Wireless Capital Forms CRE Lender

Wireless Capital Partners, Santa Monica, Calif., a company that provides real estate services for cellular real estate landlords, has formed WCP Commercial Lending, a company that will make loans to commercial real estate properties with a cellular lease income component.Properties that the lender will target include multifamily housing, offices, light industrial, retail, mobile home parks, and churches, WCP said. "We have long recognized that most lenders either ignore cellular lease income entirely or severely discount it, so we started offering loan products to this underserved segment of real estate owners," said Brad Knyal, chief executive officer and president of WCP. Brian Weiner, who has been named director of commercial lending, told MortgageWire that WCP sees an opportunity to provide hybrid solutions for cell tower owners. The company said it plans to make loans of up to $20 million and will initially broker the loans to other financial institutions. Ultimately, the company, which has a pipeline of about $60 million worth of loans, plans to securitize the loans.