Craig Krandel has joined Wrightwell as Managing Director, Head of Capital Markets, effective July 16, 2026, marking a strategic staffing move that signals the Atlanta-based residential real estate platform's push to expand financing capabilities as capital markets in the housing sector grow increasingly complex. Krandel, who spent nearly six years as Chief Investment Officer and Head of Capital Markets at Beacon Ridge Capital Management, brings over three decades of experience in structured finance and residential real estate debt markets to a firm that has been assembling institutional-grade infrastructure to compete with larger operators.
Anthony DePalma, co-founder and chief executive of Wrightwell, framed the appointment as critical to the firm's evolution. "As the market becomes increasingly complex, access to thoughtful capital solutions and strong lender relationships has never been more important," DePalma said in the announcement. Krandel will lead strategy and execution around acquisitions, financing initiatives and investment activity across Wrightwell's residential platform. No search firm involvement was disclosed. The move arrives some 19 months after Wrightwell closed a funding round and forged a strategic partnership with Bain Capital's Insurance team and Saluda Grade to deploy up to $300 million into single-family rental and build-to-rent housing, suggesting the capital commitments now require enhanced internal finance leadership.
Krandel's track record centers on originating large-scale rental housing debt. At Amherst Residential, he led capital markets initiatives and was responsible for originating more than $6 billion of financing for single-family rental portfolios using warehouse acquisition facilities, term loans and public securitization markets. Before joining Beacon Ridge in October 2020, Krandel held senior managing director roles at Amherst Holdings, where he drove capital markets strategy in a data-focused financial services firm specializing in real estate and structured finance. His earlier career included stints as director at Merrill Lynch in investment banking and director at Credit Suisse focusing on fixed income sales. Krandel holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin, graduating in 1983.
Wrightwell, founded in 2021 as an asset originator under the name Vantage before rebranding in late 2024, operates as a vertically integrated platform spanning brokerage, construction, property management, asset management and REO management across Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The firm has signaled aggressive national expansion plans, with DePalma and co-founder Alex Kahn overseeing a series of executive hires in late 2024, including Chris Poston as head of property and asset management and Erin Taylor as head of finance and accounting. Wrightwell's financing partnerships and platform approach position it to serve both captive capital partners and third-party clients seeking institutional-quality operational infrastructure. DePalma previously served as managing director and head of portfolio management at Sylvan Road Capital and has held roles at Global Atlantic, Amherst and major investment banks.
Krandel's appointment reflects broader industry dynamics reshaping residential real estate finance. Traditional bank lending to the sector has contracted sharply, creating what some market observers view as a dislocation opportunity for non-bank lenders and platforms capable of delivering multiple capital solutions. The appointment of a seasoned capital markets executive with deep relationships among institutional and securitization-focused sources of capital appears designed to position Wrightwell to compete more aggressively for larger deals requiring layered financing structures. Whether Krandel can replicate his Amherst-era origination volumes at a younger, smaller platform remains to be seen, though the addition of meaningful third-party capital commitments from Bain and Saluda Grade suggests the firm has begun establishing itself as a genuine player in institutional residential real estate.
