Ten years ago, Edmonton’s commercial real estate market had a gap. Developers with strong projects and solid numbers often struggled to find lenders willing to move quickly or structure financing in a way that matched the realities of their deals. Ken Sethi saw that gap and decided to fill it.
“The inspiration behind launching High Street was to create an institutional commercial real estate debt platform that approached financing differently – one that took the time to understand the real estate, the sponsor, the business plan and the broader capital stack before going to market,” says Sethi. “My goal was to combine institutional-quality underwriting with a more entrepreneurial and relationship-driven approach to structuring debt.”
Now, as the firm celebrates 10 years, Sethi reflects on meeting – and exceeding – that goal.
“As the firm has grown, my original vision has remained the same; to build a sophisticated commercial real estate debt platform that can compete at an institutional level while maintaining the responsiveness, creativity and personal involvement of an entrepreneurial firm.”
The journey for Sethi started in July 2016 with himself as the sole employee of the company, a handful of networking relationships, a laptop and a big idea.
“In the beginning, I did everything,” he says. “I was out finding the deals, talking to clients, building lender relationships, underwriting the transactions, structuring the financing and then working through the process to get them funded. It was definitely a hands-on way to start a business, but I think that experience became a big part of what High Street is today. When you have to work through every part of a transaction yourself, you learn quickly that getting a deal funded is about a lot more than just finding a lender. You have to understand the real estate, the borrower, the business plan, and what everyone is ultimately trying to accomplish.”
This approach proved successful.
“One client led to another. One lender relationship led to another. The transactions became larger and more complex and over time we started building a team around the business.”
The success meant growing beyond Edmonton. The Calgary office opened in 2021, but Sethi wasn’t ready to stop there.
“As the firm continued to grow, I started asking myself, ‘What does the next version of High Street look like?’ By 2025, I felt pretty strongly that the opportunity was bigger than traditional mortgage brokerage. I wanted High Street to be involved in more of the life cycle of a commercial real estate loan, not only originating and structuring the financing but also working with capital partners and servicing those loans after they were funded.”
The next step in bringing that about was a strategic partnership that launched High Street Financial Services Inc. in December 2025 to build out the commercial mortgage loan servicing platform.
“We’ve gone from looking at the market through a very local lens to operating with a national perspective on Canadian commercial real estate,” says Sethi. “For me, that’s really what the growth of High Street has been about, taking what we learned locally, building on it and creating a platform that can identify opportunities and capital solutions across Canada.”
Today the firm has nine team members based in Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto, which Sethi attributes, in part, to the relationships built over the years, both with clients and lending partners. With Canadian clients and debt and equity relationships across North America, the firm draws from a broad base to shape transactions typically between $5 million and $100 million.
The values High Street adheres to are integrity, commitment, innovation and leadership.
Integrity starts with honesty, even when the news isn’t what a client hopes to hear. Before an engagement letter ever goes out, the team spends time understanding the project, the sponsor and the client’s objectives, then offers a clear, realistic view of what the market can deliver.
“We’d rather be straight with a client at the outset than tell them what they want to hear and struggle to deliver later,” says Sethi.
Commitment and innovation show up in the work itself. High Street underwrites each transaction at an institutional level, pressure-testing the sponsor, the real estate and the risks before putting its name behind it. When the obvious financing solution isn’t available, the team steps back and looks at the full capital stack to build a structure that actually fits.
“Our job is to structure the capital stack that works for the project, not just the one that’s easiest to place,” Sethi says.
Leadership at High Street belongs to everyone, not just the founders. Each person on a deal owns their piece from the first conversation through to funding, a sense of responsibility that sits at the heart of the firm’s culture. That discipline is also what protects its most valuable asset: credibility with capital partners.
“In this business, access to capital matters, but credibility with that capital matters more,” Sethi adds.
Built transaction by transaction across more than 200 deals and over $2 billion in commercial mortgages, those relationships rest on consistency, so partners know a High Street opportunity is relevant, properly structured and worth their investment.
For Sethi, staying involved in the industry and the community has always mattered as much as the work itself. Much of High Street’s growth has come from relationships, which is why the team gives back. Sethi is a member of CREDA (Commercial Real Estate Development Association; formerly NAIOP Edmonton), Edmonton analyst Cassandra Celsi belongs to CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) and Calgary associate Justin Wallin sits on the board of the University of Alberta Golden Bears Hockey Alumni.
The firm encourages everyone on the team to support organizations that are meaningful to them. That commitment includes a particular focus on supporting women in commercial real estate and finance. Through organizations like CREW, High Street wants to encourage opportunities for women to build strong networks, grow professionally and take on larger roles across the industry.
“For me, giving back doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s about contributing our time, sharing our experience, supporting people in the industry and helping the next generation of professionals build their own careers,” Sethi says. “High Street has grown because of the relationships we’ve built along the way, and I want us to continue being a firm that gives something back to the industry and the communities that have supported us.”
As the first decade closes and the next chapter begins, Sethi looks back with gratitude.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is the team we’ve built and the belief they’ve had in the vision for High Street. There’s a reason we have the people we do. They’ve bought into what we’re trying to build, they’ve taken ownership of it and they’ve played a huge role in helping the firm grow into what it is today.
“I’m also incredibly grateful to the clients, lenders, partners and industry relationships who believed in High Street along the way. There are a lot of people who gave us opportunities, trusted us with important transactions and supported the platform as it evolved. High Street started with one person but was built by many.”
What comes next? Sethi is happy to say, “With our new partner Johnny Jaswal spearheading the capital markets side in our Ontario office, we want High Street to become a firm that developers, property owners, lenders and institutional capital partners can come to for more than just financing. I want us to be a platform they trust to understand the opportunity, structure the capital, execute the transaction and stay involved long after the deal closes.”
He concludes, “We started with one person and a laptop in Alberta. Ten years later, we’re operating nationally and continuing to build out the platform. I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come, but I’m much more excited about where we’re going. We’re still early in the High Street story so I’d say, stay tuned! We’re just getting started.”