Meridian Capital Group’s Seth Grossman Co-Founding Green Pine Real Estate
The brokerage loses yet another top executive as fallout from Freddie Mac ban lingers
By Brian Pascus August 8, 2024 3:58 pm
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The hits just keep coming for Meridian Capital Group.
Just days after it was announced that top executive Ronnie Levine had left the firm, Seth Grossman, another senior executive at the company who led the firm’s West Coast operations, announced he has also left the firm to join Levine at Green Pine Real Estate, a commercial real estate private equity firm the duo co-founded this month.
Grossman served as a senior managing director at Meridian Capital Group since 2011 and led the Los Angeles and San Diego offices for the New York-based commercial real estate brokerage.
He announced the news on LinkedIn this week. Commercial Mortgage Alert first reported the news.
“Meridian is excited about Seth and Ronnie’s new venture and wish them every success,” said a spokesman for Meridian. “Seth will retain an affiliation with Meridian, including collaborating on new loan opportunities, co-brokering transactions and ensuring proper support for his clients’ commercial real estate financing needs.”
Green Pine Real Estate has offices in New York and California and will specialize in debt and equity transactions across all levels of the capital stack, according to the firm’s most recent LinkedIn post.
Grossman first joined Meridian Capital Group 19 years ago in 2005, but left for three years to form Mission Peak Capital, before rejoining Meridian. Prior to that, he worked at Fitch Ratings.
The departure of Levine and Grossman marks a significant blow to Meridian’s already depleted C-suite, which lost several top brokers in the first six months of the year — including Adam Hakim, James Murad, Tal Savariego and Judah Hammer — and has had to replace its longtime CEO, Ralph Herzka. Herzka started the brokerage in 1991, but was replaced by new CEO Brian Brooks, a former acting controller of the currency and general counsel at Fannie Mae this spring.
The big move came on the news of the firm being barred from placing deals through Freddie Mac (FMCC) seller-servicers due to an investigation into loans originated by a Meridian broker last November.
Meridian also announced in July that the firm’s president, Yoni Goodman, would leave the firm that month.
Grossman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com.
