Conflict-Free · Strategic · Independent

Where Occupier StrategyMeets Capital Innovation

Conflict-Free Advisory. Creative Structures. Aligned Results.

What If?  ·  How About?  ·  Why Not?

Most CRE advisors follow the same playbook. We wrote a different one. Conflict-free advisory for corporations, owner-operators, and capital owners who need someone whose only incentive is their outcome.

I Occupier & Tenant Advisory II Capital & Transaction Advisory III Structured & Specialty Finance
30M+Sq Ft
$30B+Transacted
~100Yrs Combined
200+Industrial Deals
About the Firm

A Different Kind of CRE Advisor

At Aligned Interests Capital and Facility Solutions, conflict-free isn't a marketing phrase — it's the structural reality of how we're built. No ownership stakes. No developer fees. No lender relationships. No hidden incentive that competes with yours. We are paid to find you the best outcome, and that's the only thing we're trying to do.

With nearly a century of collective experience, our team has occupied roles that most advisory firms have only read about: tenant rep brokers, investment bankers at bulge-bracket firms, portfolio managers, developers, and a CFO of a nationally recognized company. That cross-disciplinary depth is the reason we find solutions that specialists miss.

We have executed some of the most consequential transactions in their respective markets — from pioneering investment-grade financing for non-rated operators, to anchoring the world's largest multi-tenant data center, to navigating complex restructurings that preserved family ownership when others said it couldn't be done.

The Foresees — Our Foundation
C

Curiosity

Thinking outside the box — the best solution often lives in a structure nobody has tried before.

C

Character

It's what you do when nobody is watching. Our advice doesn't change based on who benefits.

C

Commitment

Staying dedicated even in the face of obstacles — we don't declare victory until you do.

C

Collaboration

Leveraging diverse expertise — the best CRE outcomes rarely come from a single discipline.

Our Operating Philosophy
What If?
How About?
Why Not?
The questions that drive every engagement
Our Capabilities

Three Practice Pillars

Whether you need help with a lease, unlocking capital from owned real estate, or pioneering a structure that doesn't yet exist — we have a dedicated practice around your need. Three pillars. One firm. No conflicts.

I
Pillar I · Occupier Advisory

Occupier & Tenant Advisory

35+ years representing occupiers exclusively — never landlords — across office, industrial, and retail assets nationwide. Our only loyalty is to the occupier at the table.

Tenant / Occupier Representation
Lease negotiation, renewals, relocations and portfolio strategy across all asset classes.
Strategic Lease Analysis & Audit
CAM overcharges, assessment errors and restructuring opportunities hiding in existing leases.
Build-to-Suit / Buy-to-Suit
Development advisory and site selection for national growth programs and HQ facilities.
Municipal Incentive Advisory
TIF, enterprise zone and relocation incentives — negotiated exclusively for the occupier.
Real Property Tax Advisory
Tax protestation, assessment review and ongoing property tax management.
II
Pillar II · Capital Advisory

Capital & Transaction Advisory

Investment banking-grade capital markets expertise applied to real estate — a combination most CRE boutiques simply cannot offer. MD-level experience at Credit Suisse and DLJ in service of your real estate decision.

Debt & Equity Advisory
Raising debt and equity for mid-cap corporations while preserving future capital capacity.
Sale-Leaseback Analysis & Execution
Full advisory — traditional, hybrid equity, and ground lease bifurcation structures.
Investment Advisory
Acquisition, disposition and portfolio optimization for owners, investors and REITs.
Asset Disposition
Managed dispositions including distressed assets and bankruptcy-adjacent situations.
Lease vs. Own Exit Planning
Financial modeling with full book/tax implications and long-range scenario analysis.
III
Pillar III · Structured Finance

Structured & Specialty Finance

Pioneering structures that most advisors have never executed. If the standard playbook doesn't serve your goals, we write a new one.

Operator Real Estate Financing
Investment-grade rates for non-rated operators that own stand-alone sites, while they keep ownership. A national first. Learn more
Synthetic Lease Financing
Off-balance-sheet corporate real estate structures — 1.3M+ sq ft of executed experience.
Ground Lease + Leasehold Bifurcation
Land/building separation to maximize proceeds while preserving ownership and tax benefits.
Complex Bankruptcy & Distressed RE
Navigating real estate through restructuring while preserving ownership and operational continuity.
Expert Witness Testimony
Qualified expert testimony in valuation, lease disputes and financing structure matters.
Operator Real Estate Financing

Own your sites. Finance them like a rated company.

For non-rated operators whose businesses run out of stand-alone buildings. We have the transaction rated, not the company, so your real estate can be financed at rates your bank has never quoted you.

