David Welsh and David Schonbraun built GreenBarn Investment Group on a straightforward premise: the messier the deal, the better. Three years after Welsh bought out his two partners at Senlac Ridge and brought Schonbraun aboard, the firm oversees roughly $3.5 billion in investments across office, retail, multifamily, and development. Their approach prioritizes complexity over simplicity, and it seems to be working.
A Partnership Built on Two Decades of Deals
Welsh and Schonbraun weren’t strangers when they teamed in 2023. They live roughly 15 minutes apart in New Jersey — Welsh in New Vernon, Schonbraun in Short Hills — but had worked together as partners on deals for two decades during their tenures at SL Green and Normandy. Schonbraun oversaw SL Green’s debt book, and Normandy was a borrower. The two also partnered regularly on loan workouts.
Welsh had co-founded Normandy Real Estate Partners in 2002, selling it to Columbia Property Trust in 2019. He then launched Senlac Ridge in January 2020, though a noncompete agreement kept office investments off limits until 2023. During that period, Senlac focused on multifamily development in Florida, Greater Boston, and the New York area. Schonbraun, meanwhile, spent almost two decades at SL Green Realty as chief investment officer before departing in 2021 to become Carlyle Group’s U.S. head of real estate credit.
When the opportunity to invest in debt positions materialized in 2023, Welsh and Schonbraun moved quickly. With Schonbraun’s capital markets background and Welsh’s operating experience, the stage was set.
Taking On the Deals Others Avoid
GreenBarn’s portfolio reflects its appetite for difficulty. The firm handled the restructuring of $1.84 billion in debt on a Columbia Property Trust office portfolio, originated by Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and Citigroup for PIMCO’s 2021 take-private acquisition. It includes a roughly $484 million CMBS loan, $1 billion in pari passu financing, and B notes collateralized by seven office properties in New York, Jersey City, San Francisco, and Boston.
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The firm also took on asset management duties at 20 Times Square.
Schonbraun addressed their strategy directly during a July interview. “The hairier the deals, the better for us, because we feel very comfortable with complexity,” he said. “We’re happy operating where others shy away. We look at these deals from an owners and operators perspective, and our comfort with complexity is what gives us an advantage.”
Michael Magner, a managing director at Natixis who hired GreenBarn for the 20 Times Square assignment, offered a similar assessment. “There’s nothing they haven’t seen, and nothing they can’t tackle,” he said.
Office Remains in Their DNA
If GreenBarn were to pick a signature asset class, office would be it. Both Welsh and Schonbraun have deep roots in the sector. Even during the pandemic, when investing in office was considered risky, the two saw opportunity in a recovery and were early movers.
The Columbia Property Trust transaction remains the firm’s most prominent case study. After the three banks sold their controlling stakes to GreenBarn and Axonic Capital, the firms chose to improve the distressed portfolio rather than liquidate it. Two modifications took place under their lead, with the second pushing the debt’s maturity to 2028 and restoring it to good standing.
“We bought the position with the idea to not just liquidate the portfolio, but to reinvest capital into these assets, particularly in San Francisco and the New York assets, where we see an opportunity to reposition these assets, upgrade the assets, and drive leasing,” Welsh said.
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In 2025, GreenBarn, alongside FarmView Ventures and Farallon Capital, acquired the 405,000-square-foot building at 1625 Eye Street in Washington, D.C., via foreclosure auction with a credit bid of $60.5 million. The plan involves stabilizing the property and resetting its basis for a next chapter.
Erik Nygaard, a principal at Axonic, described working with GreenBarn as a collaborative effort. “We all bring something slightly different to the table on these complicated structured deals,” he said. “We have an extensive track record working out these types of deals and utilizing the nuances of the structure and relationships with the counterparties within that ecosystem.”
Relationships Drive the Business
Given Welsh and Schonbraun’s longevity in the industry, much of GreenBarn’s deal flow comes through direct relationships rather than brokers. Former competitors of SL Green or Normandy now partner with the firm as co-general partners or borrow from it.
Adam Spies, co-head of U.S. capital markets at Newmark, has known Schonbraun since childhood and arranged Welsh’s first deal at Normandy in June 2002. Spies cited their complementary skills as a key factor in their effectiveness. “Welsh is very strong at deal making and has a little more experience on the equity side, while Schonbraun has more depth when it comes to debt and capital markets,” he said.
Michael Nash, co-founder of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, described them as disciplined hunters. “You need to be a hunter when you’re starting your own firm,” he said. “These guys don’t need that support. They know how to take risks, and they’re likable people. In real estate, if they don’t like you, it’s not a good thing. But GreenBarn has people who want to help them, support them, show them deals, work with them, and capitalize their deals.”
At 20 Times Square, Magner recalled how Welsh and Schonbraun identified a straightforward problem that no one had addressed. When walking the former NFL Experience retail space, the first thing they asked was why no one had white-boxed the area — cleaning it out and removing remnants of the prior tenant.
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“Imagine if you walked into a house for sale and there were kids’ toys across the floor and a sink full of dishes,” Magner said. “That’s the way it felt when you walked in there. Now, it’s clean and crisp. We walk in there with very substantial tenants and they love it.”
Their ability to move quickly gives them an edge in competitive situations. “They’re nimble and they’re able to move quickly because they’re the decision-makers,” Nygaard noted.
A Barn, a Band, and Unfinished Business
Outside of dealmaking, Welsh is an accomplished pianist who plays in a band called the Holiday Ramblers. The band’s name traces back to the green barn on Welsh’s property where they started practicing and recording. During COVID, Welsh often worked from that barn and considered leaving real estate to pursue music full time.
“In the end, I realized I had unfinished business to do and wasn’t ready to give up real estate, and that I could be successful building a new company without giving up music,” he said. The Holiday Ramblers’ current favorite jam? “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby.
Rithm Capital remains a partner in GreenBarn’s business. Last year, Rithm purchased Vital Group for $1.6 billion, and GreenBarn discussed participating in its management. Ultimately, the two firms decided to keep their businesses separate. “It was going to be really difficult to do both,” Welsh said. “It’s a very good collection of assets, but that in and of itself is a full-time job.”
