Ripco Hires Michael Winter to Bolster Capital Markets Platform

Ripco Real Estate has further extended its push into the debt capital markets space with the addition of commercial real estate and banking veteran Michael Winter as a managing director and partner in its debt and structured finance team, Commercial Observer has learned.

Winter, who facilitated more than $2 billion of CRE loans in his banking career before pivoting to  deals on the development side, recently joined a capital markets team led by Adam Hakim and James Murad. The duo arrived at Ripco in April from Meridian Capital Group, fueled by the opportunity to scale Ripco’s debt platform and expand the brokerage beyond its retail leasing roots.

A lengthy working relationship with Hakim for the past three decades and a chance to work with a platform eyeing big expansion plans were big attractions in Winter’s decision to join forces at Ripco. 

“It took me about six seconds to get what they were trying to do and that they were going to put a premium on the capital markets real estate finance business,” Winter said. “I had no interest in going to the CBREs or the Cushmans or any of the big shops. I wanted to be at what I considered an entrepreneurial shop, a shop where we could go out and have access to call throughout the market.” 

Winter’s versatile experience in the CRE finance world has involved establishing national lending practices at multiple Chicago-area banks including Builders Bank Chicago, which he led as chairman and CEO for three years from 2001 to 2004. He previously was CEO of First Bank and Trust Company of Illinois after launching its CRE loan platform in the role of chief lending officer. 

After selling his interest in Builders Bank, Winter became active as a CRE developer and executed transactions throughout the U.S., including ground-up construction developments throughout Southern California.

Since starting at Ripco a few months ago, Winter, a longtime Chicago-area resident, has spent about two thirds of his time working out of Ripco’s Miami office and focusing heavily on deal activity in South Florida. Winter said Hakim has also spent a considerable amount of time in the Miami office on South Florida transactions while Murad has mostly focused on New York capital markets activity. 

“In today’s dynamic and often unpredictable economic landscape, having a debt and structured finance team that can think creatively and adapt swiftly is crucial,” Murad said in a statement. “His addition to our team strengthens Ripco’s market positioning and underscores our commitment to providing exceptional, forward-thinking solutions nationally.”

Winter said Ripco has had an active 2024 with close to $1 billion in deals signed and around 20 transactions in the term sheets phase. The six-person team has focused heavily on arranging construction financing and transitional loans for multifamily, condominium and hotel properties. 

The collaborative culture at Ripco, where capital markets works in concert with the firm’s leasing and investment sales teams, has especially stood out to Winter early on in his new venture.

“These guys somehow put a real premium on teamwork and collaboration that I just haven’t seen before,” Winter said. “That’s very unusual, especially in a brokerage environment, which is kind of a kill-or-be-killed environment.”

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com