Not even one year into its formation, private lending and institutional debt platform Ascent Developer Solutions is rapidly growing.

The Encino-based company launched in July, with equity help thanks to New York-based Elliot Capital Management, one of the world’s largest activist funds, and offers customized financing solutions to single-family, homebuilder and multifamily developers, ranging from short-term, secured loans for the purchase, renovation and construction of projects to more complicated, post-completion bridge financing as well.

“We’re supporting everything you see around from the tear-down, build-new construction on single-family and multifamily,” Robert Wasmund, founder and chief executive of AscentDS, says. “Those are the business lines that are extensive around the country that I provide debt to.”

Although the company is focused exclusively on the housing sector, as opposed to lending on other types of commercial assets such as office and industrial, Wasmund says its diversification comes from its geographical range. AscentDS mainly focuses on California but does deals all over – with a particular emphasis on the southern Sun Belt states.

“I think multifamily is set in solid for the long run, simply because of the fundamentals,” John Boyett, a senior vice president at CBRE Group Inc. specializing in multifamily investment sales, says. “Everyone needs a place to live.”

In the first five months since its founding, the company originated over $300 million worth of transactions and plans to more than quadruple that amount to $1.2 billion by the end of this year.

Residential landscape

Although AscentDS narrows in on one lending vertical – housing – Wasmund is interested in the whole gamut of residential living, from single-family to multifamily properties – each of which vary in loan conditions and risk metrics, according to experts.

“The best thing about single-family residences (is that) you’re not constrained by interest rates or a high-interest rate environment – you’re constrained by loan-to-value ratios and how seasoned the builder (or) developer is,” says Max Mellman, founder and managing partner of Beverly Hills-based Max Benjamin Partners Inc., which also specializes single-family and multifamily construction financing. “With respect to multifamily construction financing, in general, it’s just tougher to get deals done. Lending institutions are forecasting rates to remain higher for longer and they’re a lot more conservative than the conventional debt funds. There’s also just so much more red tape to traditional banks.”

Properties with one to four units fall under residential lending criteria while properties with five-plus units are considered commercial. Boyett says the difference is that lenders directly underwrite commercial assets and use them as collateral whereas, with residential properties, lenders will underwrite the borrower instead.

Within multifamily lending, Wasmund says AscentDS is specifically interested in the affordable housing landscape, namely accessory dwelling units and projects utilizing increased density incentives, as well as repositioned assets.

“Just given tax abatement purposes, in higher density and affordable deals, depending on if you can get vouchers or work with a certain housing authority, it’s a meaningful difference than market rate multifamily,” Mellman says. “There’s a whole slew of positives and I’d almost argue that the majority of deals that make sense, specifically in Los Angeles, are affordable.”

“The ADU opportunity is very unique to Los Angeles,” adds Shlomi Ronen, founder and managing principal at Dekel Capital Inc., a Century City-based real estate merchant bank. “It becomes highly accretive to the overall value of the whole property … Because it’s accretive, your loan to value ends up going down as a lender so it’s attractive from that standpoint and attractive in the sense that just a lot of lenders haven’t really focused on that niche and so it creates an opportunity for them to lend.”

Third-time founder

Despite AscentDS being a brand-new entity, it’s not the first of its kind for Wasmund, who has a history of growing companies from the ground-up.

Prior to launching AscentDS, Wasmund was the founder and chief executive of Sherman Oaks-based Genesis Capital LLC, a mortgage lender company he led for over 10 years and, before that, was cofounder of Anchor Loans, another private lender, based in Thousand Oaks.

It was his experience at Anchor Loans, during which he navigated the effects of the Great Financial Crisis, where he learned the importance of data analytics and the need for institutional equity. Wasmund claims he recognized there was an opportunity to nationalize and professionalize the private lending landscape, which ultimately set the foundation for him to split off and start Genesis and, eventually, AscentDS.

“We were the first private lender to gain private equity entrance into the private lending (sector),” Wasmund recalls on the formation of Genesis. “Oaktree Capital did my deal (in 2014). They gave me a $250 million check to build a national company in private lending.”

And after four years being backed by downtown-based Oaktree Capital Management LP, Goldman Sachs scooped Genesis up for an undisclosed sum in 2017 and then sold it again to private mortgage REIT New Residential Investment Corp., now known as New York-based Rithm Capital Corp., in 2021.

“I thought there was an opportunity to reset (and) restart,” Wasmund says on the decision to branch off. “With 25 years of lessons learned, there was an opportunity to create Ascent DS with a new start.”

While Wasmund is building a company from scratch, he says his experience going through two successful sale processes sets AscentDS apart and has also given him an easier footing when it comes to industry connections, as well as getting deals done.

“If he’s got a good brand in the market and they’ve got a pipeline, I think the easiest path would’ve been to add to the existing firm,” Ronen says. “Starting a new firm is not the easy path.”

Steady growth

But Wasmund, who has already gotten off to a quick start and has high expectations for the year ahead, is hoping the third time is the charm.

Beyond growth in originations, the company is increasing its headcount too. AscentDS currently has 55 full-time employees – about 40 of whom Wasmund has previously worked with – and that number is expected to jump to 100 by the end of this year.

The firm recently welcomed as chief credit officer Kerri Brouilette, who has more than two decades of real estate and private funding experience. Mike Corominas also recently joined the team as head of valuations.

And while Wasmund says AscentDS is investing in loans every day, its transaction volume has been slow due to overall market stagnation. So, as he finds down time in between deal closings, Wasmund says he’s most focused on investing in company infrastructure, technology and talent so that, when the deals do pick up, he’s ready to roll.

“I think part of that plan is continuing to make sure we grow the culture, both internally and externally at the same time,” Wasmund says. “Focus points of being relentless and thoughtful around how we continue to grow the culture which is why frankly I’ve had followship over the last 10-15 years in my different companies and why those folks all decided to believe in not just me, but Elliot Capital is our largest balance sheet, because we think we can build something special over the next five years as the long-term goal.”

Positive outlook

Although many think 2025 will still be a year of distress – particularly due to the new political office and rate curve environment – most experts are optimistic in the long haul, anticipating deals to ramp up within the next year or two, which will create a very attractive lending market.

“It’s like the Golden Age of the debt fund,” Mellman says. “Even in this high-interest rate environment, there’s an appetite for debt.”

And although Wasmund plans to stay in the residential sphere, experts agree there’s plenty of deals to come forth within that realm alone.

“The unique thing about multifamily, and the reason why it’s attractive to us and a number of other investors, (is that) even through the worst recessions, there’s always been capital available for the asset class, which ultimately translates into price stability, much more so than commercial assets,” Ronen says. “And then as well, we’re undersupplied, not only in Los Angeles, but nationally in general, in housing. There’s been ongoing demand for it, which ultimately results in higher rents so long as supply doesn’t get in control.”

“For me, the journey is everything,” Wasmund says. “At the end of the day, building a team, building the culture, creating connectivity internally and then externally, creating connectivity with our borrowers and sponsors, I think for me that’s what’s most gratifying of building these businesses – creating something that’s different from the competitors, creating something that’s repeatable, that has value … I’m really having fun, and I hope and think that translates through not just myself, but my executive team and to the staff and to, frankly, all of our borrowers as well.”