What iStar Financial does

iStar Financial is a publicly traded commercial real estate finance company (NYSE: STAR) that, following its March 31, 2023 merger with Safehold Inc. and concurrent spin-off of legacy assets to iStar stockholders, operates as a pure-play modern ground lease platform. The company's core product is a proprietary 99-year Modern Ground Lease (MGL) instrument that separates land ownership from building ownership, providing commercial property owners and developers with long-term, low-cost capital that reduces upfront equity requirements and eliminates debt maturity risk on the leased land component. Target deal parameters are $15M–$500M in transaction size, 4.25%–5.0% cap rate range, 30%–45% ground lease to property value, and 3.0x–4.5x coverage, with documentation pre-approved by banks, CMBS, debt funds, life companies, and agencies.

iStar generates recurring ground rent revenue from the land beneath commercial buildings, functioning as a subscription-style recurring revenue model with 99-year contract duration. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales through East (New York) and West (Los Angeles) regional offices, supplemented by a capital markets partnership with Newmark. Customer segments include commercial building owners, real estate developers, and institutional investors, with named enterprise counterparties such as Admiral Capital Group, The Dilweg Companies, ABSTRACT, and Newmark. Property type coverage spans multifamily (primary), affordable housing (primary), office, hotel, retail, industrial, life science, and student and senior housing, distributed across the top 30 US metropolitan markets.

Name

iStar Financial

Legal name

Safehold Inc.

Website

https://istar.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

iStar Financial is a publicly traded commercial real estate finance company that, following its 2023 merger with Safehold, operates as a pure-play modern ground lease platform, providing 99-year ground lease capital to commercial building owners and developers across the top 30 US markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Ground Lease Revenue: Safehold owns the land beneath commercial buildings and receives recurring ground rent payments from property owners. Property owners pay ground rent in exchange for the right to use the land for the lease term (typically 99 years), reducing their upfront equity requirement and cost of capital.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

iStar Financial is a commercial real estate finance company that historically provided structured financing solutions to commercial real estate owners, operators, and developers. In March 2023, iStar completed a merger with Safehold and spun off its legacy assets to stockholders, with the modern ground lease business continuing as a separate public entity under the Safehold brand. iStar itself continues to operate as a publicly traded commercial real estate finance company (NYSE: STAR).

Product overview

Safehold operates as a single-product company offering the Safehold Ground Lease, a modern ground lease financing structure for commercial real estate. The product targets high-quality commercial building owners and developers seeking long-term capital solutions. Target transactions range from $15M to $500M with cap rates between 4.25%-5.0%, covering 30%-45% of property value with 3.0x-4.5x coverage. Property types include Multifamily, Office, Hotel, Retail, Industrial, Life Science, Student & Senior Housing across top 30 U.S. markets. The 99-year lease structure replaces land component capital, reducing upfront equity and eliminating refinancing risk on that portion of the capital structure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduce upfront equity requirement by removing land component from capital structure
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ares Commercial Real Estate: Public CRE-focused specialty finance company (NYSE: ACRE) that originates and invests in commercial real estate-related assets. Comparable mid-cap peer in CRE lending.
• Safehold Inc. Public modern ground lease company (NYSE: SAFE) that was effectively separated from iStar in the March 2023 merger/spin-off. Direct comparable in ground lease ownership and the closest pure-play peer to the iStar/Safehold platform.
• TPG RE Finance Trust: Public CRE mortgage REIT (NYSE: TRTX) focused on originating senior loans on commercial properties. Similar mid-cap, sponsor-affiliated profile and asset class overlap.
• Starwood Property Trust: Public CRE finance REIT (NYSE: STWD) that originates senior mortgage loans, mezzanine debt, and invests in equity. Direct competitor in institutional commercial real estate capital, sharing scale, public-markets access, and broad asset-class exposure.
• Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance: Public CRE finance REIT (NYSE: ARI) focused on originating senior mortgage loans and investing in CRE securities. Comparable mid-cap public peer in commercial real estate lending.
• KKR Real Estate Finance Trust: Public CRE mortgage REIT (NYSE: KREF) externally managed by KKR, originating senior loans on institutional-quality commercial real estate. Comparable structure, sponsor backing, and origination focus.
• Broadstone Net Lease: Public net-lease REIT (NYSE: BNL) that acquires single-tenant commercial properties subject to long-term net leases. Comparable in long-duration, passive-capital real estate ownership thesis adjacent to ground leases.
• Blackstone Mortgage Trust: Public commercial real estate finance company (NYSE: BXMT) that originates and acquires senior loans secured by commercial properties. Most directly comparable large-cap peer in CRE finance, though focused on debt rather than ground lease equity capital.
• Ladder Capital Corp: Public internally-managed REIT (NYSE: LCR) providing commercial real estate loans, real estate-related securities, and equity investments. Comparable mid-size CRE finance platform with diversified product set.
• EPR Properties: Public REIT (NYSE: EPR) that primarily invests in single-tenant experiential properties via long-term net leases with built-in rent escalators. Highly relevant peer because of its long-duration lease structure and ground-lease-like ownership model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/istar-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about iStar Financial