PHOTO: Courtesy Lisa Katz
Lisa Katz
Managing director on the real estate debt origination team at Barings
Lisa Katz has had a lengthy run at Barings and its predecessor companies dating back to 1987, leading real estate debt origination efforts.
Being a veteran of commercial real estate underwriting served Katz well during the tumultuous past 12 months, as she helped property owners navigate the choppy waters of an uncertain debt market as it experienced 10 consecutive interest rate increases.
“Given the disruption we’ve seen in markets, certainty of execution is paramount for borrowers right now — especially those going through acquisitions,” Katz said. “We are also seeing a lot of borrowers reaching out to us directly to get a sense of where we are active in the market and running through their pipeline to see where we could be a potential fit. Given the pullback in bank lending, we are providing construction loans to borrowers that otherwise would have received countless bids from traditional bank lenders.”
One of the highlights for Barings in 2023 involved supplying a $101.5 million bridge loan to refinance construction debt for a Downtown D.C. hotel owned by Quadrangle Development Corporation. The 11-story, 504-room Courtyard/Residence Inn By Marriott, adjacent to the Washington Downtown Convention Center, opened in November 2018.
The Marriott deal underscored Barings’ strength working with longtime clients to bring deals across the finish line in a challenging market, as well as its “expertise” in the hotel sector, Katz said.
A University of Pennsylvania alum, Katz began her CRE career straight out of college at MassMutual in Springfield, Mass., in the life insurance company’s real estate training program before moving to its D.C. field office as an analyst. She held several other titles at MassMutual, which later acquired Barings, before ascending to managing director and playing an integral role in originating large-scale CRE deals.
Looking toward the future, Katz said her goal is to utilize Barings’ many sources of capital for executing transactions “while maintaining discipline in these volatile times.”
