Ariel Property Advisors, a New York City brokerage that has long specialized in investment sales, is turning to lending as a new line of business.
According to a TRD ranking of the top investment sales firms in 2014, Ariel Property Advisors came in at No. 3 in the Bronx with $229 million in sales and No. 14 citywide with $528 million. Earlier this fall, the firm began a new division called Capital Services and hired Paul McCormick, formerly of Uniondale-based Arbor Commercial Mortgage, to oversee it.
The Capital Services team will broker financing deals for a wide range of properties: multifamily, commercial, retail and development sites. Ariel has a total of 40 employees in its Midtown East office.
The move is part of a growing trend of commercial brokerages looking to become one-stop shops. Ralph Herzka’s Meridian Capital Group and Simon Ziff’s Ackman-Ziff Real Estate, two of the top mortgage brokerages in the city, recently made a big push into investment sales.
In an example of an investment sales firm branching out into the mortgage world, Massey Knakal Realty Services, now part of Cushman & Wakefield, launched a new division in 2011.