RELA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Young Members Committee
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- Member of the Sponsorship Committee
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- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
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- Managing Director in CIT Capital
Andrew Huggett is a Managing Director in CIT Capital Markets. Prior to this, he held roles at Capital One and Eurohypo where he worked in various aspects of commercial real estate including credit, underwriting, and syndications. He started his career as an analyst at Fleet Bank in commercial real estate underwriting following his completion of the Credit & Capital Markets Training Program. Over the years he served on various subcommittees for the New York RELA chapter including Sponsorship and Membership. He is also a member of the Risk Management Association. Andrew holds a Certificate in Real Estate from Boston University, a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Tufts University, and a MBA in Finance from NYU Stern.
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- Senior Vice President for Santander Bank
Ben Flanders is the Senior Vice President for Santander Bank and is responsible for sourcing, structuring, and managing the direct loan portfolio across all asset classes and loan types to meet Santander's debt parameters. A native to the Boston metro, Ben obtained a B.A. degree in Economics from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst before moving to New York City in 2006 where he worked in the CRE Lending group at Anglo Irish Bank. Mr. Flanders joined Santander Bank's NYC office in 2010 while also becoming an active RELA member including Chair of the Special Events Committee for two years.
In 2015, Ben moved to Miami to spearhead the opening of Santander's CRE Florida office which has grown to a portfolio of approximately $1 Billion of loan commitments. Ben was also a co-founder of the RELA South Florida chapter in 2018 and served as their initial Chapter President.
Job Titles:
- Real Estate Banking Executive
Ben Stacks is a seasoned real estate banking executive with more than 20 years of experience building profitable real estate banking relationships in the national and Greater New York sectors.
In Ben's previous role as Market Manager for Greater New York Commercial Real Estate at Capital One Bank, he was responsible for managing a team of Relationship Managers charged with all aspects of client management including lending on real estate and cross selling a variety of banking services. Ben oversaw a portfolio of loans of approximately $7 billion across diverse asset classes including office, retail and residential properties and a variety of loan types including permanent, construction, reposition/renovation and mini-permanent. He also managed the commercial real estate deposit business. Ben had been with Capital One for over five years.
Ben started his career at M&T Bank where he was a Relationship Manager and Team Leader focused on Manhattan-based real estate customers for nearly 10 years.
Following that, Ben worked for five years at HSBC Bank, USA as a Relationship Manager and Team Leader. During his tenure there, he not only focused on Manhattan-based clients, but assisted the bank in developing a more national platform by lending to developers across the country.
Most recently, Ben spent two years in the New York City office of Eurohypo, a Germany-based global real estate investment bank. As an Executive Director and Team Leader there, he specialized in developing and deepening commercial real estate lending relationships with top-tier sponsors nation-wide.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Membership & Communications Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
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- Member of the Officers Team
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- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
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- Vice Chairman / Raymond James Bank, N.a.
Doug Marron is a 30-year veteran of the real estate industry with 25-years of lending experience. He is currently a Senior Vice President in Real Estate and Head of the New York Office for Raymond James Bank, a Florida-based institution specialized in the syndicated loan market and direct lending to HNW clients of the financial advisory network. Doug has been with Raymond James for 10 years. Previously, he was a Senior Vice President at both Allied Irish Banks (2004 to 2011) and Santander Bank (2011 to 2012). At each institution he worked on a combination of syndicated loans and direct originations. His banking career commenced in 1998 at BHF Bank, subsequently re-branded as PB Capital upon its acquisition by Deutsche Post Bank. Prior to banking, Doug worked as both a Portfolio Analyst at Schroder Real Estate Associates in NYC and as an appraiser at Real Estate Research Corporation in Washington, DC. Doug holds a BA in Economics / Geography from the University of Maryland and an MBA in Real Estate from American University. He has been an active member of RELA for several years and served on both the National and NY Chapter's boards - assisting on the Sponsorship, Programming and Educational Committees. He is also an active member of GREG / Gay Real Estate Group, for which he's assembled various panels. Doug resides in NYC with his partner.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
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- Chapter Liaison Officer
- Senior Managing Director at SVB Private
Emily Boynton Rush is a Senior Managing Director at SVB Private. Emily oversees the Commercial Real Estate group with a national portfolio of $3Bn, with a focus on Professional Owners, Operators and Developers. Emily works closely with SVB's Global Fund Banking business and Private Wealth business to deliver a breadth of solutions to the firm's multi-faceted clients.
Emily represents the Private Lending team on SVB's Boston Roundtable, which is comprised of local leaders in SVB's Boston office focused on meeting the needs of colleagues and to support SVB's mission within our local community. Based in Boston, Emily joined the bank in July of 2019 after 13 years with Bank of America.
Emily is an active member of Boston's real estate community, currently serving as the Treasurer for ULI's Boston District Council, and is on the National Board of RELA, previously leading the Boston Chapter as President.
