Connect with us

Finance

The CRE Finance Council Announces New Chairs for Industry Forums

Published

on

The CRE Finance Council Announces New Chairs for Industry Forums

New Chairs and Chair-Elects Introduced at Annual June Conference

NEW YORK, June 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) announced today new Chairs for the 2024-2025 industry Forums. The new Forum leadership was introduced at CREFC’s Annual June Conference in New York City.

CREFC’s Forums represent specific market constituencies that drive the U.S. commercial real estate finance industry. Forums include:

  • Alternative Lenders and High Yield Investors
  • B-Piece Investors
  • GSE/Multifamily Lenders
  • Investment-Grade Bondholders
  • Issuers
  • Portfolio Lenders
  • Servicers

Each of these Forums interacts and addresses issues critical to their business sector and works to achieve solutions that serve a common purpose. CREFC’s Forums manage disparate and converging market views, advocate a consensus of positions to policymakers and lawmakers, educate members, develop market best practices and standards, and work toward the betterment of the entire commercial real estate finance market.

The Incoming slate of Forum leaders includes:

Alternative Lenders & High Yield Investors. CREFC welcomes Rachel Hunter-Goldman (KKR) as Chair-Elect, Samantha Rotchford (MSD) as Chair, and Samir Tejpaul (Square Mile Capital Investments) as Past Chair.

Advertisement

B-Piece Investors. CREFC welcomes Frank Yin (KKR) as Chair-Elect, Peter Lindner (Rialto) as Chair, and Jason Nick (LNR) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Lyndsay Stephenson (Prime Finance Partners) served as Past Chair.

GSE/Multifamily Lenders. CREFC welcomes David Haynes (CBRE) as Chair-Elect, Ahmed Hasan (Capital One) as Chair, and Kate Whalen (BMO) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, the Past Chair was Emily Schultz (Berkadia Commercial Mortgage). Alonzo White (Fannie Mae) and Jason Griest (Freddie Mac) serve as government-sponsored enterprise representatives.

Investment-Grade Bondholders. CREFC welcomes Adam Smith (DWS) as Chair-Elect, Rajesh Bansal (Quiq Capital) as Chair, and Richard Razza (Webster Bank) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Jane Rivers (T. Rowe Price) served as Past Chair.

Issuers. CREFC welcomes Shaishav Agarwal (Deutsche Bank) as Chair-Elect, Brigid Mattingly (Wells Fargo) as Chair, and Jane Lam (Morgan Stanley) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, David Schell (BMO Capital Markets) served as Past Chair.

Portfolio Lenders – Banks. CREFC welcomes Kristin Khanna (Barclays) as Chair-Elect, Rob Grudzinski (U.S. Bank) as Chair, and Scott Dixon (Truist) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Jonathan Salzinger (Bank of America) served as Past Chair.

Advertisement

Portfolio Lenders – Insurance Company. CREFC welcomes Melissa Farrell (PGIM) as Chair-Elect, Kevin Pivnick (Blackstone) as Chair, and Chris Miculis (Nuveen) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Stefanie Stewart (Voya Investment Management) served as Past Chair.

Servicers – Servicing Administration. CREFC welcomes Dana Jo Martino (Berkadia) as Chair-Elect, Adam Fox (Fitch Ratings) as Chair, and Leslie Hayton (Wells Fargo) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Stacy Ackermann (K&L Gates) served as Past Chair.

Servicers – Special Situations. CREFC welcomes Alex Killick (CWCapital) as Chair-Elect, Pam Dent (Freddie Mac) as Chair, and Tony Yousif (SVN) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Andrea Helm (Midland Loan Services) served as Past Chair.

“We want to welcome the new members of our CREFC industry Forums and thank existing and past Forum members for their dedication and excellent work,” said Lisa Pendergast, Executive Director of CREFC.

“For 30 years, CREFC has served as the voice of the now $6 trillion commercial real estate finance industry and CREFC’s industry Forums continue to play a key role in ensuring all industry voices are heard and respected. CREFC’s Forums serve a vital industry function, as they represent key components of the CRE finance markets. A core function of Forum leaders is to work toward consensus among their constituents and then advocate those positions to other market segments and to policy and lawmakers. Forum leaders are also charged with assisting the development of industry best practices and implementing new initiatives critical to their business sectors. I and the entire CREFC community are grateful for our Forum leaders and their contributions and dedication to CRE finance.”

