BOSTON & SAN FRANCISCO — CWCapital, a subsidiary of CW Financial Services and a full-service, national lender to the multifamily real estate industry, has launched of its multifamily life company lending platform to complement CW’s existing offerings through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA. This addition underscores the company’s commitment to providing new, competitive sources of funding for its expanding customer base. CWCapital currently services a portfolio of $13 billion in loans in 48 states.
The multifamily life company initiative will be led by Tom MacManus, managing director for CW and president and COO of ARA Finance, the joint venture finance platform of Apartment Realty Advisors and CW.
CW also recently hired Mischa Guenther, former director of Wells Fargo’s New York multifamily division, as senior vice president. Guenther will be responsible for managing relationships with and proposals for life companies for CW’s customers. Also hired was Mark Plenge, vice president in the firm’s San Francisco office.
Plenge has significant experience in life company financing and recently closed the firm’s first life company deals. Funded by ING, the loans provided $28 million in refinancing for two multifamily property portfolios in the San Francisco Bay Area, which includes the S-101 Management Portfolio comprising two loans totaling $11.5 million, and the Fuller Enterprises Portfolio comprising four loans totaling $16.4 million. All loans for these transactions are fully-amortizing and provided tremendous flexibility with respect to the rate lock and closing timeframe, allowing the borrower to avoid significant prepayment costs.
“We are thrilled to expand the range of financing options available to our borrowers,” said MacManus. “Life company lending is a robust, competitive addition to our existing offerings and reinforces CW’s reputation for adapting to the market and offering diversity of financing options. We have established relationships with 14 different life companies and are actively quoting loans with each firm. We are confident the platform will continue to grow.”
Michael Berman, president and chief executive officer of CWCapital added, “As more liquidity returns to the market, CW has made every effort to diversify the suite of services we provide to our borrowers and ultimately ensure that they have access to the most competitive and flexible financing options. In addition to the new life company initiatives, we are also launching bridge and conduit financing programs, reinforcing our position as the premier source of multifamily real estate lending. Gap equity and mezzanine financing are also now included in our suite of product offerings.”
— Dan Marcec