CHICAGO, IL- Oak Grove Capital has announced the hiring of Ryan Cahalan as vice president, and given him the mission to expand the Minnesota-based mortgage lender's operations in the Chicago area.
“There was a lack of a conventional lending presence here in Chicago,” says Cahalan, who expects to “focus on market-rate apartment housing.” Oak Grove has an $8 billion commercial real estate loan portfolio with properties across the country and arranges Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA financing, among other options, for multifamily apartment complexes, both affordable and market-rate, seniors housing and healthcare facilities. They already had an office in the Chicago area staffed by Bill Kauffman that handled seniors housing.
Cahalan says he will also work to deepen the firm's involvement throughout the Midwest, and having a base in Chicago will help. “Chicago's airport provides added coverage to secondary markets in the central part of the Midwest. Take a one-hour plane flight and you can cover a lot of ground.”
“There's also a long list of players in Chicago,” he adds, more than in Minnesota, including major multifamily development owners, and letting them know about Oak Grove will form the backbone of the firm's expansion plans.
He also plans to give the personal touch to owners of smaller buildings who might wonder whether they should take the plunge and take advantage of the historically-low interest rates. “My sense is that small and even medium-sized owners tend not to see Freddie and Fannie as an option” when they go hunting for financing. “I can educate them on the GSE lending programs.”
Cahalan has experience in both financing and acquisitions. Prior to joining Oak Grove, he was vice president of acquisitions for Chicago-based Levin Realty Advisors, LLC, where he oversaw the acquisition of about 5,600 units of multifamily housing located throughout the country.
He does not yet, however, have a strictly numeric goal for the firm's expansion here. “My goal is to expand the name brand of Oak Grove in the Chicago market.”
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
