MIAMI—FirstBank Florida hired five top professionals to work in its commercial banking department. The bank attracted the talent from regional and national banking institutions, beefing up its platform in South Florida. All told, the new hires bring more than 100 years of commercial banking, lending and relationship experience to FirstBank Florida.

“South Florida has long relied on the economies of real estate development, and the requirements and complexities for commercial lending in this sector has increased,” Calixto Garcia-Velez, regional executive and executive vice president of FirstBank Florida, tells GlobeSt.com. “We've seen remarkable success within our Commercial Banking Department—particularly in lending—within the past four years following the Great Recession, as it has evolved into a robust business segment that continues to grow.”

Mahesh Pattabhiraman came on board as senior vice president and commercial banking head. Pattabhiraman comes to FirstBank from Apollo Bank where he held the positions of executive vice president, chief lending officer and senior vice president of commercial lending. At FirstBank Florida, he will be responsible for developing commercial banking relationships and the leadership and management of the bank's commercial banking department.

Yuleisy A. Montalvo joins as vice president and commercial banking officer. She previously served in the same position with Mercantil Commercebank. Jose Marrero joins as vice president of commercial real estate, responsible for commercial real estate lending. He worked for Ocean Bank for 16 years, most recently as senior vice president and relationship manager.

Iluminada Diaz joins as business relationship officer. He's responsible for commercial lending and growth of deposits and portfolio revenues and will be based out of the Doral branch. She previously served as a senior relationship manager with BankUnited. Raquel M. Riano joins as business relationship officer, responsible for commercial lending and growth of deposits and portfolio revenues and will be based out of the Brickell branch. She was previously assistant vice president and small business banker at Bank of America.

The commercial banking team additions come on the heels of other important announcements from FirstBank Florida, including the opening of its Brickell branch, the Platinum Banking Division as its newest concierge-style service offering, and the bolstering of its Residential Lending Department with Gonzalo Chaves and Felipe S. Tolomelli joining as Residential Business Officers serving the Brickell and Broward markets, respectively.

Read about one commercial banking executive that hit rock bottom.

MIAMI—FirstBank Florida hired five top professionals to work in its commercial banking department. The bank attracted the talent from regional and national banking institutions, beefing up its platform in South Florida. All told, the new hires bring more than 100 years of commercial banking, lending and relationship experience to FirstBank Florida.

“South Florida has long relied on the economies of real estate development, and the requirements and complexities for commercial lending in this sector has increased,” Calixto Garcia-Velez, regional executive and executive vice president of FirstBank Florida, tells GlobeSt.com. “We've seen remarkable success within our Commercial Banking Department—particularly in lending—within the past four years following the Great Recession, as it has evolved into a robust business segment that continues to grow.”

Mahesh Pattabhiraman came on board as senior vice president and commercial banking head. Pattabhiraman comes to FirstBank from Apollo Bank where he held the positions of executive vice president, chief lending officer and senior vice president of commercial lending. At FirstBank Florida, he will be responsible for developing commercial banking relationships and the leadership and management of the bank's commercial banking department.

Yuleisy A. Montalvo joins as vice president and commercial banking officer. She previously served in the same position with Mercantil Commercebank. Jose Marrero joins as vice president of commercial real estate, responsible for commercial real estate lending. He worked for Ocean Bank for 16 years, most recently as senior vice president and relationship manager.

Iluminada Diaz joins as business relationship officer. He's responsible for commercial lending and growth of deposits and portfolio revenues and will be based out of the Doral branch. She previously served as a senior relationship manager with BankUnited. Raquel M. Riano joins as business relationship officer, responsible for commercial lending and growth of deposits and portfolio revenues and will be based out of the Brickell branch. She was previously assistant vice president and small business banker at Bank of America.

The commercial banking team additions come on the heels of other important announcements from FirstBank Florida, including the opening of its Brickell branch, the Platinum Banking Division as its newest concierge-style service offering, and the bolstering of its Residential Lending Department with Gonzalo Chaves and Felipe S. Tolomelli joining as Residential Business Officers serving the Brickell and Broward markets, respectively.

Read about one commercial banking executive that hit rock bottom.