Arbor Expands CMBS Lending Platform with Appointment of Three Industry Veterans
UNIONDALE, NY (April 15, 2013) – Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC (“Arbor”) today announced the second phase expansion and development of its CMBS and Syndication platform with the addition of three industry veterans, Barbara Duka, Peter S. Ginsberg and Richard Bianchi, who have each been appointed Senior Vice President in Arbor’s New York City office.
“Each of these executives brings to Arbor’s newly enhanced CMBS and Syndication business complementary expertise and perspective as well as extensive product knowledge, key industry relationships and market experience throughout all investment cycles,” said Todd Hirsch, Arbor’s Executive Vice President and Head of CMBS Finance and Distribution. “As we continue to expand our platform, their unique expertise will help us provide our clients with the most competitive, flexible and comprehensive financing products available throughout the capital structure. As we continue to grow our team and infrastructure and look to add CMBS origination staff and quantitative support, we will focus on delivering personalized, client-based solutions across this constantly evolving and dynamic commercial real estate finance market.”
Barbara Duka joins Arbor as a Senior Vice President of CMBS and Syndication Credit. Ms. Duka will work closely with Mr. Hirsch in driving the expansion of the CMBS business at Arbor. Ms. Duka will play a leading role in the credit approval process, the structuring and pricing of loans and the execution of the loans.
Prior to joining Arbor, Ms. Duka held several key analytical and management positions during her 14-year tenure at Standard & Poor’s, where she oversaw the initial rating and the ongoing surveillance of commercial real estate-backed securities in the United States and Canada, the development of quantitative tools to track and analyze credit risk and the publishing of research and performance data on the sector. Prior to joining Standard & Poor’s, she held several credit, origination and asset management roles during her nine-year tenure at United Jersey Bank. Ms. Duka holds a B.A. in Economics from Rutgers University.
Peter S. Ginsberg joins Arbor as a Senior Vice President of CMBS Origination and Syndication. In his role, Mr. Ginsberg will oversee the operational management for both businesses and be responsible for building out a market-leading loan syndication platform.
Prior to joining Arbor, Mr. Ginsberg was most recently an Executive Managing Director at Arcturus, a boutique, real estate advisory firm. Prior to Arcturus, Mr. Ginsberg was a Managing Director at Centerbridge Partners, LP, where he co-managed the commercial real estate platform and was a member of the commercial real estate investment committee. Prior to Centerbridge, Mr. Ginsberg was a Managing Director at Capital Trust, where he was an integral part of senior management, directing strategic planning and investments. During his tenure at Capital Trust, Mr. Ginsberg obtained the Special Servicer rating from all three rating agencies for the firm and was instrumental in the structure and design of the special servicing platform. At Capital Trust, Mr. Ginsberg also originated and managed more than 250 transactions totaling more than $3 billion. He also has extensive experience in developing and negotiating strategies in connection with loan restructurings, property operations as well as structured finance acquisitions, strategies and workouts. He graduated with honors and received both a B.A. and J.D. from Northwestern University.
Mr. Richard Bianchi joins Arbor as Senior Vice President of CMBS Loan Originations and will be responsible for assisting in the growth of a direct CMBS commercial real estate lending practice at Arbor.
Prior to joining Arbor, Mr. Bianchi most recently served as Vice President of Loan Originations at Oritani Bank, where he originated fixed-rate loans across all asset classes in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Prior to Oritani Bank, Mr. Bianchi served for 12 years as Senior Vice President, Principal Finance Group at Capmark Finance. While there he was responsible for nationwide originations of CMBS and structured finance loans across all commercial real estate asset classes. Mr. Bianchi received his B.A. in Political Science from George Washington University.
Additionally, Arbor has also appointed Joseph Charneski to its CMBS business unit in order to enhance the integration of CMBS and Syndication into the existing Arbor loan product infrastructure. Mr. Charneski joined Arbor in June 2008 as a Fannie Mae DUS® Multifamily underwriter and most recently served as Vice President of Sales Operations. He is now responsible for coordinating bridge and CMBS national production. He is based in Arbor’s New York City office.
Prior to joining Arbor, Mr. Charneski served as Vice President, Loan Originations at CBRE Realty Finance, where he originated fixed and floating rate whole loans, B-Notes and mezzanine loans across all asset classes. He holds a B.A. in Real Estate and Urban Economics from the University of Connecticut and a J.D. from Western New England College.
Ms. Duka and Mr. Ginsberg will report directly to Mr. Hirsch, and Mr. Bianchi and Mr. Charneski will report directly to Mr. Ginsberg.
About Us
Founded by Chairman and CEO Ivan Kaufman, Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC and Arbor Commercial Funding, LLC are national direct lenders specializing in finance origination and loan servicing for multifamily and other diverse commercial assets. Arbor is a Top 10 Fannie Mae DUS® Multifamily Lender, an FHA Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP)/LEAN Lender and a HUD-Approved LIHTC Lender, consistently building on its reputation for service, quality and flexibility. With a current servicing portfolio of $10.1 billion, Arbor is a primary commercial loan servicer and special servicer rated by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s. Arbor is also on the Standard & Poor’s Select Servicer List.
Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC also manages Arbor Realty Trust, Inc., a real estate investment trust, (REIT), formed to invest in mortgage-related securities, real estate-related bridge, junior participating interests in first mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred and direct equity investments and in limited cases, discounted mortgage notes and other real estate related assets. Arbor is headquartered in Uniondale, NY, with full-service lending offices throughout the United States. For more information about Arbor, visit www.arbor.com.