Cantor Fitzgerald and CIM Group have formed a new real estate financing business Cantor Commercial Real Estate (CCRE) to originate competitively underwritten fixed- and floating-rate mortgages and mezzanine loans secured by diverse real estate assets.
The newly formed business will focus primarily in urban communities in major US markets, and will engage in securitizations of these loans.
Cantor Fitzgerald will provide management and capital with CIM Group will be serving as lead investor and co-general partner.
The CCRE management team will be led by Anthony Orso, executive managing director of Cantor Fitzgerald and CEO of CCRE.
Orso said, “By partnering with CIM, an outstanding investor, we are creating an entirely new investment banking model in the commercial mortgage business and are initially targeting annualized loan production of approximately $5bn.
“The fundamental quality of assets, credit quality of borrowers, and high standards in loan structures will be the hallmark of our transactions as we make loans and launch securitizations.”
Cantor Fitzgerald chairman and CEO Howard Lutnick said that they have put together one of the preeminent real estate financing teams in the business.
“And with our partner, we have created an exciting new platform in the CMBS origination and structuring business, something that was traditionally kept in-house by Wall Street,” Lutnick said.