James Millon, Tom Traynor and Tom Rugg

For a year in which interest rates moved around more than someone in the witness protection program, CBRE’s large loan specialists were able to transcend an almost frozen deal market to close $10 billion in originations across 37 transactions. 

The three-headed monster of James Millon, Tom Traynor and Tom Rugg averaged a stunning $270 million per loan arranged in the 12 months spanning March 1, 2023, to March 1, 2024. 

“If there’s one word to summarize the performance of the team, it was perseverance,” said Millon, who became CBRE’s president of debt and structured finance in November. “Thinking about the number of transactions we had going into the year in 2023, and then looking back on when you closed the books and what you ultimately accomplished, obviously those two pictures look very different, but the team persevered and got meaningful and difficult transactions over the finish line across every asset class.” 

Meaningful is an understatement. The team of large loan specialists closed some of the largest commercial real estate transactions in 2023, including the $500 million refinancing for 919 Third Avenue in New York — a deal which saw SL Green secure a three-year, floating-rate loan for one of its prime office properties; and two loans totaling $1.2 billion for a five-building data center campus in Northern Virginia. 

“If there was one prevailing theme for us, at least, and our clients, it was data centers,” said Traynor. “You can’t pick up any newspaper these days without reading about AI and data centers.” 

Another theme for the team could be construction financing. Over 50 percent of the CBRE team’s transaction volume centered around construction loan activity on data centers, multifamily and industrial assets. All told, the group played almost exclusively in the construction, refinance and acquisition loan space, but used several types of execution strategies to close deals, whether that be CMBS, agency, bank syndicate or debt fund loans.  

“We’ve been able to execute in really challenging markets and the underlying sources of that capital can come from a variety of different lenders,” said Millon.  

For a market that is expecting at least one rate cut, less volatility and healthier liquidity channels, the CBRE trio believes the future is bright after the headwinds of last year. 

“2023 was no doubt a challenging year for the market, but it was a really productive year,” said Rugg, who joined forces with Traynor last December. “We arranged the most prominent debt deals in the market and positioned the team for future growth and expansion. We turned what was a challenging year into a big opportunity for our team.”