The Berkeley Point platform that NKF is adding to its third-ranked multifamily investment sales business was the number four non-bank multifamily originator in 2016, according to Real Capital Analytics, and the nation's fifth largest Freddie and Fannie multifamily lender last year. Berkeley Point's compound annual growth rate for originations between '14 and '16 was 34%, more than twice the CAGR of multifamily originations from all lenders during that time and surpassing the 27% CAGR in originations for the GSEs and FHA.

The company, founded in 1987 as Berkshire Mortgage Finance, has a servicing portfolio totaling more than $56 billion representing over 3,100 loans in 49 states and the District of Columbia. In a statement from BGC late last month, Gosin noted that the Bethesda, MD-based Berkeley Point generated approximately 30% of its revenues from “stable and recurring loan servicing fees, which come from mortgage servicing rights with an average duration of almost eight years. These servicing fees, alongside Newmark's existing property management, facilities management, advisory, consulting, and agency leasing businesses, mean that a significant amount of our revenues and earnings will be recurring and predictable.”

The acquisition also comes at a time when multifamily mortgage maturities are expected to increase by 12.7% year over year to $114.7 billion in fiscal 2017. Many of these loans will be refinanced with GSE and HUD products, according to an investor presentation from BGC.

Adding Berkeley Point will further strengthen an already robust platform at NKF, says Gosin. “The market was down last year, and we're up. We'll continue to hire talent on the mortgage broker and mortgage banker side of things, and we'll continue to build a servicing book, which is not only in the Fannie and Freddie space but also in the area of conventional loans.”

NEW YORK CITY—The synergy between multifamily capital solutions provider Berkeley Point Financial and Newmark Knight Frank's multifamily investment sales platform, ARA Newmark, became obvious “from the moment we bought ARA in 2014,” NKF CEO Barry Gosin tells GlobeSt.com. Since that acquisition, which occurred several months after Cantor Fitzgerald LP acquired Berkeley Point, “there was an enormous amount of referral, partnership and collaboration” between the two organizations, such as a $200-million-plus refinance that Berkeley Point and ARA Newmark closed on behalf of Steadfast Cos. in June 2016.

Now, with the $875-million acquisition of Berkeley Point by BGC Partners, the parent company of NKF, the two operations will be under one roof. Berkeley Point will become part of NKF when the deal closes later this year.

“Our goal is to be a one-stop solution for all aspects of commercial real estate,” says Gosin. “The Berkeley Point addition will increase the scale and scope of NKF, and it will increase the scale and scope of Berkeley Point.”

For clients, he says, the advantages will come from multiple directions: “the ability to understand what the underwriting is like on a purchase; the ability to provide seamless execution for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD or FHA products; the ability to provide the servicing for the loans. It's good for the client and good for the broker.”

The Berkeley Point platform that NKF is adding to its third-ranked multifamily investment sales business was the number four non-bank multifamily originator in 2016, according to Real Capital Analytics, and the nation's fifth largest Freddie and Fannie multifamily lender last year. Berkeley Point's compound annual growth rate for originations between '14 and '16 was 34%, more than twice the CAGR of multifamily originations from all lenders during that time and surpassing the 27% CAGR in originations for the GSEs and FHA.

The company, founded in 1987 as Berkshire Mortgage Finance, has a servicing portfolio totaling more than $56 billion representing over 3,100 loans in 49 states and the District of Columbia. In a statement from BGC late last month, Gosin noted that the Bethesda, MD-based Berkeley Point generated approximately 30% of its revenues from “stable and recurring loan servicing fees, which come from mortgage servicing rights with an average duration of almost eight years. These servicing fees, alongside Newmark's existing property management, facilities management, advisory, consulting, and agency leasing businesses, mean that a significant amount of our revenues and earnings will be recurring and predictable.”

The acquisition also comes at a time when multifamily mortgage maturities are expected to increase by 12.7% year over year to $114.7 billion in fiscal 2017. Many of these loans will be refinanced with GSE and HUD products, according to an investor presentation from BGC.

Adding Berkeley Point will further strengthen an already robust platform at NKF, says Gosin. “The market was down last year, and we're up. We'll continue to hire talent on the mortgage broker and mortgage banker side of things, and we'll continue to build a servicing book, which is not only in the Fannie and Freddie space but also in the area of conventional loans.”