CLEVELAND—Officials from Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, LLC, a subsidiary of Enterprise Community Investment, Inc., say they have just completed their merger with Towle Financial Services, a mortgage banking firm located in Minneapolis and Detroit.
As reported in GlobeSt.com, the merger adds about $400 million in annual loan volume and $1.4 billion in servicing, and brings Bellwether's total annual loan volume to an estimated $2.5 billion and $8 billion in servicing. Ned Huffman, Bellwether's president, told GlobeSt.com that “the goal within two or three years is to get to $3.5 to $4.0 billion a year” in loan volume and establish a true national presence with personnel handling affordable and market-rate business in every region. The Cleveland-based company has been expanding across the country in recent months, opening up a Western Regional office in California and another office in Boston.
“The merger with Towle is the latest example of Bellwether Enterprise's commitment to strategic expansion across the country,” Huffman added. “We are well on our way to becoming the best and the most respected mortgage banking company throughout the country.”
In addition to increasing its national reach, Bellwether Enterprise has also recently landed some big deals. The City of Cleveland, for example, just approved plans to develop over 20 acres of lakefront property near its central business district, a project which will help transform part of the city's lakefront from an industrial area into a place where people live and play. Bellwether Enterprise will provide loan origination and financing strategy for the $700 million project, which will put more than 1,000 apartments on Lake Erie.
As part of this merger, Towle executives will receive equity stake in Bellwether, and the 11 employees will remain with the company. Towle will gradually take on the Bellwether Enterprise name. The integration will take place over several months.
“Towle's solid reputation, long-standing relationships and top notch talent made the merger an easy decision,” said Huffman. “Towle and Bellwether Enterprise share similar company cultures. Both are rooted in the Midwest, provide boutique style service, have overlapping connections with lenders and offer similar servicing platforms.”
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.
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.
