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IRVINE, CA-Johnson Capital Express, a division of JohnsonCapital that targets the market for financings under $5 million, isexpanding its operations nationwide in response to its growth inWestern US markets and what it calls "interest from borrowersacross the country." The Johnson Capital Express division, whichclosed $4 billion in transactions last year, processes and sellscommercial real estate loans for retail, industrial, office,multifamily, self-storage, hospitality and mobile home parkproperties.

Headed by Ken Gaitan, Johnson Capital Express has been seeing "atremendous amount of demand in the office, multifamily and retailsectors" for a wide range of financings between $1 million and $5million, Gaitan says. He notes that the Capital Express platformhas already built a strong portfolio in the West, especially inCalifornia.