Mark Talgo

New York Life Real Estate Investors had an active 2021, lending on core, bridge, construction and mezzanine positions.

The company’s transaction volume for 2021 totaled over $12.6 billion, broken down into $9.9 billion of commercial mortgage loans (CMLs), $1.8 billion of commercial mortgage-backed securities purchases and $923 million of equity.

“Our CML volumes exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with the vast majority of production occurring during the third and fourth quarters of 2021 and first quarter of 2022,” said a company spokesperson. “New York Life took advantage of evolving capital market dynamics and generated alpha for its clients by providing surety of execution, particularly for year-end 2021 closings, and more recently against a continued backdrop of uncertainty due to inflationary and geopolitical concerns.”

Much of the company’s lending activity was concentrated in multifamily and industrial, although tactical investments in office and retail were made “when the risk/value proposition met objectives.” There was also lending activity on property types, including hotels, medical office buildings and self-storage. 

Solutions to the pandemic’s sometimes byzantine challenges that New York Life employed included construction loans, bridge financing, mezzanine and preferred equity positions. Additionally, the firm’s equity program is active in core, value add, new construction and repositioning developments.

Notable transactions in 2021 for New York Life include two loans totaling $1.2 billion secured by a diverse portfolio of Class A industrial properties in major U.S. logistics markets, with sponsorship from a private equity investment firm; and a $420 million floating-rate loan secured by a portfolio of grocery-anchored shopping centers throughout the U.S., also with sponsorship from a private equity investment firm. —L.G.