainstay of commercial real estate finance. Industry leaders and trailblazers, President and CEO, Jessica Bailey and Chief Investment Officer, Alexandra (Ali) Cooley first joined forces at the Connecticut Green Bank in 2012, where their shared mission to decarbonize the built environment led them to develop and launch the nation’s first successful C-PACE program.

C-PACE, which stands for Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, provides flexible financing solutions for sustainable commercial real estate construction projects. Available in 40 states and Washington D.C., C-PACE has grown rapidly as an attractive financing solution within the commercial real estate market.

Bailey and Cooley c0-founded startup Greenworks Lending, now Nuveen Green Capital, 10 years ago in January 2015 with the goal of expanding C-PACE’s impact. Their shared vision was to decarbonize the built environment by offering the commercial real estate industry a scalable clean energy financing solution. They believed that this would not only promote sustainability, but also benefit the CRE industry, the economy, and the environment.

Under their leadership, the company has achieved remarkable success and reached several significant milestones, such as:

• Acquired by Nuveen, the trillion-dollar asset manager and subsidiary of TIAA in 2021, marking the first institutional acquisition of a C-PACE company.
• Helped bring C-PACE policy to a near-national level by aiding in its expansion from one to 40 states, as well as Washington, D.C.
• Completed the industry’s first rated securitization of C-PACE assets in 2017.
• Completed the C-PACE industry’s largest 144A securitization of C-PACE assets in 2021.
• Launched an innovative new C-PACE Lending Fund series, designed to give insurers access to a diversified portfolio of energy efficient, climate resilient, water conservation and renewable energy projects.
• Has grown from two employees to nearly 100.
• Launched an innovative new financing program with global investment group, CDPQ, bringing a combined C-PACE and senior debt solution for sustainable CRE development.
• Closed the first C-PACE-financed deals in Delaware, Alaska, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Idaho.
• Surpassed $3.3 billion in cumulative C-PACE originations for 677 projects with over $10 billion in total project financing.
• Received over 60 industry awards to date.
• NGC’s C-PACE-funded projects have generated an estimated lifetime total carbon reduction of 2,186,860 metric tons, the equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 2,194,550 acres of forest annually. NGC-funded projects have also saved an estimated 622,767,849 lifetime total gallons of water, the equivalent to 943 Olympic size swimming pools.

President and CEO, Jessica Bailey said, “It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years already. While we are so proud of the successes and milestones, we are most proud of the positive impact our firm has been able to make by promoting and propelling what was once considered a niche financing mechanism. C-PACE has redefined what is possible when the public and private sectors work together to solve challenges. This could not have happened without the team we have assembled.”

Chief Investment Officer, Alexandra Cooley, added “We are so proud of what the Nuveen Green Capital team has built over the past 10 years. C-PACE has proven its strength and durability in institutional investors’ portfolios through a full market cycle. As we look ahead to the next ten years and beyond, we are excited to innovate new financing applications of our products to bring resiliency and impact to local communities and investor portfolios.”

The firm has planned several initiatives and events throughout the year to celebrate this exciting anniversary.