Seth Fisher is a Principal and Head of Special Situations at Prime Finance and a member of the firm’s Special Situations Investment Committee. He is responsible for investment, portfolio construction, and asset management activity for the strategy, which Prime now refers to as Strategic Capital Solutions.

Prior to joining Prime Finance, Seth was Chief Investment Officer of Equity Investments for Starwood Property Trust’s REIS segment, where he led middle-market investment activity tied to CMBS exposure and commercial real estate special situations. Earlier in his career, he held roles across predecessor business lines at LNR Property, including credit investment activities, note sales, and loan workouts. Seth graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics.

Insights from Seth Fisher on Strategic Capital Solutions

A borrower may need a stretched senior loan, preferred equity, mezzanine debt, structured equity, or another capital solution altogether. For Seth Fisher and the team at Prime Finance, the advantage is being able to match the capital structure to the sponsor, the asset, and the situation.

That flexibility matters in a market where commercial real estate capital structures are still recalibrating for a normalized rate environment. Banks are being more strategic with capital, borrowers are hesitant to lock into long-term fixed-rate debt, and private credit is playing a larger role in how real estate borrowers solve for flexibility. Prime’s rebrand from Special Situations to Strategic Capital Solutions reflects a business that includes secondary loan acquisitions and partnership capital for complex situations.

In this episode of The Dealmakers’ Edge, Aaron Strauss and Seth Fisher discuss how today’s recapitalization environment is shaping private credit, why Prime shifted from Special Situations to Strategic Capital Solutions, how flexible capital solutions are structured in practice, and why repeat relationships remain central to deal flow, credibility, and execution in commercial real estate.

1:53 - Learning real estate basics in industrial brokerage

3:15 - How the GFC shaped Seth’s view of risk and downside protection

4:14 - Building the three legs of special situations investing

6:31 - Moving back to Chicago and joining Prime Finance

7:57 - Strategic Capital Solutions and the specialized platform model

10:27 - The current era of recapitalization

16:58 - Rebranding from Special Situations to Strategic Capital Solutions

21:18 - Building relationships before you need them

23:18 - Managing stress by breaking problems into smaller pieces

Mentioned In Strategic Capital Solutions in a Recalibrating Market with Seth Fisher

Prime Finance | LinkedIn

Seth Fisher on LinkedIn

Enjoy the show? Have a guest in mind? Email us at podcast@aystrauss.com to let us know your feedback and who you want to hear on the next episode.

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Henry Stimler serves as an Executive Managing Director on Newmark’s Capital Markets Strategies team, where he specializes in originating and structuring in multifamily debt and equity with an emphasis on large bespoke portfolio transactions. Based in the firm’s New York headquarters, Stimler is known for guiding traditions Tri-State investors into new high growth markets across the U.S., including the Midwest, Texas and South Florida, while also sourcing global equity from key international cities like London, Tel Aviv and Johannesburg. Prior to joining Newmark, Stimler founded and served as Director of London Green Capital, a debt origination firm.

Insights from Henry Stimler on How Courage and Consistency Close Deals

Henry Stimler runs a full calendar. Client meetings, travel, prospecting, closings, and pipeline follow-ups take up most days, yet he still takes calls from young professionals, makes time for anyone genuinely trying to learn the business, and sees mentorship as part of the job.

That mindset was shaped by starting from zero after the 2008 crash. He went from a thriving business to being overdrawn at the ATM and had to rebuild his career piece by piece. It taught him to focus on real opportunities, protect his time and rely on a team where everyone brings a different strength.

In this episode of The Dealmakers’ Edge, Aaron talks with Henry about rebuilding from the ground up, sourcing and structuring large multifamily transactions, and keeping deals on track in challenging market conditions. Henry discusses rejection, resilience, mentorship and what it takes to close complex deals.

