Bellwether Expands Aff. Housing Group

CLEVELAND—Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital LLC is in the midst of a major national expansion, and just has expanded its affordable housing group to include four new members. The Cleveland-based commercial and multifamily mortgage banking subsidiary of Enterprise Community Investment Inc. leverages its national lending platform to provide resources to affordable, multifamily clients across the US.

Its affordable housing group now includes the four new senior vice presidents: Suzie Cope, Jim Gillespie, Cindy Hannon and Jon Killough, all veterans in the affordable multifamily industry. Company officials say that as a subsidiary of Enterprise, a national organization that creates, preserves and advocates for affordable homes, Bellwether Enterprise is the country's only mission-driven mortgage banking company that increases access to affordable housing for low-and moderate income people.

“We are thrilled to welcome Suzie, Jim, Cindy and Jon to the team and look forward to drawing on their deep expertise in the affordable housing space,” says Phil Melton, executive vice president of Bellwether Enterprise and head of the affordable housing group. “Bellwether has consistently grown its affordable business in recent years and its establishment of the dedicated affordable housing group, paired with the group's quick expansion, demonstrates the firm's strong commitment to affordable housing and making a positive impact in the communities in which it works.”

As reported in GlobeSt.com, Bellwether has big plans to expand throughout the US. It recently entered into a merger agreement with Towle Financial Services, a mortgage banking firm in Minneapolis and Detroit. Ned Huffman, Bellwether's president, told GlobeSt.com that he wants Bellwether Enterprise to have a true national presence, with personnel handling affordable and market-rate business in every region. In 2014, he said the company had a total annual loan volume of about $2.4 billion with a goal of reaching $3.5 to $4.0 billion in two or three years.

Furthermore, also in 2014 it opened up a Western Regional office in California and another office in Boston.

Bellwether Enterprise was formed in 2012 when Columbia, MD-based Enterprise Community Investment Inc., a provider of low-to-moderate income mortgage products, merged with Bellwether, which focused on market-rate real estate, and Huffman said such a partnership made perfect sense for a company looking to expand.

“There are a lot of market-rate apartment developers that are active in affordable housing and vice-versa,” said Huffman, and Bellwether Enterprise can handle both sides of their business. “When a customer comes to us, we like to be able to provide full services.”

“The fact that Enterprise is a mission-based organization also provides a great deal of comfort,” he added, “since that means they have a solid long-term business plan focused on generating earnings through cash flow.”