NEW YORK CITY— ORIX Real Estate Capital, a commercial real estate services platform, is planning to expand its multifamily banking business with an eye toward the affordable housing sector. The move is part of ORIX's one-to-five-year plan as the company works toward uniformity with its new acquisition of Hunt Real Estate Capital.

The firm has been focused on the multifamily lending market due to the sector's steady growth. But the demand for affordable housing has prompted ORIX into allocating resources to identifying opportunities to lend on affordable housing nationally, impartial to geographic location, James Flynn, the CEO of ORIX Real Estate Capital, tells GlobeSt.com.

"We certainly believe the continued shortage in affordable and workforce housing in rental and home markets is a trend that will not exacerbate anytime soon," he says.

First time home buyers or any buyer, are finding it difficult to purchase a home at affordable costs. For this reason, Millennials are living at home with their parents for much longer. Also, aging baby boomers are moving into rental communities, which has driven demand up. In general, the demand for housing has skyrocketed as many look to secure shelter that does not bite into their costs of living, according to Flynn.

With the gap between the limited supply and the great demand for affordable and workforce housing growing wider, the firm is working to identify opportunities to provide financing to well-credited borrowers. ORIX will be strict on that latter point in the near term and long term as chatter in the commercial real estate industry centers on the possibility of an economic slowdown, Flynn added.

ORIX is not partial to any geographic market for multifamily lending; with its new acquisition of Hunt Real Estate Capital, it is looking to merge both platforms to capitalize on greater market share across the combined book of business where the targets align with it multifamily growth initiatives.

"You see tremendous growth and seeing growth continue [in mutlifamily]," he said. "Most important components are managing credit and risk appropriately to build a brand that incorporates the things we do across the entire organization and create a unified approach in the short term and thereafter."

Instant Insights /

ORIX Targets Affordable Housing for National Lending Opportunities

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