Advertisement

About CREFC
The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) is the trade association for the nearly $6 trillion commercial real estate finance industry with a membership that includes more than 400 companies and 19,000 individuals. Member firms include balance sheet and securitized lenders, loan and bond investors, private equity firms, servicers, rating agencies, and borrowers. For 30 years, CREFC has promoted liquidity, transparency, and efficiency in the commercial real estate finance markets, and acted as a legislative and regulatory advocate for the industry, playing a vital role in setting market standards and best practices, and providing education for market participants.

SOURCE CRE Finance Council

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Finance

SixCap Healthcare Finance Appoints Carroll as Senior Relationship Manager

Published

on

SixCap Healthcare Finance Appoints Carroll as Senior Relationship Manager

SixCap Healthcare Finance added Dan Carroll as senior relationship manager, reporting to the company’s co-founder and chief investment officer, Dan Whitwer.

Carroll brings more than 20 years of commercial finance, portfolio management and healthcare asset-based lending experience to SixCap. Throughout his career, he has managed complex healthcare lending relationships, led portfolio management teams, overseen loan closings and partnered closely with borrowers to support growth while maintaining disciplined credit management.

Most recently, Carroll held leadership positions at Siena, CNH Finance and Triumph Healthcare Finance, building extensive expertise in healthcare lending, credit analysis, loan structuring, risk management and client relationship management.

In his new role, Carroll will oversee borrower relationships across SixCap’s growing healthcare portfolio, working closely with clients to provide proactive portfolio management, responsive service and financing solutions that evolve alongside their businesses.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Dan to the SixCap team,” Whitwer said. “I’ve had the privilege of working alongside Dan and have seen firsthand the integrity, experience and thoughtful approach he brings to every client relationship. He understands healthcare, he understands asset-based lending and, most importantly, he understands the value of building lasting partnerships. As our portfolio continues to grow, Dan’s leadership and commitment to exceptional client service make him a tremendous addition to our team.”

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Finance

Big financing steps forward for The 78, Foundry Park projects

Published

on

Big financing steps forward for The 78, Foundry Park projects

Two of Chicago’s most pivotal but challenging undeveloped sites — Foundry Park on the North Side and the vacant South Loop parcel known as The 78 — moved forward in a big way Wednesday before the City Council adjourned for a summer recess.

Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced a $201.6 million tax increment financing subsidy for JDL Development’s scaled back vision for North Side industrial land along the Chicago River that once was supposed to be home to the Lincoln Yards megaproject.

And despite a slew of concerns from Council members, the full Council approved a $425 million TIF for The 78, a reference to Chicago’s unofficial 78th community area. The subsidy will bankroll public improvements needed for the South Loop development, anchored by a $750 million soccer stadium privately financed by Chicago Fire billionaire owner Joe Mansueto.

Downtown Ald. Bill Conway (34th), whose adjacent TIF is being raided to help The 78, again refused to go along with the $250.1 million piece of the infrastructure package that will primarily be used to build a 1,200-space parking garage. The $216 million garage will serve as the “podium” for an open-air plaza and future high-rise development on the air rights above the garage.

Referring to the Bears’ long-running stadium saga, Conway said Wednesday he appreciates the Fire “not trying to move to Hammond, Indiana, and become the Hammond Sparks.” But he said he “cannot look the taxpayers in the eye and tell them” he supported spending “$250 million to build a stadium parking garage and plaza.”

Advertisement

Finance Chair Pat Dowell, whose 3rd Ward includes The 78, has argued that the podium “brings the site to grade at Roosevelt Road” and is the key to “unlocking the site from the isolation that has stalled every previous development proposal.”

Deputy Planning Commissioner Jeff Cohen made that same point Wednesday, with a new wrinkle.

“The idea here is to incorporate that garage into the podium,” Cohen said. “It’s addressing a design and development plan that allows for all of the land within The 78 to be open for investment, rather than having to have either temporary or permanent surface parking lots to accommodate the car traffic.”

An artist’s rendering of the planned Chicago Fire soccer stadium at The 78 in the South Loop.

Advertisement

Related Midwest & Gensler

The $201.6 million subsidy proposed for Foundry Park pales by comparison to the $1.3 billion that former Mayor Rahm Emanuel once proposed for Lincoln Yards. That massive subsidy became a political lightning rod, with the avalanche of criticism led by the Chicago Teachers Union and then-union organizer Brandon Johnson.

