Green Finance Builds Utah Luxury Resort Amid Credit Squeeze

NEW YORK, NY – May 05, 2026 – In a move that highlights a major shift in commercial real estate finance, Clearwater PACE has closed a $33 million financing deal for the Ameyalli Wellbeing Resort, a high-end wellness destination under construction near Park City, Utah. The funding, provided through the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program, anchors a complex capital structure for the luxury project, demonstrating the program's growing importance as a mainstream tool for developers navigating a difficult lending climate.

C-PACE: A Lifeline in a Constrained Market

The backdrop for this significant transaction is a construction lending environment that industry analysts describe as increasingly constrained. In late 2024, commercial real estate lending by U.S. banks saw its slowest growth in over a decade. Faced with volatile interest rates and economic uncertainty, traditional lenders have tightened their standards, reducing loan sizes and scaling back on new construction projects. This credit squeeze has left many developers searching for alternative capital sources to bridge funding gaps and move projects forward.

Enter C-PACE. Once considered a niche "green" financing program, it has rapidly evolved into a powerful solution. C-PACE financing allows property owners to fund energy efficiency, water conservation, and renewable energy projects with long-term, fixed-rate capital. The key to its structure is that the financing is repaid as a special assessment on the property's tax bill, giving it senior status over other debt. This security allows for more favorable terms and provides a stable source of funding that is insulated from market volatility.

The market's growth reflects this newfound prominence. Cumulative C-PACE investment volume surged past $9.7 billion in 2024, with more than half of that total originating since 2022. The average deal size has also more than doubled in that period, climbing to $11.4 million, indicating its adoption for larger, more complex projects like Ameyalli.

Luxury Wellness Meets Sustainable Finance

The Ameyalli Wellbeing Resort is precisely the kind of ambitious project that benefits from such innovative financing. Conceived by developer Charles Heath in partnership with wellness luminary Deepak Chopra, the resort is being built on a historic site in Midway, Utah, renowned for its 28 natural thermal hot springs. When it opens in 2026, Ameyalli is poised to become a world-class destination, blending holistic luxury with the natural beauty of the Heber Valley.

The development plans include an 80-room luxury hotel, private residences, and a sprawling 50,000-square-foot Wellbeing Center co-developed with The Chopra Foundation. The center will feature programming based on Chopra's "Seven Pillars of Wellbeing" and a unique subterranean thermal pool complex. A signature restaurant from acclaimed chef Charlie Palmer and a farm-to-table eatery sourcing from an on-site biodiverse garden will round out the offerings.

The $33 million in C-PACE proceeds from Clearwater will be directed specifically toward funding the resort's embedded energy efficiency measures. This can include everything from high-performance HVAC systems and advanced LED lighting to a superior building envelope with enhanced insulation and windows. By integrating these green features from the ground up, the resort not only minimizes its environmental footprint but also significantly reduces long-term operating costs, boosting its net operating income and overall property value.

Institutional Capital Signals Market Maturation

This transaction is more than just a financing deal; it's a powerful validation of C-PACE as a mature, institutional-grade asset class. Clearwater PACE, the lender, is backed by an up-to-$300 million capital vehicle from Ares Management, a global alternative investment manager with nearly $623 billion in assets. The involvement of such a heavyweight player signals a profound shift in how the financial world views C-PACE.

"Ameyalli reflects the continued evolution of the C-PACE market into a structured credit product," said Jonathan Seabolt, CEO of Clearwater PACE, in a statement. "Long-tenor, fixed-rate, senior-secured proceeds have become a core structuring tool for ground-up construction with a defined eligible cost basis."

This perspective re-frames C-PACE not just as environmental policy but as a sophisticated financial instrument. For institutional investors like Ares, C-PACE offers a predictable, secure, and high-yield investment that aligns with growing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) mandates. For developers, it provides access to the "dry powder" of large investment funds at a time when traditional banks are pulling back. This symbiotic relationship is fueling the program's rapid scaling and integration into the broader real estate finance ecosystem.

The Ameyalli deal was part of a complex, multi-source capital stack that also included an EB-5 component and sponsor equity. By using C-PACE, the developers were able to optimize this structure, replacing what would have been more expensive mezzanine debt or equity with lower-cost, long-term financing. This lowered the project's blended cost of capital and provided the certainty needed to proceed with construction in a challenging environment. As Clearwater extends its national footprint, this deal serves as a high-profile case study for how to assemble and execute complex, large-balance construction financing, a model likely to be replicated across the country.