Alex Gursky is a Director of Debt Finance at OakNorth, focused on bridge and development deals from $5M to $100M across all real estate asset classes. With over 15 years of experience across A10 Capital, Builders Capital, and Ready Capital, he brings a depth of origination and structuring experience that’s rare at his level. We sat down with him to hear what drew him to OakNorth and where he sees the market heading. 

Q: You’ve spent over 15 years in real estate lending. What made OakNorth the right move at this point in your career? 

Alex: Flexibility. Most lenders have a very tight box. You’re waiting for the perfect deal to walk in the door rather than engineering creative solutions. OakNorth gives me the room to be creative and find a way to yes where other lenders might not. I also wanted to get back into a proper team environment. No deal gets done alone. Being in the office with people who are genuinely invested in the same outcomes makes a real difference. 

Q: How does OakNorth’s approach to CRE lending compare to what you’ve seen at other lenders? 

Alex: The origination fundamentals are similar. You still need to know your transaction backwards and forwards and make a compelling case to credit. That’s true everywhere. What’s different here is the level of support around you. The analytics team, legal, credit, there’s genuine depth on all sides, which gives an originator the confidence to quote deals that might be outside their comfort zone. The other thing that stood out is that sponsors can actually meet the credit team directly. At most lenders, that process is completely siloed. Here it’s collaborative, which changes the dynamic entirely. 

Q: Where are you seeing the most interesting opportunities in the US market right now? 

Alex: Hotels, honestly. OakNorth operates in a rate range that lets us work with a significantly better borrower profile than in most other asset classes, where the big players are getting recourse debt at SOFR plus low 200s. You must be thoughtful about structuring and leverage points because most hotel markets are coming off peak performance, but the fundamentals are there. There’s also meaningful distress in pre-2022 vintage deals, which is creating opportunities to acquire properties across many asset classes at a reset basis. That’s an interesting place to be right now. 

Q: You’ve managed and trained analyst teams throughout your career. How does that shape the way you work with junior colleagues? 

Alex: I’ve always said I don’t want to teach people to recite poetry. I want to teach them to read. There’s a big difference between training someone on the specific problem in front of them and actually building their understanding of how deals work. Once you have a real foundation, you can apply it to any scenario without needing someone to walk you through it. That’s what I try to build. When I review work, the goal isn’t just to fix what’s wrong. It’s to help people understand why it was wrong and how to apply the lesson going forward. 

Q: What does it take to succeed in CRE originations at this level? 

Alex: Tenacity and understanding, in equal measure. You’ll say no to more deals than you say yes to, and you’ll hear no far more often than yes. The key, especially when you’re not the cheapest option in the market, is understanding what the sponsor needs most from a debt partner. Take a condo inventory loan. Is spread the primary concern, or is it the release provision structure that optimises the deal for them? Knowing the answer to that question is how you solve problems and win business. 

Q: What are you focused on building in the year ahead? 

Alex: A strong pipeline of deals I’m proud of. It’s as simple as that. I want to reach a point where the right contacts in the market know exactly what to bring me and what I can execute on. Once you build that reputation, deal flow becomes self-reinforcing.