Dino Paparelli
Global head of commercial real estate at Deutsche Bank
Last year's rank: 14
Deutsche Bank remained front and center as a major CRE debt markets player in 2023 despite persistent challenges brought by higher interest rates.
The investment banking giant financed $3.8 billion of U.S. CRE lending volume across 13 deals, according to data from the Green Street CMBS/loan contributor rankings. While down from its 2022 issuance of $5.4 billion, Deutsche Bank increased its CMBS market share in 2023 to 9.6 percent compared with 7.8 percent the previous year, the Green Street data shows.
One of Deutsche Bank’s most significant deals in 2023 involved leading a $580 million loan for a refinance of two interconnected office buildings owned by Oxford Properties in Boston’s Back Bay at 222 Berkeley Street and 500 Boylston Street. Dino Paparelli noted that the transaction underscored Deutsche Bank’s ability to finance a trophy office asset in a challenging market for the sector by pooling together capital sources from CMBS lenders, insurance companies and debt funds.
Paparelli said elevated interest rates last year resulted in Deutsche Bank offering borrowers five-year, fixed-rate-pooled CMBS loans starting in early 2023.
“Last year was a tough year for everybody in the industry in particular because of the uncertainty that characterized the market,” Paparelli said. “When you step up to support the client in the difficult days is where you really show your market presence.”
Under Paparelli’s leadership, Deutsche Bank has also shown a deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within its workforce and the CRE industry as a whole. Deutsche Bank is a founding and presenting sponsor of the New York Real Estate Pride Roundtable, and Paparelli has also supported several initiatives connected with the company’s employee resource group for LGBTQ+ employees. He has also mentored with a program called MAPS that aims at boosting the number of female CRE executives.
“We’re continuing on the route we started a few years ago,” said Paparelli of Deutsche Bank’s DEI goals. “The practicality component of this is most important, and we have implemented some little changes to the way we recruit.”
