Berkadia Grows Washington D.C. Presence As Part of East Coast Expansion
By Guelda Voien April 9, 2015 12:26 pm
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Berkadia expanded its mortgage banking team in Bethesda, Md., hiring a team from Walker & Dunlop consisting of J. Tyler Blue, Andrew Coleman, Ted Hermes and Paul Wallace, Commercial Observer has exclusively learned.
The team joins as managing directors.
Mr. Blue will direct the Mid-Atlantic capital markets group and Mr. Coleman will head Berkadia’s National Hospitality group.
The hires are part of a larger expansion, nationally, on Berkadia’s part, Ernie Katai, head of production at Berkadia, told CO. Specifically the firm is looking to bulk up its East Coast presence and its investment sales personnel.
“It’s a hiring push in general across the country,” he said. “We had 25 percent growth last year; we did $17 billion. The goal this year is $20 billion [between debt and investment sales].”
Berkadia is also looking to diversify its team of professionals, he said. “We are big in the multifamily space and we want to continue to … provide all the tools and use all the tools in our tool box.”
Naming Mr. Coleman the head of hospitality, for instance, is part of what Mr. Katai called “an effort, push to get back into this space in a very serious way.” (Before Mr. Coleman took on the title of head of hospitality, the firm did not have anyone in that role).
“We immediately become a stronger company with this expansion of our Bethesda office,” said Justin Wheeler, CEO of Berkadia, in a statement provided to CO. “Tyler, Andy, Ted and Paul bring an incredible amount of mortgage banking and commercial real estate experience to the table.”
