Lawton joins Nuveen Green Capital as head of originations

Darien, CT Nuveen Green Capital (NGC), a leader in sustainable commercial real estate financing solutions, has added Christopher Lawton, a veteran of commercial real estate finance, to the firm as head of originations. Lawton will play a role in leading NGC’s origination and growth strategies, and will report to Jessica Bailey, president and CEO of Nuveen Green Capital.

Lawton brings more than 20 years of experience in commercial real estate structured finance, most recently having spent eight years at Bank OZK (formerly Bank of the Ozarks), where he was managing director of Northeast Originations for the bank’s Real Estate Specialties Group in New York City. In his time with Bank OZK, Lawton closed over $8 billion of construction and bridge facilities, formed the bank’s life-science lending program, and built the bank’s loan portfolio in Boston and Philadelphia.

Before joining Bank OZK, Lawton was a director in the New York office of Frankfurt, Germany-based DekaBank, where, in 2009, he helped establish the bank’s first U.S. office. From 2004 to 2009, Lawton was with Hypo Real Estate Capital where he originated, structured, and closed over $4 billion of senior and mezzanine commercial real estate financings. Lawton began his real estate career in 2003 as an analyst with CBRE Capital Markets. He graduated with a B.S in Business from Miami University and an M.S. in Real Estate from New York University.

Lawton said, “I am excited and honored to join Nuveen Green Capital, a company that I have admired since its beginning as Greenworks Lending, a pioneer and leader in the C-PACE industry. I am eager to work with the talented, energetic, and ambitious team, and to leverage my experience in commercial real estate finance to help drive the firm’s growth and success.”

“We are thrilled to add Chris to our talented team. The C-PACE industry has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years, and Nuveen Green Capital has continuously been at the forefront of that growth. With unprecedented opportunity in front of us, we wanted to bring on unparalleled expertise to allow us to capitalize on that potential. Chris brings deep knowledge of commercial real estate lending and complex deal structuring to Nuveen Green Capital. As our originations grow and our platform expands, Chris will be an integral part of our continued leadership in the market,” said Bailey.