Dan Baker
Head of KeyBank Real Estate Capital at KeyBank
Last year's rank: 38
For the 12 months ending March 31, KeyBank originated $27.4 billion in loan volume across the KeyBank real estate capital platform, which includes commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Federal Housing Administration (FHA), investor placement and balance sheet. It originated $49.4 billion in loans over those 12 months when factoring in syndications.
“Our loan volume was up almost $10 billion over a very volatile market for the last 12 months,” Dan Baker said.
The Cleveland-based bank’s notable deals in 2021 included a $354 million Fannie Mae loan to refinance a 17-property student housing portfolio nationwide; a $99 million Fannie Mae loan for Turner Impact Capital’s acquisition of a 1,155-unit affordable housing development in Glendale Heights, Ill.; a $95 million life insurance company loan to refinance Northbridge Partners’ 11-property national industrial portfolio.
“Our CMBS business was very busy last year,” Baker said. “We’re putting the money out everywhere, and we’re seeing dramatic growth in our affordable business.” Multifamily represented 64.56 percent of Keybank’s loan portfolio in 2021. Second up was affordable housing at 8.75 percent.
KeyBank is a 14-time winner of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality and a 12-time winner of DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity. As of the end of 2021, KeyBank says in 2021 it increased the representation of people of color at its senior leadership and executive levels by 16 percent. The bank is committed to increasing representation of people of color in senior leadership and executive roles by 25 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030.
Employees at KeyBank are encouraged to get involved with key business impact and networking groups. These groups are designed to support diversity, equity and inclusion, and leverage the knowledge and experience of employees.
As for 2022, Baker said, “With regards to inflation and dramatic rent increases, I think we’re going to see a brighter spotlight on the need for affordable housing.” —E.F.
