Israel Leiner.
Israel Leiner, 30
Vice president at Meridian Capital Group
Israel Leiner had a fascination with the idea of working in real estate going back to his childhood.
“Real estate is tangible so it always interested me,” Leiner said. “There was always something about that that attracted me to it.”
Leiner took a bit of an unconventional path to the world of commercial real estate finance.
Prior to arriving at Meridian in 2018, Leiner earned a bachelor’s in Talmudic law at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J. While not directly tied to commercial real estate, Leiner has utilized his studies of ancient Jewish teachings often in his young career as a broker.
We put a 30,000-foot view into debating different subjects,” said Leiner of how the Talmud prepared him for the brokerage business. “It definitely helps me every day.”
Working out of Meridian’s New York City headquarters, Leiner is responsible for arranging loans across a number of asset classes, but has lately focused largely on multifamily in the South Florida and Philadelphia markets. He targets both value-add and ground-up construction deals.
Leiner’s skills go beyond closing loans.
When he closed a financing in Miami recently, the client had mentioned an openness to selling the property — and Leiner was able to swiftly facilitate a purchase and sale agreement. After engaging with Meridian colleagues about possible investor contacts, a PSA was signed with the commitment letter assumed to the buyer within two weeks, Leiner said.
Avi Weinstock, the executive vice president at Meridian who manages the brokerage firm’s multifamily finance team, has been a key mentor to Leiner since the younger man joined nearly five years ago. Facing his first market downturn since entering the industry, Leiner’s near-term goal is to be proactive to navigate clients through the choppy waters as smoothly as possible.
“The market is changing at a very rapid pace,” Leiner said. “You have to be two steps ahead of everything today.” —A.C.