The $201.6 million subsidy that Johnson introduced at Wednesday’s Council meeting is more likely to be criticized for being too little.

It will support just over 25% of the $800 million worth of roads, bridges, utilities and mass transit improvements that 2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins has said were mandated as part of the Lincoln Yards plan.

Advertisement

Foundry Park developer Jim Letchinger acknowledged that there is “other infrastructure that the neighborhood would like to see done that is not possible right now.”

But Letchinger added it’s a start that includes the long-promised extension of the popular 606 Trail. “If you don’t start with something that’s achievable, you can’t achieve anything.”

“We have a plan to actually start building and creating revenue right away in conjunction with building our infrastructure … A lot of parks. Massive riverwalk. Ten acres of public open space. Very usable, very engaging,” Letchinger said Wednesday.

“As we continue to build, since we’re not using anywhere near all the increment that we’re creating, the other increment can go toward other projects that the neighborhood would like to see — whether it’s to build a bridge or fixing Elston Avenue, or anything else that they’re anxious about,” he said.

Public improvements promised to residents, but not covered by the $201.6 million subsidy, include another bridge crossing the Chicago River and a realignment of Elston Avenue, which Letchinger called a positive move in the long run, but a “massive undertaking” complicated by cost and property control.

Advertisement

“No private developer can realign Elston. It’s impossible. The city is the only one that can do that, and they’re working on it. There’s plans for it. But it will take a very long time,” Lechtinger said.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said there is “one bridge that a lot of people still want,” but it goes through private properties owned by Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete and several other owners.

“The city would have to do it as a taking [of property], and that would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. So they took that off the table because … that bridge wasn’t necessary at this time,” Waguespack told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Letchinger’s plan for roughly 34 vacant acres of the site calls for up to 3,737 residences, 20% of them designated as affordable to comply with the city’s set-aside rules. The new design includes low- to mid-rise buildings, some for offices, grouped near open space and riverfront access. Buildings would get ground-floor retail, and one is slated as a boutique hotel.

The project’s reduced density has drawn praise from residents. And Waguespack said he’s satisfied with the reduced public subsidy.

Advertisement

“In the future if there’s more needed, we could go back and do it. But this is much more grounded in a realistic infrastructure project that will still satisfy all the needs of connecting the neighborhoods,” Waguespack said.

Hopkins said he views the scaled-down subsidy and the infrastructure projects as “wholly inadequate” and a broken promise to Lincoln Park and Bucktown residents.

“Lincoln Yards provided for two bridges with the possibility of a third. Foundry Park has zero,” Hopkins said. “I don’t want to move on a vague verbal promise that we might consider adding a bridge later. The time to add it is now while the redevelopment agreement is still pending. And the fact that it was omitted is tragic. Also, the [Elston-Armitage] intersection redesign and the new Metra station seems to have fallen by the wayside.”

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Johnson proposed a tax break for Chicago’s booming film and television industries — by reducing the 15% personal property lease transaction tax to 11%.

The tax has been raised twice in recent years and was the biggest piece of the revenue package that helped balance the $16.7 billion budget for 2026. It has exceeded revenue projections by $40.3 million through June 30, allowing Johnson to offer the break in hopes of attracting more film and TV productions to Chicago.

Advertisement

The City Council also followed a trail blazed by Gov. JB Pritzker and his counterparts in six other states by prohibiting present and former city employees — and elected officials — from using insider information to bet on prediction markets. Apps including Kalshi and Polymarket are used to place bets on everything from election winners and the number of candidates entering a specific race for office, to budgetary and foreign policy decisions by elected officials.

Championed by Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd), the ordinance prohibits current or former city officials, appointees and employees from using “confidential information or any non-public information, including the identity of the subject of an investigation” to either participate in prediction markets or “assist any other person” placing those bets.

The Council also confirmed Johnson’s appointment of Dr. Garth Walker as the city’s public health commissioner.

Continue Reading

Finance

The average cost of fertility treatments and how to plan for them

Published

on

The average cost of fertility treatments and how to plan for them

Covering the cost of fertility treatment can feel like yet another hurdle in a process that is already physically and emotionally draining. Not only do you have to go through the testing and medical procedures involved, you can also end up paying tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

For families who want to have kids or women who want to afford themselves a little more time, though, this can feel like a price well worth paying. But the process may necessitate some financial planning. Research can also go a long way, as insurance companies increasingly offer coverage.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending