Alternative Lenders Will Benefit From Maturities Wave

Gaitan: “Certain markets out there haven’t had their fundamentals recovered to the level they need to, especially given the reality of CRE finance being financed over 30 years or interest only, with little amortization of principal and limited increase of ROI.”

LADERA RANCH, CA—Alternative lenders such as Money360 will take on an even bigger role as loans from traditional lenders come due and no longer underwrite for those programs, Ken Gaitan tells GlobeSt.com. Gaitan, who was recently hired by the firm as regional director, Western region, is a commercial real estate finance veteran who brings nearly 30 years of CRE experience to his role, with specific expertise in originating bridge and permanent small balance loans, generating pipeline development and asset management. Over the course of his career, he has originated and closed more than $3.5 billion in commercial real estate transactions.

Gaitan has served in senior production/management roles for such institutional firms such as Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, CBRE and Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, as well as emerging companies such as Thorofare Capital, PennyMac CREF and Johnson Capital Express. We spoke exclusively with Gaitan about his new role and why he is now attracted to a more entrepreneurial venture.