Commercial real estate lender Walker & Dunlop has added three originators to a conduit and high-yield lending joint venture with Fortress Investment Group.
Geoff Smith has joined as managing director and head of origination for the conduit platform, Walker & Dunlop Commercial Property Funding. He was formerly the head of origination and distribution for Hudson Realty Capital, a real estate debt fund manager based in New York. Smith is based out of Walker & Dunlop's New York office.
Paul Jankovsky has joined the team as senior vice president based out of Walker & Dunlop's Dallas office. Prior to joining the company, he was executive vice president of investment strategies at BH Capital. Previously, he was a regional manager and senior originator with the CMBS groups of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch.
Kimberly Riordan has joined the group as vice president based out of Walker & Dunlop's New York office. Riordan was formerly vice president at Rockwood Real Estate Advisors, where she specialized in real estate debt and equity underwriting, portfolio and asset management, property dispositions.
All three are responsible for originating commercial financing opportunities for clients nationwide.
Walker & Dunlop launched its commercial mortgage-backed securities joint venture this February and it recently contributed its first $58 million of collateral, including multifamily and retail loans, for an upcoming securitization with Wells Fargo. The company is on track to contribute $200 million in collateral to future securitizations by the end of the year.