1:50 – Henry’s background growing up in London and leaving the traditional path

2:35 – Discovering an arbitrage opportunity and building Phoenix

2:50 – The 2008 crash and losing everything, including assets and business

3:20 – Rebuilding through club promotion, opening venues, and returning to finance

3:53 – Turning a shuttered Chinese restaurant into one of NYC’s hottest nightclubs

6:12 – Closing his first deal and earning a $25K commission before his son was born

6:21 – Transition to Newmark when Cantor rolls platforms together

7:03 – Building a national platform and taking NYC investors into new markets

7:57 – Success is not linear and why connection skills drive outcomes

10:51 – How to spot time wasters and protect your capacity

12:12 – “Fish with a net” and why small maybes drain time

14:24 – Making time for students and early-career outreach

16:35 – Keeping a billion-dollar pipeline moving toward closing

18:53 – Team structure in practice and the yin and yang with Bill Weber

21:32 – Developing junior talent and the cold outreach that led to a $230M closing

29:02 – The perspective and humility carried forward from the 2008 crash

Mentioned In How Courage and Consistency Close Deals with Henry Stimler

Newmark | LinkedIn

Henry Stimler on LinkedIn

Enjoy the show? Have a guest in mind? Email us at podcast@aystrauss.com to let us know your feedback and who you want to hear on the next episode.

Connect with Aaron and the A.Y. Strauss team:

• Our website (www.AYStrauss.com)
• Aaron's website bio page (Aaron's bio page)
• Aaron's LinkedIn account (LinkedIn)
• Our Twitter account (@AYStrauss)

Sharon Solomon is a principal at Northlake Development Group, a family office development business with a pipeline of residential and multifamily projects across Santa Fe, New Mexico and South Florida. At Northlake, Sharon leads development strategy, capital planning, and partnership structuring, building the firm alongside her two sons as a multi-generational platform.

Prior to launching Northlake, Sharon spent 25 years in financial services, including 11 years at RBC Capital Markets, where she served as US Head of Brand and Client Strategy. Before RBC, she was a member of the executive team at Carlin Financial Group and a founder of predecessor firm Nextgen Trading. She began her career as a Product Manager at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Sharon is a CPA and holds a BS in Accounting from Brooklyn College.

Insights from Sharon Solomon on Finding the Right Development Partners

Sharon Solomon spent two years getting to know a Dallas-based developer before structuring a JV for a 430-unit multifamily project in Santa Fe. She needed a partner with experience in mountain west markets who was also willing to share decision-making with a family that wanted to be deeply involved. That combination took time to find, and the structure they built together reflects it.

Not every project in her pipeline needed that same approach. In Naples, she hired a local developer as a consultant and brought in a builder with deep roots in the market. In Titusville, a planned JV converted into a fee builder arrangement when the structure didn't make sense. The thread across all of them is matching the partnership to what each project actually requires, and making sure the people involved are incentivized well enough to treat it like their own.

In this episode of The Dealmakers' Edge, Aaron Strauss and Sharon discuss how she evaluates what kind of partnership each project needs, why cutting a developer's fees can backfire on the project they're building for you, and how she's building a multi-generational development business with her two sons designed to outlast any single deal.

1:25 - Growing up in a family of Holocaust survivors and starting at Brooklyn College

5:05 - Starting in New Jersey with value-add rentals and Airbnb units

7:05 - Bringing her sons in and committing to a multi-generational development business

10:50 - The Santa Fe assemblage and why Los Alamos job growth drove the thesis

12:35 - Spending two years getting to know RCR before structuring the JV

14:10 - The Hutchinson Island oceanfront assemblage and looking for the right partner

16:01 - Titusville and a planned JV that converted into a fee builder arrangement

18:06 - Decision-making rights and negotiating co-developer status

22:17 - Getting ahead of Opportunity Zone 2.0 before the next designations

25:37 - Managing the ups and downs of development over years and decades

Mentioned In Finding the Right Partners and Building for Generations with Sharon Solomon

Northlake Development Group | LinkedIn

Sharon Solomon on LinkedIn

Enjoy the show? Have a guest in mind? Email us at podcast@aystrauss.com to let us know your feedback and who you want to hear on the next episode.

Connect with Aaron and the A.Y. Strauss team:

• Our website (www.AYStrauss.com)
• Aaron's website bio page (Aaron's bio page)
• Aaron's LinkedIn account (LinkedIn)
• Our Twitter account (@AYStrauss)