WoI Speaker: "Lending Is an Art, Not Science"

Karen Case

➤➤ Join the GlobeSt.com Women of Influence 2019 conference July 10^th and 11^th in Broomfield, CO, which celebrates the women who drive the commercial real estate industry forward. The event will address the critical role of women in the CRE business. Click here to register and view the agenda.

Chicago, IL—One of the speakers at this week’s Women of Influence conference is Karen Case, executive managing director and president of Commercial Real Estate for CIBC’s US Region. As part of her job, she oversees the groups that develop and manage real estate finance and banking relationships with commercial real estate developers, investors, owners and operators across the country. Case previously was president of Commercial Real Estate for the PrivateBank, which was acquired by CIBC in June 2017.

“I have been a real estate banker for 40 years. Despite its quantitative component, the lending practice is an art, not a science,” she tells GlobeSt.com. “Striking a balance between borrower and bank—maintaining high credit quality standards while meeting a developer’s expectations—has required the building of a number of skills, from negotiating to hand-holding, and knowing when each is appropriate,” she says.

With so many years in this business, Case says she has seen transactions of every size and shape, dealt with people good and bad, and has been through numerous real estate ups and downs. “Having the ability to read people and to understand their intentions has been a critical skill,” she says.