Yes — that is a ground lease. We buy the land under your building; you keep the building on a long-term, typically 99-year, leasehold, keep operating, and keep 100% of the upside. The land — roughly 30–40% of basis — comes out as permanent, non-amortizing capital.
| Sell the land & lease it back (ground lease) | Full sale-leaseback | |
|---|---|---|
| What you sell | Only the land — the dirt under the building. | The entire asset — land and building. |
| What you keep | The building, on a long-term leasehold — you stay the owner-operator. | Nothing — you become a tenant in a building you no longer own. |
| The upside | 100% yours — appreciation, cash flow, and promote stay with you. | Transfers to the buyer — you keep occupancy, not the upside. |
| Cash raised | The land value — typically 30–40% of basis — as permanent capital. | The full asset value, but you give up the whole asset to get it. |
| Your carry | Ground rent on the land only — ~6–6.75%, non-amortizing. | Rent on the entire building and land — a much larger ongoing payment. |
| Control | You run it — finance the leasehold, reposition, and exit on your timeline. | Landlord controls the asset; your rights are a tenant's lease terms. |
To get a number, send: the address or parcel, the as-complete stabilized NOI (we size off as-complete, never as-is), total project cost, and the asset type — enough to return an indicative land value, the implied ground rent, and the coverage fast.
Every owner facing a capital event — a partner buyout, a maturity, a renovation, a recapitalization — has the same three options. Here is the honest comparison.
| Door 1 — Sell the property | Door 2 — Refinance | Door 3 — Sell the land, lease it back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash today | Full value — once, minus the debt payoff, transaction costs, and the tax bill on the gain. | Whatever the lender’s sizing allows — and every dollar is borrowed back at interest. | The land value in cash — typically 30–40% of basis — with no repayment, ever. |
| The asset | Gone — with the income, the fees, and every dollar of future upside. | Yours, more levered — with a new balloon on the calendar. | Yours — the building, the income, the operation, 100% of the upside. |
| What it costs each year | Nothing — and it pays you nothing ever again. | Debt service — principal and interest, often with recourse. | Ground rent only — non-amortizing, fixed escalations, no balloon, no personal guarantee. |
| Future flexibility | None — the decision is final. | Borrowing capacity is spent — the next project waits on the next refinance. | Fully intact — the leasehold can still be financed, refinanced, repositioned, or sold. |
| Timeline | Months — broker, marketing, buyer diligence. | Two to twelve months, depending on the lender. | Weeks — one principal counterparty, no committee. |
The short version: Door 1 pays you once and taxes you hard. Door 2 rents you your own money at interest. Door 3 turns the one part of the property that has never paid you rent — the dirt — into permanent capital, and everything that does pay you stays yours.
Yes. That is exactly what a ground lease does: we buy the fee — the land — and lease it back to you on a long-term, typically 99-year, lease. You keep the building as a leasehold, keep operating it, and pull the land value out as cash. The land is usually 30 to 40% of total basis.
A full sale-leaseback sells the entire asset — land and building — and you become a tenant. A ground lease sells only the land; you keep the building, the operations, and 100% of the upside. You raise less than a full sale, but you keep the asset and the appreciation instead of giving them away.
You keep the building, the cash flow, the appreciation, and the promote. In exchange you pay ground rent on the land — roughly 6 to 6.75%, non-amortizing, typically about a quarter of stabilized NOI. It is the cheapest layer in the stack compared with equity or a maturing loan, and there is no balloon.
Four inputs: the address or parcel, the as-complete stabilized NOI, total project cost, and the asset type. That is enough for us to apply the right ground cap and return an indicative land value, the implied ground rent, and the coverage fast — as principal or arranged capital, and non-binding.
If you want to sell the land and keep the building, send the address, the as-complete stabilized NOI, and total project cost — we return an indicative land value, the implied ground rent, and the coverage fast, as principal or arranged capital. No obligation.
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