Dekel Capital has launched Dekel Correspondent Lending (DCL), which on behalf of capital providers including a global asset manager and large European bank, will originate balance sheet and CMBS loans for the acquisition, refinancing and recapitalization of commercial real estate assets including build-to-rent and single family rentals. Real estate finance veteran Vishal Vanjani joins the firm as Managing Director to lead the new initiative along with Ben Markiles who joins the firm as Associate, announced Dekel Capital Principal and Founder Shlomi Ronen.
DCL adds to the Los Angeles-based real estate merchant bank’s suite of services that provide real estate investors and owners with financial solutions across the entire capital stack including permanent loans, B-notes, mezzanine financing, preferred equity and joint venture equity.
“Vishal and Ben bring to Dekel a variety of special lender relationships that most borrowers and brokers don’t have access to,” said Ronen. “We expect to originate approximately $500 million through our DCL platform and combined with our debt advisory and JV equity services, we will help our clients manage the current crisis, take advantage of the market dislocation and prepare for the future.”
“Unlike other correspondent programs that are generally focused on ‘in-the-box’ financing, we will be able to originate in-house a variety of non-recourse loans with short-term, floating-rate and long-term, fixed rate capital,” added Vanjani. “Our partners are looking to us to bring them opportunities with strong underlying dynamics in need of intelligent and patient capital. Being part of Dekel allows us to do that. Working with Shlomi and his team, we will be able to structure financing for the most complex transactions.”
Vanjani and Markiles come to Dekel from CION Investments, where they ran the alternative investment manager’s real estate capital markets program.
Vanjani has originated more than $15 billion over the course of his 28-year career in real estate finance, most notably running West Coast operations for Natixis and Pacific Western Bank (formerly CapitalSource). Prior to CION, he was President of Greenbridge Finance, the financing arm of Greenbridge Management. Vishal earned a B. S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Real Estate Finance from the University of Southern California where he continues to serve as a board member of and an active participant in the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
Markiles began his career at Deutsche Bank originating CMBS and bridge debt out of the firm’s Los Angeles office. He later joined LoanCore Capital in its San Francisco office assisting in the origination of real estate debt across the United States. A graduate of Tufts University with a B.S. in Quantitative Economics, Markiles has originated approximately $2 billion over the course of his career.