LMF Commercial has ceased its business operations. According to industry sources and reporting by Commercial Observer, the commercial real estate lender informed its staff internally about the imminent end of activities. Immediately following the internal announcement, the financial institution began cutting specialist staff across several core locations in the United States.
The redundancies commenced on 21 October and affect the company's offices in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, as confirmed by several independent sources. Representatives of parent company Lennar declined to comment on the developments or the reasons for the closure upon inquiry.
Withdrawal of an established platform
LMF Commercial operated as a subsidiary of the US group Lennar and was active in the commercial real estate financing market. The platform was launched in 2013 by Brett Ersoff and other founding partners to provide financing for commercial properties and operate as a specialist lender in the US market.
The wind-down now initiated brings an end to the provider's more than decade-long presence in the commercial lending sector. As a result of the closure, several key markets are losing a long-standing address for commercial mortgage loans.
- —New York: Central location for transaction advisory on the East Coast
- —Miami: Key hub for activities in the south-eastern regional market
- —Los Angeles: Branch covering the West Coast
- —Las Vegas: Location for regional financing business in the South-west
Reorganisation within the Lennar group
Parent company Lennar is among the leading residential construction groups in the US, but had held LMF Commercial in its portfolio as an independent specialist lender for commercial properties. The exit from this segment marks a clear shift in the structure of the company's financing activities.
Detailed information on the future servicing of existing loan portfolios or the further fate of previously managed credit exposures has not yet been published. However, the closure highlights the ongoing consolidation among commercial real estate lenders in the affected markets.
