Harbor Group International, LLC, a privately owned international real estate investment and management firm, today announced the appointment of Laura de Graaf as Senior Vice President, Director of Senior Loan Transactions. In this newly created role, de Graaf will lead oversight and transaction management of HGI's whole loan bridge lending platform. She is based in HGI's Norfolk, Va. office.
De Graaf brings more than three decades of experience to her role at HGI. Prior to joining the firm, she spent 32 years at Bank of America, serving as Senior Vice President of the Mid-Atlantic Commercial Real Estate Banking Group, where she was responsible for the ongoing monitoring and management of a commercial real estate credit portfolio and for leading new credit originations. She began her career at the City of Virginia Beach Real Estate Tax Assessor's Office, analyzing market sales data and valuing single family residential homes.
"As HGI continues to grow our whole loan platform, Laura's industry knowledge will play an integral role in the expansion of our business," said Richard Litton, President, HGI. "Her extensive background, combined with HGI's understanding of the U.S. multifamily market, will help us further establish our presence in the whole loan bridge lending space. We welcome her to the team."
In January 2021, HGI announced it had launched a multifamily whole loan platform in response to the market impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the platform, HGI provides senior mortgage bridge financing on value-add and new construction multifamily assets throughout the United States. The firm has been originating and closing loans since Summer 2020.
"I am excited to join HGI and work with the team as they continue to expand their whole loan platform," said de Graaf. "The firm is solving an important industry need with its bridge lending division and I look forward to leveraging my experience in real estate financing to generate new opportunities for HGI's investors."
About Harbor Group International
Harbor Group International, LLC, including its affiliates, is a private real estate and real estate related investment and management firm which controls a portfolio of worldwide assets valued at $12.7 billion. HGI is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia with offices in New York, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv. The company's real estate holdings include 4.1 million square feet of commercial properties and 46,000 apartment units. For additional information, please visit www.harborgroupint.com.
