LOS ANGELES—Online marketplace RealtyMogul.com has opened its first East Coast office and has hired Chuck Taylor as managing director to run the Atlanta-based operation. With more than 20 years' experience in commercial real estate finance, Taylor will be responsible for both debt and equity origination across the Southeast as well as staffing the new office, CEO Jilliene Helman tells GlobeSt.com.

“Chuck has great industry connections in the Southeast,” says Helman. “We've got a very strong West Coast presence, and as we look to do more on the East Coast, and the Southeast in particular, he's going to be leading the charge.”

Most recently with A10 Capital, where he was one of the top performing originators, Taylor served as its principal and EVP. Based in Atlanta, he covered the Southeast region, sourcing value-added commercial mortgages.

Before joining A10, Taylor was director of acquisitions for two years with Reynolds Capital Group, a $175-million equity fund. For nearly 10 years prior, Taylor was with JPMorgan, focusing on CMBS.

While there, Taylor completed more than $8 billion of debt transactions. He served in many senior positions during his time with JPMorgan, including executive director and head of underwriting for the East region, comprised of New York City and Atlanta.

Longer term, Helman says, “We're actively evaluating other offices. We want to get Atlanta up and running, and properly staffed, but we're evaluating other offices on the East Coast.”

Taylor's hiring comes on the heels of a $35-million series B round of funding for RealtyMogul.com. He also joins soon after the Los Angeles-based company made a high-powered trio of West Coast-based hires, bringing Ryan Sakamoto aboard as its in-house general counsel, and landing a pair of producers from Colony Capital, Michael Sanchez and Charles H. Kim, to join its commercial lending division. Sanchez and Kim helped launch the Colony Mortgage Capital platform in 2013, and have originated and executed nearly $1 billion of senior and mezzanine loans since its inception.