🔒Busy CT developer partners with national lender to push Northeast expansion

Branford-based real estate investment and development firm MB Financial announced a new partnership with national private lender Ascent Developer Solutions, a move that aims to significantly expand the financing options available to developers across the Northeast. The partnership links one of Connecticut's most active development firms with a fast-growing lender that has originated more than $3 billion in loans since its 2024 launch, according to an announcement Tuesday. A key component of the arrangement is expanded lending capacity. MB Financial, which has historically made loans of up to $10 million through its financing arm, will now be able to connect developers with financing packages as large as $100 million through Ascent, depending on project strength and borrower experience, MB Financial President and CEO Michael Massimino said. "We're going to offer a full capital stack and financing package through our partners with Ascent," Massimino said. As part of the deal, Massimino's brother, Mario, has joined Ascent as senior vice president of sales and will help lead the lender's Northeast expansion from a newly established office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Massimino said MB Financial entered into a joint venture with Ascent to provide financing to developers and lenders across the eastern United States, beginning with a focus on New England. The partnership will also support MB's own development ambitions. "In addition to being partners, we're also a borrower of Ascent," Massimino said. "It's going to increase our credit facilities and capacity, and it's going to allow us to scale on the real estate development side." Massimino said MB plans to market permitted, shovel-ready development opportunities with infrastructure already installed, paired with financing options available through the Ascent partnership. Developers would not be required to use Ascent financing, but the combination could reduce uncertainty and help projects move forward more quickly, he said. Massimino said he has worked with Ascent CEO Robert Wasmund for more than a decade, predating the lender's launch. MB will continue operating its own financing arm, which can provide secondary financing and equity investments alongside Ascent's lending products, Massimino said. On the development side, MB Financial currently operates more than 1,000 apartment units and has another 4,000 apartment, condominium and single-family home units permitted for development, according to Massimino. The company also manages 1.5 million square feet of commercial space. Its recent projects include redevelopment plans for the former MassMutual campus in Enfield and the former WWE headquarters in Stamford. Ascent and MB recently opened a Cambridge office staffed by four loan originators. The partners are also considering a second office near downtown Branford. That office would occupy about 2,000 square feet at 45 South Main St., a 19,104-square-foot building MB Financial acquired last year for $1.35 million. MB plans to relocate its headquarters into roughly 12,000 square feet of the building, while converting the remaining space into 10 apartments, Massimino said. According to Tuesday's announcement, Ascent employs about 130 people nationwide and provides bridge, renovation and construction financing for single-family, multifamily and homebuilder projects. Attempts to reach an Ascent representative for comment were not immediately successful.