Berkadia Hires Wrzosek on Affordable Housing Team
Berkadia Hires Wrzosek on Affordable Housing Team
Berkadia, New York, added Managing Director Robert Wrzosek to its Affordable Housing team.
Wrzosek joins Berkadia from Berkeley Point Capital, where he was charged with expanding its affordable housing, seniors, healthcare and FHA lending platforms. During his tenure, Berkeley Point went from unranked to a top 5 Fannie Mae affordable lender in 2016 and a top 20 FHA lender, as well as being issued a dedicated affordable housing lender license from Freddie Mac.
Prior to Berkeley Point Capital, Wrzosek served as President of Hunt Mortgage Group and Hunt Financial Services. He was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the GSE and mortgage banking businesses, leading Hunt through a significant phase of growth and expansion, including doubling Hunt Mortgage’s affordable production during his tenure.
Wrzosek spent nearly six years at Credit Suisse, where he was responsible for the establishment of the Walker & Dunlop joint venture by combining Credit Suisse’s GSE lending subsidiary, Column Guaranteed, and what was then known as Greenpark Financial. Wrzosek was a Walker & Dunlop Board Member through 2010 and assisted with its IPO. During his Credit Suisse tenure, he was also responsible for managing its private label tax exempt affordable housing securitization platform, as well as being responsible for the day-to-day operations of its LIHTC syndication platform from 2008-2010.
Wrzosek was also a partner with the law firm of Eichner & Norris PLLC, Washington D.C. His legal practice focused on structured finance and tax, with a specialization in the securitization of tax exempt securities and affordable housing finance.
NorthMarq Capital’s Chicago office adds Freddie Mac Senior Producer Brodsky
NorthMarq Capital announced Matthew Brodsky has joined its newly relocated and expanding Chicago office as vice president.
At NorthMarq, Brodsky will source debt and equity for the entire capital stack.
Brodsky spent six years at Freddie Mac, sourcing over $5.2 billion in multifamily transactions. In 2016, Brodsky was promoted to senior producer in the Freddie Mac Dallas Central Office, where he was responsible for overseeing annual originations in excess of $1.65 billion across the six Seller/Servicer accounts within the Central Region.
NorthMarq’s Chicago office recently completed its move within the same building at 111 South Wacker Drive, to Suite 3345 in Chicago.
Morrison & Foerster Hires Blaivas
Law firm Morrison & Foerster hired Jay Blaivas, most recently with The Blackstone Group as a tax partner. He will provide key support to the real estate investment trust, fund formation, real estate and private equity practices.
Blaivas’ experience includes all aspects of the formation, operation, and continuing compliance of mortgage REITs, equity REITs and UpREITs; efficiently structuring real estate equity and debt funds for U.S., non-U.S., tax-exempt, and foreign sovereign investors; structuring funds in a tax-efficient manner, including with respect to real estate acquisitions and dispositions, debt originations and acquisitions, and mortgage securitizations; and partnership and joint venture transactions, agreements, allocations, and related tax issues.
At Blackstone, Blaivas oversaw all tax-related aspects of the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies business including its draw-down funds, hedge funds and non-traded regulated investment companies, which has originated and acquired over $30 billion in loans since inception. He also managed all tax-related aspects of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, a publicly traded real estate investment trust with $11 billion of real estate debt assets under management.