RestaurantsConvenience storesCar washesAuto serviceDental & medicalFitnessChildcare
Starting point one

Haven't separated your real estate?

We set up the structure with you, then finance it. You get lower-cost capital and the option to hold, sell or pass on either company.

Starting point two

Already separated?

The hard part is done. Your real estate company is likely financed off a bank's shelf. We can usually do better.

Less expensive capital

We assembled the attorneys, appraisers and rating agencies, creating the pathway that takes a non-rated operator's real estate to an investment-grade rating. The rate reflects the real estate and the rent it earns, not your balance sheet. It isn't on a bank's shelf, which is why your banker hasn't offered it.

Keep ownership and the residual

A sale-leaseback raises capital by giving up the real estate. This raises it while you keep the sites and the value they build over the next thirty years.

Optionality that changes the business

Your real estate and your operations sit in separate companies. Hold both. Sell either one. Pass one to the next generation. Recapitalize on your timetable, not a buyer's.

Not your standard ground lease.

This isn't a conventional ground lease or a standard real estate loan. It's built around the operating business, not the lender, including how it holds up when the market turns. The details are worth a conversation.

Ask us how it works →
How it works
1

Separate, or start here if you already have

A real estate company owns the sites. Your operating company runs the business and pays it rent.

2

Rate

The lease and the real estate are rated as a transaction, independent of the operator's own credit.

3

Fund

Long-term institutional capital funds the real estate at investment-grade pricing. You keep control of both companies.

Our precedent · National first

A non-rated franchisee financed below its rated franchisor

We built this structure for one of the nation's largest QSR franchisees. The operator borrowed at a lower rate than its own credit-rated franchisor. See the case study →

The same move at public scale

Separating real estate from operations creates value

In July 2026, Icahn Enterprises sold Pep Boys' operating business to Mavis for $700 million in cash while keeping part of the real estate. Large owners use this separation routinely. We bring it to private operators who have never been offered it.

Or a sale-leaseback

Prefer a sale-leaseback? Sometimes it's the right answer. Because we value your operating company and your real estate separately, we know when it is. When it's right, we run it as a competitive process with multiple buyers, not a single REIT.

Built for operators with $30 million to $1 billion of real estate value.

See what your sites could finance →
Track Record of Aligned Team Members

Transactions That Defined Markets

Five milestone engagements — each one proof that asking "What If?" leads somewhere the standard playbook never reaches.

QSR · Structured Finance · National First

Innovating Ground Rent Securitization for a National QSR Franchisee

We engineered the first securitization of its kind — ground rent for one of the nation's largest QSR franchisees at a scale nobody had attempted. A transaction-based approach that turned conventional credit logic on its head.

ResultA non-credit franchisee achieved an interest rate lower than its own credit-rated franchisor. A national benchmark was set.
Insurance · Corporate HQ · Long-Term Advisory

Strategic Campus Expansion for a Prominent National Insurer

A prominent national insurer needed to expand its headquarters in a small town with limited options. Aligned sourced the right contractor, then structured a 20-year lease for 150,000 RSF with pre-arranged financing and a built-in mechanism providing the ability to double the entire campus in a future transaction.

ResultTwo decades of cost certainty. A campus-doubling option pre-wired into the structure. Growth optionality locked in from day one.
Manufacturing · Distressed · Sale-Leaseback

Preserving a Family Founder's Legacy During Financial Distress

When a renowned consumer goods manufacturer faced bankruptcy and potential loss of everything the founder had built, Aligned identified hidden asset value and executed a sale-leaseback at the critical moment — converting real estate into the liquidity needed to survive without surrendering control.

ResultThe founding family's stake and legacy were preserved. Restructuring completed. The company emerged intact.
Technology · Data Center · Anchor Tenant

Anchor Transaction — World's Largest Multi-Tenant Data Center

Aligned principals executed the anchor tenant transaction for what became the world's largest multi-tenant data center — the first major data center deal in Chicago. The pricing and lease structure set the market benchmark that competitors and underwriters referenced for years.

ResultMarket-defining anchor. Chicago established as a data center hub. Benchmarks adopted industry-wide.
Finance · Synthetic Lease · Off-Balance-Sheet

1.3 Million Sq Ft Synthetic Lease — National Finance Corporation

Structured a synthetic lease covering 1.3 million square feet for a national finance corporation — securing long-term occupancy at scale while keeping the liability entirely off-balance-sheet. Debt capacity was preserved for the operations that actually needed it.

