AMI Capital Inc. Announces Opening of Chicago Office; Commercial Mortgage Banking Firm Expands Services in Great Lakes Region

Business Wire, Nov 11, 1998

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 1998--AMI Capital Inc. announced that it has opened a Chicago office to expand the company's market presence in the Great Lakes region.

AMI Capital already opened an office in Detroit earlier this year. Both office openings are part of a nationwide expansion currently underway at AMI Capital.

"The upper Midwest is a relatively untapped market for us until recently," said Michael Sullivan, president of AMI Capital. "By opening offices there and hiring experienced professionals with deep client ties in the region, AMI will effectively deliver its proven mortgage products to a new customer base. Our reputation is built on making lending decisions swiftly and providing reliable pricing, and we believe this commitment will be well received by borrowers in the Midwest."

Hired to head the new Chicago office is Gerard J. Rotunno, serving as vice president and managing director. Rotunno, who has been involved in commercial loan origination in the Midwest for more than 15 years, most recently served as senior director at Finova Realty Capital Inc. in Chicago. He has also served in senior-level positions at The Prudential Realty Group and FS Realty Partners.

Rotunno holds a masters degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and completed his bachelor's degree in finance with honors at the University of Illinois at Urbana, Ill.

AMI Capital is a nationwide mortgage lender focusing on loans for multi-family housing properties, office buildings, industrial properties and retail centers. Since the firm's inception in 1990, its portfolio has grown to more than $1.5 billion. AMI is growing at a rate of 20 percent annually.

AMI, with headquarters in Bethesda, Md., is owned by ULLICO Inc., whose assets exceed $3 billion.

"Chicago and the surrounding region is a robust market for commercial mortgage origination," Rotunno said. "By leveraging both AMI's long-standing expertise in Fannie Mae DUS loans and conduit sources, we will be able to provide a wide array of financing options for clients in this area. AMI, backed by ULLICO, is a solid and proven lender that has a reputation for working closely with clients to deliver mortgages promptly and reliably."

Shortly after its founding in 1990, AMI Capital became an industry leader in Fannie Mae's Delegated Underwriter and Services (DUS) program. In 1995, the company won the "DUS Lender of the Year" award, and in 1996, it received the "Top Gun" award from Fannie Mae, recognizing its "record of excellence and loan volume."

In recent years, AMI has expanded its product line to include customized commercial financing solutions with fixed or floating rates, interim/bridge and construction loans, pool revolving credit lines, tax exempt credit enhancements, conduits, FHA/GNMA, and life insurance loan programs.

AMI Capital has five internal departments providing turnkey mortgage services. These include: origination (sales and marketing); screening (initial review of financials to determine a loan's feasibility); underwriting (loan processing); financing and accounting (raising loan funds by grouping loans and selling them to Wall Street); and loan servicing (collecting payments, insurance, and taxes inspecting properties).

In addition to its Bethesda headquarters, AMI Capital has regional offices in Atlanta; Boca Raton, Fla.; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Los Angeles and San Francisco, and now Chicago.