Newmark Hires Two Multifamily Debt Experts in OC

Newmark expects to pile on the multifamily debt in Orange County.

The New York-based brokerage and services firm is expanding its debt advisory platform in Southern California with two new multifamily advisors at its Irvine office, the Commercial Observer reported.

Newmark hired Vincent Punzi and Lowell Takahashi as executive managing directors, with a focus on structured finance and debt placement for multifamily properties.

The new managing directors were recruited from Berkadia, where Punzi served as senior director of originations and Takahashi as vice president of originations since 2019.

Previous to their Berkadia stints, they both worked at Capital One, with Punzi serving as senior director of multifamily originations and Takahashi as vice president.

Both executives have nearly 40 years of combined experience on their resumes, according to Newmark.

Until 2014, Takahashi had worked at Berkeley Point Capital for 12 years, most recently as vice president. Berkeley Point was bought by Newmark in 2018, making Takahashi’s new role a homecoming of sorts, according to the Observer.

Last quarter, Newmark’s financials exceeded expectations, with revenues up 12 percent, largely from its capital markets business. The firm’s revenue from capital markets grew 18.5 percent in the third quarter, marking the fourth straight quarter of double-digit growth.

The CRE brokerage business has endured a brutal two years. Rising interest rates, employees’ slow return to workplaces and investors’ negative view on office properties turned off the once-steady flow of lease and sale deals that is the lifeblood of Newmark and its ilk.

In response, most big brokerages cut costs and watched their balance sheets — sometimes at the expense of the health of their business. But Newmark has bucked the trend, spending big, hoping the investment will pay off when business comes back.

— Dana Bartholomew