BHI announced that its Commercial Real Estate Group is continuing to expand its team and breadth of products. As part of its growth, BHI has appointed two new executives to its CRE team. David Jeddah has joined the bank as Vice President and Relationship Manager, and Benjamin Azizi, as Vice President and Relationship Manager.

“In 2022, we are targeting an enhanced emphasis and strategic focus on multifamily projects, building on our robust activity in the sector last year. BHI already finances large projects in key locations and we plan to continue our growth and momentum going forward,” said Doug Rutley, BHI Senior Vice President and Head of Real Estate.   

“We welcome David and Ben to the CRE team.  Both of these professionals bring industry, credit, and sponsor knowledge to BHI and we look forward to growing the client base and loan portfolio together,” commented Steven Caligor, Executive Vice President, and Division Executive for CRE and Healthcare.

Jeddah will support Ilana Druyan, First Vice President who oversees International CRE. He will cover existing clients as well as building his own portfolio. Jeddah joined BHI from BankUnited NA, where he most recently served as CRE Relationship Manager. Previously, he was a Senior Commercial Credit Analyst at Capital One Financial Corporation. Jeddah earned a BA in economics from Stony Brook University.

Azizi will primarily focus on building BHI’s growing multifamily platform and will be responsible for loan origination, relationship management and business development. He served eight years at JP Morgan Chase, most recently in the CRE division, where he originated multifamily loans and was involved in closing more than $800 million in transactions from 2020-2022. Azizi is a cum laude graduate of Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business with a BBA in Finance and Investments.

Recent BHI multifamily transactions include:

• $36 million construction financing provided to EPIRE for the development of 144 First Street, a new condominium with 84 high-end apartments in the Powerhouse Arts District of Jersey City, New Jersey.
• $33.15 million in acquisition and construction financing for 251 Front Street, a new luxury rental complex with 59 units under development by CW Realty Group in the Vinegar Hill section of Brooklyn
• $35 million bridge financing to replace the construction loan for the Stella, a 45-unit multifamily rental apartment building at 251 E. 2nd Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan.  BHI also provided the original construction financing for the project, developed by an affiliate of BLDG Management Group.