OUr Team

North Bridge is led by a senior team of real estate, finance, and sustainability professionals with more than 95 years of combined lending and development experience across private credit, capital markets, and complex real asset transactions. This depth of experience underpins the firm’s structuring expertise, enabling North Bridge to design capital solutions that are accretive to senior lenders while meeting sponsor objectives.

Senior Leadership

Laura Rapaport

Founder & CEO

Laura@northbridgeops.com

  • Laura leads the firm’s strategy, origination, and institutional partnerships. She founded North Bridge after nearly a decade as a Managing Director at L&L Holding Company, where she led capital raising and helped lead the redevelopment of 425 Park Avenue. Earlier in her career, she worked in development at Tishman Speyer and began her career in Lehman Brothers’ Global Real Estate Group in London. Laura serves on the board of PACENation, is a former board member of WX Women Executives in Real Estate, and has taught at The Wharton School, NYU, and Columbia Business School. She has been recognized by Crain’s New York Business as a “40 Under 40” honoree and a Notable Leader in Finance.

Benjamin Brandler

Managing Director

Bbrandler@northbridgeops.com

  • Ben Brandler leads the firm’s Investments team, overseeing underwriting and asset management across the platform. He brings more than 20 years of finance experience, including 14 years at Wells Fargo. During his tenure there, he managed a $1.8 billion portfolio of transitional real estate loans and originated more than $1 billion annually for institutional owners, developers, pension funds, and REITs. Most recently, he served as Executive Director and Senior Debt Portfolio Manager in the Real Estate Banking Group, responsible for complex construction loans, syndicated transactions, and large-scale office, multifamily, industrial, and retail financings.

Ilana Ettinger

Managing Director

ilana@northbridgeops.com

  • Ilana oversees strategic planning and execution, with a focus on scaling the platform and strengthening the firm’s market position. She brings 15 years of experience across established real estate institutions and high-growth startups. Prior to North Bridge, Ilana held leadership roles at The Durst Organization, where she supported the development and operations of its 13-million-square-foot office portfolio and 3,400-unit residential portfolio, and at Knotel, where she helped drive the company’s expansion into a global flexible-workspace operator. She began her career as an associate in Fried Frank’s real estate group. Ilana holds a B.A. from McGill University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and was recognized as a 2025 Women in Real Estate award recipient by Connect CRE and featured in NYREJ’s 2025 Women in CRE.