Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy
C-PACE
Fixed-rate financing repaid through the property tax assessment — up to 30 years, and it transfers to the buyer when the building sells.
- Interest rate
- 5–8% fixed
- Roughly the 10-year Treasury plus about 3%
- Term
- Up to 30 years
- Typically matched to the useful life of the improvements
- Repayment
- Property tax assessment
- Billed and collected like any other special assessment
- On sale
- Transfers to the buyer
- The assessment runs with the property, not the borrower
- Availability
- 34 states + DC
- Active program confirmed; 0 more states have enabling legislation only
- 2025 originations
- ~$3.5B
- Industry estimate; one provider alone originated over $2B
What C-PACE actually is
C-PACE is a financing structure that lets a commercial property owner fund energy, water and resiliency improvements through a voluntary assessment on the property tax bill. Because repayment is secured by the assessment rather than by the owner personally, terms run far longer than conventional commercial debt and the obligation stays with the property when it changes hands.
When it is the right tool
- Hotel and multifamily renovations where the capital stack is already tight
- Office-to-residential and other adaptive reuse conversions
- New construction where C-PACE fills the gap between senior debt and equity
- Owners who expect to sell before a conventional loan would amortize
- Deferred maintenance that a bank will not lend against
When it is not
- Working capital or anything unrelated to the building
- Properties in jurisdictions that have not adopted a program
- Owners who cannot get senior lender consent, where the program requires it
Availability
Is C-PACE available where your property is?
Verified 2026-08-30
Our state data shows an active C-PACE program in 34 states and the District of Columbia, and enabling legislation without confirmed program activity in 0 more. Some states run one statewide program; in others adoption is county by county, so a state showing as active does not guarantee the specific jurisdiction your property sits in has opted in — that is the first thing to check. The C-PACE eligibility check runs through it and the other questions that decide a deal.
Where we work street-level
Five markets we know in detail
California
Largest C-PACE market in the country by dollars, and by a wide margin the largest average project size. There is no single statewide administrator — CSCDA Open PACE is the most widely adopted, and counties may run their own alongside it.
State guide → OHOhio
Highest project count of any state after Minnesota. Ohio's Energy Special Improvement District structure is the oldest and most heavily used C-PACE mechanism in the country, and it is regional rather than statewide — an ESID covers the jurisdictions that joined it.
State guide → TXTexas
Texas PACE is adopted city by city and county by county, and two administrators compete to run it for those local governments: the Texas PACE Authority (TX-PACE) and Lone Star PACE. Each publishes the jurisdictions it serves, so the same project can sometimes be run through either. Eligible property is commercial (including nonprofit-owned), industrial (including agricultural) and multifamily of five or more units. The figure above is the C-PACE Alliance's statewide all-time count through 2025, twenty-three of the hundred and fifty-one projects in 2025 itself.
State guide → PAPennsylvania
Second-highest average project size in the country behind California, on only 30 closed projects. Adoption is county-by-county — roughly 21 counties have passed resolutions.
State guide → WAWashington
Twenty projects, $279M — the largest average project size in the country alongside California. C-PACER is created by state law (RCW 36.165) but administered by each county that adopts it, so the county is the office you deal with, not the state.
State guide →C-PACE questions that decide deals
Does C-PACE require a personal guarantee?
Typically no. The financing is secured by the property assessment rather than by the owner personally, which is one of the main structural differences from a conventional commercial loan. Confirm with the specific capital provider, since program and provider requirements vary.
What happens to C-PACE when I sell the building?
The assessment stays with the property and transfers to the new owner, along with the remaining payments. This is why a 30-year term can make sense for an owner planning to sell in five years — the buyer inherits the obligation and the improvements it paid for.
Can C-PACE be used for new construction?
In many states, yes. Program rules differ on how much of a new build qualifies, and some allow a look-back period so recently completed work can still be financed. This is a state-by-state question.
Does my mortgage lender have to approve C-PACE?
In most programs, yes — senior lender consent is required because the assessment sits ahead of the mortgage in priority. Many mortgage lenders now approve C-PACE routinely, but the consent process takes time and should start early.
How is C-PACE different from a bridge loan?
A bridge loan is short-term, usually floating-rate, recourse to the borrower, and has to be refinanced or repaid at maturity. C-PACE is long-term fixed-rate, attached to the property, and does not need to be refinanced. They solve different problems and are often used together.
Will C-PACE work on this property?
Send the address, the property type and what the money is for. We will confirm whether the jurisdiction has a program and what the senior lender consent path looks like.
- Commercial and business purposes only — we do not place consumer loans.
- If the project does not qualify, we say so and tell you what would change that.
- No credit pull to get an answer on program eligibility.
- We reply within one business day.
C-PACE eligibility is decided by the property — its address, its jurisdiction, the scope of work, and who holds the mortgage. That is why this form asks about the building rather than about you. The more of it you can answer, the more specific our first reply is.
Thank you — we have your enquiry.
We reply within one business day, from a person, by email or phone. If the project does not fit any program, we will say so and tell you what would change that.