Result1.3M sq ft secured. Balance sheet protected. One of the largest single-user synthetic lease transactions in the market.
The Team

People Who Have Done It Before

Nearly a century of combined experience across tenant representation, investment banking, development, and financial advisory. When you work with AICAF, you get people who have sat on every side of the table.

Robert Palffy — Founder & CEO

Robert Palffy

Founder & CEO
35+Yrs
30M+Sq Ft
$30B+Deals

Bob oversees every engagement from initiation through execution, bringing financial and operational depth that most firms can't match. Over 35 years, his tenant representation career has produced some of the most significant commercial real estate transactions in the country — from pioneering the structure that gave a non-rated operator investment-grade rates, to anchoring the world's largest multi-tenant data center. Global clients have included Old Republic Insurance, Clark Hill PLC, Edelman Public Relations, and Ziff-Davis Publishing.

University of Michigan · B.A. Economics & Political Science
University of Michigan · M.B.A. Finance & Accounting
📞 (312) 498-5611 ✉ BPalffy@AICAFSolutions.com
Michael Duncan — Co-Founder

Michael Duncan

Co-Founder
MDCr. Suisse
MDDLJ
Cap.Markets

Mike brings genuine investment banking-grade capital markets depth that most CRE advisory firms simply cannot replicate — Managing Director experience at Patriot Capital, Credit Suisse, and Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette. He identifies and quantifies appreciated real estate value to preserve debt capacity while presenting financing alternatives built around each client's specific business plan. His Sears Tower re-leasing assignment after Sears' relocation to Hoffman Estates remains one of the most complex high-profile CRE engagements in Chicago history.

University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana · B.S. Accounting
University of Chicago Booth School of Business · M.B.A.
📞 (312) 953-9403 ✉ MDuncan@AICAFSolutions.com
Sean Bostrom — Advisor

Sean Bostrom

Advisor
200+Deals
$95M+Value
2016Chicago CRE

Sean brings a former NCAA athlete's competitive discipline to every client engagement — and it shows in his results. Since 2016, he has focused on the Chicagoland industrial market, advising public and private companies, owners, REITs, and developers in the acquisition, disposition, and leasing of industrial assets and land across the full metro. Over 200 completed transactions. Tailored solutions that align with the business, not just the real estate.

North Park University · B.S. Kinesiology
Scratch Golf Handicap — a relevant indicator of precision under pressure
📞 (312) 246-9278 ✉ SBostrom@AICAFSolutions.com
Our Mission
"

We are the resolute. The determined. The independent thinkers. Guided by our values and relentless pursuit to proactively exceed the expectations of our clients — with character and commitment in every interaction and every transaction.

What If?
How About?
Why Not?
Get In Touch

Let's Find the Right Solution

Tell us what you're dealing with. We'll tell you what we'd do.

No standard pitch. No pre-packaged solution. Just an honest conversation about your situation — and what a conflict-free advisor with nearly a century of combined experience sees when they look at it. If we can help, you'll know. If someone else would serve you better, we'll tell you that too.

Robert Palffy
Founder & CEO · Tenant Rep & Transaction Advisory
(312) 498-5611BPalffy@AICAFSolutions.com
Michael Duncan
Co-Founder · Capital Markets & Structured Finance
(312) 953-9403MDuncan@AICAFSolutions.com
Sean Bostrom
Advisor · Occupier & Investment Services
(312) 246-9278SBostrom@AICAFSolutions.com
AICAF
30M+ Sq Ft in Tenant Transactions◆ What If? · How About? · Why Not?◆ $30B+ Transaction Experience◆ Pioneered Investment-Grade Financing for Non-Rated Operators — a national first◆ ~100 Years Collective Experience◆ Conflict-Free. Always.◆ 200+ Industrial Transactions · Chicagoland◆ Anchor Tenant — World's Largest Multi-Tenant Data Center◆ Curiosity · Character · Commitment · Collaboration◆ 1.3M Sq Ft Synthetic Lease · National Finance Corporation◆ Three Pillars: Occupier · Capital · Structured Finance◆ What If? · How About? · Why Not?◆ 30M+ Sq Ft in Tenant Transactions◆ What If? · How About? · Why Not?◆ $30B+ Transaction Experience◆ Pioneered Investment-Grade Financing for Non-Rated Operators — a national first◆ ~100 Years Collective Experience◆ Conflict-Free. Always.◆ 200+ Industrial Transactions · Chicagoland◆ Anchor Tenant — World's Largest Multi-Tenant Data Center◆ Curiosity · Character · Commitment · Collaboration◆ 1.3M Sq Ft Synthetic Lease · National Finance Corporation◆ Three Pillars: Occupier · Capital · Structured Finance◆ What If? · How About? · Why Not?◆