BankAtlantic Forms Venture for Commercial Mortgage Services

BOCA RATON, FL-BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc., the publicly traded holding company for BankAtlantic of Fort Lauderdale, FL, has formed a venture to provide securitized commercial mortgage services. The service will operate under the name BankAtlantic Commercial Mortgage Capital, based here, which will originate and securitize fixed-rate, non-recourse permanent loans for commercial real estate assets across the country.BankAtlantic Commercial Mortgage Capital, which will complement BankAtlantic’s commercial banking loan production, will offer existing bank customers an additional loan product and offer new customers a one-stop shop for construction, bridge and permanent financing. Michael Comparato, previously managing director of Westminster Capital Co. in Boca Raton, will run the new venture. The entire origination team has come from Westminster to the new affiliate.

BACMC will focus on CMBS/conduit loans in the $5-million to $50-million range, and plans to compete for loans from $2 million to $100 million. The affiliate also plans to compete for traditional commercial real estate asset classes, including office, industrial, multifamily, retail and self-storage facilities. The new venture is planning to have an average 45-day closing date from a loan application execution, according to Comparato.