LOS ANGELES—GlobeSt.com has learned that real estate veteran Thomas Whitesell has recently opened the Los Angeles office for the Bank of the Ozarks. The EVP of west coast originations will be responsible for commercial real estate construction and bridge lending in the West Coast.
Whitesell tells GlobeSt.com that Bank of the Ozarks is a $4.8-billion bank headquartered in Little Rock, AR and focuses in the $10 million to $70 million deal size. Jason Baker, formerly with American Realty, Fremont Investment & Loan, iStar, WhiteHat and city national bank, joins Whitesell as VP.
Previously, Whitesell ran the high-yield debt investments at Lowe Enterprises Investors and was a founding principal of WhiteHat Capital—a private equity firm providing debt and equity placement, consulting and advisory services to financial institutions, investors, and borrowers.
Prior to co-founding WhiteHat, as GlobeSt.com reported, Whitesell was SVP of a Fremont Investment & Loan responsible for the direction and management of the origination's platform throughout the country. Under his leadership, he grew the originations platform from its inception into a leading construction lender in the US with more than $6 billion per year in business and consistently generating between 30% to 40% ROE for the bank.
Earlier in his career, Whitesell practiced law representing financial institutions in all aspects of real estate workouts and financings. He has more than 28 years of experience in commercial real estate finance, law and brokerage. A graduate of the University of Iowa Law School, Whitesell has practiced in Iowa and California.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
