"It speaks very highly of the firm that in a global environment where the economy is contracting, people are losing jobs, and most firms are cutting overhead and expenses, Alliant is not cutting jobs but actually growing our business," Abelson says. "This is the perfect time to take advantage of the disconnect, and speaks to the firm's level of commitment to the business. We're here and we're not at risk of going anywhere because we're a privately held firm, so it's a great opportunity for our firm and other smaller entrepreneurial firms to gain market share and tremendous hold."

Abelson will manage the analysis, evaluation and origination of permanent, fixed-rate apartment loans in the Midwest through the Fannie Mae DUSR program, as well as work to increase the company's investor network. In his new position, Abelson offers Alliant more than 15 years of experience in CRE finance, which has included a focus on financing via the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac platforms. Having worked as SVP and Midwest regional manager for HSBC Bank USA N.A. and regional director for Arbor National Commercial Mortgage, he has closed more than $850 million in new loan production.

"My belief is that when there's so much competition in the market, one of the distinguishing features is the ability to offer my clients a competitive advantage by working for a small firm," Abelson says. "What was very attractive to me about the opportunity was that Alliant is one of the few privately-held independent firms in the market. That is truly advantageous for clients in terms of getting deals."

Abelson says many other agency lenders have a presence in the Chicago metro area, and Alliant realized it needed to do the same in order to maximize opportunities in the market.

"The goal of the firm is to become more of a national player and to expand the presence of the firm on a national level," he says. "A large part of that effort is trying to establish local regional experts in the market and they recognized a need to have a presence in the Midwest, which Chicago tends to be the heart and soul of. Borrowers really want to be able to know the people they're doing business with, and Alliant saw they couldn't really get much Midwest business done without establishing a local presence with a Chicago office."

The Chicago office currently consists of Abelson and one other employee, but may expand further in the future.

"Ultimately we'd like to expand our presence and grow our business here, but that's going to depend on a bunch of different factors and we're not trying to get ahead of ourselves here," Abelson says. "Everyone is trying to figure out what's going with the market and getting some flow established. For now, I think we're here getting the word out and letting people know that we're in the business and why they should be in business with us, because we plan to be here for the long haul."