WaMu opens multi-family lending office

Real Estate Weekly, Nov 13, 2002

In a move to further cement its ranking as the nation's top multi-family lender, Washington Mutual, Inc. announced it has opened a Multi-Family Lending office in New York City. Located at 437 Madison Ave., 39th floor, the office opened Aug. 1 and has already generated a pipeline of $230 million in deals.

"We're excited to have opened our first Multi-Family Lending office in the nation's #1 apartment market," said Al Brooks, executive vice president, and division executive for Washington Mutual's Multi-Family Lending division. "With a market valuation of nearly $300 billion, we recognize that the New York/New Jersey area is the country's leading multi-family market, which gives Washington Mutual a tremendous opportunity to invest in the area.

Over the next 18 months, the New York Multi-Family Lending team expects to fund over $1 billion in new multi-family construction, rehab, and permanent financing loans on apartment buildings with five or more units.

Washington Mutual's business model is to be a low cost provider that delivers exceptional value and service to its customers. It aims to aggressively serve the multi-family market, specifically apartment owners and investors who need $100,000 to $10 million-plus in financing. Washington Mutual has developed an even more streamlined process to target the under-served small loan market of $100,000 to $500,000 in the New York/New Jersey area.

Headed by Edward Ely, senior vice president and East Coast region manager, the office currently has eight loan consultants on board and expects to add additional team members over the next few months.