Month: December 2025

The Philadelphia C-PACE Program reached a major milestone in 2025, surpassing $300 million in cumulative Commercial Property-Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing. Since the program launched, nearly half of the $312 million in capital provided to Philadelphia property owners has been deployed over the past two years.

• Learn more: Philadelphia C-PACE Program 2024–2025 Report

More property owners are turning to Philadelphia C-PACE than ever before. The program has supported a range of commercial, industrial, healthcare, and mixed-use multifamily developments. Over the past two years, the program has delivered 411 new rental units to Philadelphia’s housing market. Several projects involve repeat borrowers, underscoring growing confidence in the program and its ability to deliver value across project types.

“Record levels of C-PACE financing are strengthening the resilience and sustainability of high-performance buildings across the city,” said Lisa Shulock, Director of Commercial Programs. “Continued program growth reflects rising demand from property owners seeking flexible, low-cost capital to improve building performance, reduce operating costs, and lower carbon emissions.”

C-PACE financing enables property owners and developers to fund energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy, resiliency, and indoor air quality improvements. By deploying private capital, the program helps borrowers lower their occupants’ utility bills, improve health and safety, and future-proof their buildings.

“With the support of this business-friendly lending program, we were able to invest in energy-efficient infrastructure which would not be possible with traditional bank lending,” said Mike Rhoads, Vice President, Rhoads Industries.

2025 Project Highlights

The Philadelphia C-PACE Program closed financing on a diverse set of high-impact projects this year, including:

• Harper Square Tower – The largest C-PACE transaction in Pennsylvania to date, this $60-million project demonstrates how C-PACE can support large-scale development while advancing energy performance and long-term affordability.
• Ford Road Medical Center – An $11 million C-PACE investment enabled critical energy and building system upgrades at this medical facility, improving efficiency and resiliency.
• 7078 Lincoln Drive – In November, the Philadelphia Energy Authority, PACE Equity, and Lincoln 7078 LLC closed on $1.1 million in C-PACE financing for a new construction multifamily property. The five-story, 39,000-square-foot, mixed-use building will incorporate energy efficiency and water conservation measures, exceeding Philadelphia building code requirements by 23 percent. 

Program Updates

In response to evolving market conditions and to ensure continual program improvement, the Philadelphia C-PACE Program updated its guidelines in 2025. A key change expands refinancing eligibility, allowing property owners to apply for retroactive C-PACE financing up to three years after project completion, extending the previous two-year window and providing greater flexibility for completed projects.

The Philadelphia C-PACE Program remains a critical tool for unlocking private capital, strengthening building performance, and supporting new housing and economic development across the city. 

Reach out to see if C-PACE financing is right for your project: CPACE@philaenergy.org.

Stephen Arrivello, ExCorde Capital. PEA welcomes guest bloggers to submit articles related to C-PACE. PEA thanks Stephen for submitting this piece.

The Philadelphia C-PACE Program recently revised financing rules, enabling property owners to apply for retroactive funds as far as three years after project completion.

Under the existing retroactive financing rule, owners could extract capital from completed projects within a maximum two-year window. 

It may sound like a technical tweak, but the impact is immediate. Extending the retroactive window makes it far easier for commercial property owners to lower debt, stabilize operations, and reinforce the long-term strength of their buildings. 

Retroactive financing is worth owners’ consideration – especially in today’s capital market of high rates and tight lending.

Why a Three-Year Retroactive Window Is a Game Changer

Under the new rule, owners can more likely tap C-PACE at exactly the moment they need long-term, fixed-rate capital. Project stabilization simply takes longer today than under previous market conditions. Commercial projects often face:

• Slower lease-ups
• Construction delays
• Budget overruns
• Softer cash-flow ramp-ups

In many instances, the two-year lookback period expired just as buildings were turning the corner. The three-year rule better fits the realities of today’s commercial real estate market.

Afterall, it’s useful to recall the differences in the lending market three years ago compared to today. Many owners who began construction in 2021–2022 finished those projects in a dramatically different financial environment:

• Interest rates nearly tripled
• Senior lenders tightened loan-to-value (LTV) ratios
• Construction costs jumped 25–40 percent

Retroactive C-PACE financing helps owners address these challenges. By refinancing on projects with qualifying energy-efficiency or resilience improvements, owners can offset construction overruns, reduce high-cost capital, improve their debt-service-coverage ratio (DSCR), and generally do better at avoiding financial distress.

What This Update Means for Property Owners

The longer lookback period can be especially useful across a wide pipeline of recently completed projects: multifamily, mixed-use, hospitality, industrial, office repositionings, and more. Hundreds of buildings that missed the old deadline may now qualify.

C-PACE typically offers long-term, fixed-rate, non-recourse financing. Swapping out double-digit bridge, mezzanine, or preferred-equity capital for ~6–8 percent C-PACE financing can significantly improve project economics.

With many construction loans coming due, and lenders hesitant to refinance at previous values, owners need new capital options. Retroactive C-PACE can be used to:

• Pay down senior debt
• Reduce lender risk
• Improve DSCR
• Extend holding periods
• Prevent capital calls or forced sales

Owners who self-funded building improvements can also benefit. C-PACE is an option to refinance their equity and return capital to the balance sheet. Refinancing creates liquidity for new projects or presents an opportunity to stabilize the existing portfolio.

C-PACE financing can be applied toward a wide range of high-cost systems and materials ranging from the building envelope and roofing to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. 

The Bottom Line

Extending retroactive C-PACE financing to three years is a targeted, pro-growth change that gives Philadelphia property owners meaningful flexibility in a difficult capital market. Now is the time for building owners to revisit eligibility and to assess whether retroactive C-PACE can strengthen their refinancing or recapitalization strategy.  

The revised retroactive financing rule opens the door for hundreds of recently completed projects to shore up their capital stacks and to reduce operating pressure. And, if the additional capital flow enables owners to invest in more C-PACE-financed developments, the revision will result in: reduced energy consumption, fewer carbon emissions, better-quality buildings, lower risk of distressed or undercapitalized assets, and more stable, tax-paying properties across the city. That’s a win for owners, lenders, the City of Philadelphia, and all residents.