In addition, Emily earned a dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Management from Brown University. She resides in her hometown of Concord, MA where she lives with her husband and three sons. Emily supports her local community through ongoing volunteerism, and coaching youth sports.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Sponsorship Committee
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- Treasurer
- Executive Director, Head of U.S. Real Estate Finance at BayernLB
Helga Blum is Executive Director, Head of U.S. Real Estate Finance at BayernLB, New York. Prior to her role at BayernLB, Helga was a Managing Director and Client Executive in BNY Mellon's Global Client Management/Real Estate Division, managing a client base of public REITs and REOCs active in the multi-family, retail, office, industrial and health care sectors. Helga held various positions in Real Estate Originations and Credit Risk Management at the New York offices of Eurohypo AG, a subsidiary of Commerzbank AG; Hypo Real Estate Capital and its predecessor HypoVereinsbank AG; and Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen (Helaba). Ms. Blum grew up in Austria where she earned a baccalaureate diploma from the Academy of Trade and Commerce in Salzburg specializing in accounting and finance, and a bachelor's degree in Spanish Translation from the University of Graz, Austria. She completed Manufacturers Hanover Trust's Credit Training Program, and holds a FINRA Series 7 license. She speaks English, German, Spanish and French.
Helga Blum is a long-standing member of RELA. She served as Treasurer of the New York City Chapter from 2009 to 2011, as National Treasurer on RELA's Board of Directors from 2011 to 2015, Vice Chairwoman from 2015 to 2018, and currently once again serves as National Treasurer.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
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- Member of the Events Committee
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- Member of the Membership & Communications Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
John Gunther-Mohr is a real estate finance professional with a career focused on construction financing. He has worked for several European banks and built real estate finance businesses as the General Manager for Allgemeine Hypothekenbank Rheinboden, a Frankfurt based mortgage bank. He was also Head of Real Estate Finance at the Bank of Scotland, where he developed a national lending practice. He is currently a Senior Vice President at Santander Bank leading a team focused on the New York and Washington, DC markets.
He currently serves as Board Chair of Jazz Forum Arts, a Westchester, NY based non-profit that produces free or low cost jazz music events and will be starting a jazz club in Tarrytown, NY. He is holds a Masters of Public Administration from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Young Members Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Young Members Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Sponsorship Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Events Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Young Members Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
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- Member of the Membership & Communications Committee
- Credit
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- Member of the Officers Team
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- Member of the Officers Team
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- Managing Director and Head of Originations for Institutional Real Estate
Mauricio Duran is a Managing Director and Head of Originations for Institutional Real Estate. Mr. Duran joined CIBC in August 2018 as part of the Institutional Real Estate Syndication team and later transitioned into Head of Originations & Syndications in September 2020. Today, Mr. Duran's responsibilities include loan originations, loan structuring, and loan distribution for CIBC balance sheet loans. Prior to joining CIBC, Mr. Duran was a Director in the Real Estate Capital Markets Group of Bank of America. Before joining Bank of America in 2015, Mr. Duran had various roles within commercial real estate lending groups at TD Bank, LaSalle Bank, Eurohypo AG, and Fleet Bank. Mr. Duran holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Bentley College and a master's in business administration from Boston University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Membership & Communications Committee
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- Member of the Officers Team
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- Adjunct Associate Professor at the NYU Schack Real Estate Institute
- New York Real Estate
- President of New York Real Estate TV
Michael Stoler is the President of New York Real Estate TV, LLC and management consulting and a Managing Director at Madison Realty Capital, a private equity firm.
Mr. Stoler is the host and executive producer of "The Stoler Report-New York's Business Report", now in its fifteen season. He is also the host of "Building New York-New York Life Stories", which is in its eleventh season. Both broadcasts are produced and distributed by CUNY TV, owned and operated by the City University of New York. These shows are on more than fifteen university, educational, community and public access television stations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
Prior to joining Madison in 2009, Mr. Stoler was a senior principal at Apollo Real Estate Advisors and SVP and First American Title Insurance Company. His consulting clients have included leading financial institutions, public and private companies, Taft Hartley Unions and Health Funds, and health care organizations and professionals.
Michael serves as the real estate commentator at 1010 WINS, and the Michael Stoler Real Estate Report airs on the weekends.
Mr. Stoler is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the NYU Schack Real Estate Institute and is a member of the Board of Advisors of The Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute of Baruch College, and a member of the Advisory Board of the William Newman Department of Real Estate of Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business of the City University.
Michael is a contributor to a number of real estate and business publications and served as the Contributing Editor and real estate columnist to "New York Sun".
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Membership & Communications Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Young Members Committee
Richard Grani has been a commercial real estate lender for 25 years, primarily focusing on the New York Metropolitan area. Richard is currently a First Vice President at Valley Bank where he is the commercial real estate team lead for the Westchester office. Prior to joining Valley in 2018, Richard worked at East West Bank (5 years) and Bank of Scotland (16 years), where he ran the Southeast Regional office out of Miami. He has been involved with the RELA NY Chapter since 2011, most recently acting as Treasury co-chair.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Events Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Programming Committee
- Member of Programming Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Events Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Sponsorship Committee