Tom MacManus, a 30-year industry veteran, has been appointed as president and COO of Boca Raton, Florida-
[IMAGE]based ARA Finance, a joint venture of ""Apartment Realty Advisors"":http://www.arausa.com/ (ARA) and ""CWCapital, LLC."":http://www.cwcapital.com/Home/Welcome.aspx He will be responsible for the strategic development of the venture's national multifamily lending platform, which provides service through ARA's 19 offices located across the country.
Formed in 2009 to provide a full range of mortgage finance services to ARA clients, ARA Finance combines the strengths of ARA's national multifamily investment sales platform with CWCapital's national multifamily lending platform. MacManus will play an integral role in expanding lending relationships and sources beyond the venture's current Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Federal Housing Administration platform.
""This is a tremendous opportunity to grow this venture from its infancy stage into a highly-successful, respected
[COLUMN_BREAK]and mature platform backed by two highly-accomplished multifamily companies,"" MacManus said. ""Both ARA and CW are very well regarded in the industry and share an unwavering commitment to excellence in servicing their clients. I fully embrace this client-focused culture and will work to foster it within ARA Finance.""
MacManus previously served as EVP and head of Cuschman & Wakefield's debt and equity finance practice. In addition, he served in a leadership role in the firm's acquisition of Sonnenblick Goldman in July of 2007 and was subsequently appointed chairman and CEO of Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman -- the New York-based investment banking group.
Prior to his positions at Cushman & Wakefield, MacManus held various senior leadership positions during his nine-year career with GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp. (GMACCM). From 2003 through 2006, MacManus served as president of GMACCM and CEO of its North American operations, where he managed seven lending platforms and a mortgage banking group with a $10 billion balance sheet and $22 billion in annual originations. These businesses provided customized solutions for the entire capital stack on virtually all asset classes of commercial real estate.
""We are very pleased to have someone of Tom's caliber leading ARA Finance,"" said Marc deBaptiste, ARA founding principal and ARA Finance Management committee member. ""He's a results-driven leader who will excel at taking this platform to the next level in terms of lending and lending sources.""