Construction Lending Guru's Twists and Turns

ATLANTA—As co-CEO of Trimont Real Estate Investors, rated by Standard & Poors as a commercial mortgage primary, special and construction loan servicer, Greg Winchester focuses on asset management, new business development, and strategic planning for the company. He has over 30 years of industry experience in many roles, from underwriting, to originations, to asset management.

During his career, Winchester has been involved in the portfolio management of over $200 billion of assets in nearly all property types and capital structures. Before joining Trimont, Winchester worked for the short-term lending subsidiary of Lomas Financial and the real estate department of the First National Bank of Atlanta. He also serves on the board of governors of CREFC and is a member of the Real Estate Roundtable.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Winchester, who has his finger on the pulse of construction lending, to get his story. The turning points in his career are inspiring for everyone in the field.

GlobeSt.com: How did you get your start in commercial real estate?

Winchester: After graduating from the University of North Carolina, I joined First National Bank of Atlanta as a management associate in 1979. While I was going through their training program, they allowed me to do a rotation through the commercial real estate finance department.

I've known ever since then that I wanted to focus on that area of finance. I always was attracted to commercial real estate finance because the deals were tied to real, tangible, visible property that created real economic and job growth for communities and real long-term wealth for the stakeholders involved.

GlobeSt.com: What have been some of the key turning points in your career?

Winchester: The first turning point for me came when I was given the opportunity to relocate to Dallas and join Lomas and Nettleton to help them grow their lending platform. It was there that I gained national experience, taking part in a wide variety of transactions and forming relationships with great industry professionals.

The second—and perhaps most significant, in retrospect—was when I joined Hatfield Philips in 1996. John Hatfield and Jim Philips were putting together a team that they envisioned growing into a world-class asset management and servicing company, and I was fortunate to be a part of that.

Finally, the most recent was when John and Jim gave my partners and me the opportunity to buy Hatfield Philips in 2003 and Trimont Real Estate Advisors was born. We've been able to take that great foundation and expand the company's client base in North America and Europe.