Latest news with #BobFoley
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The CRE Finance Council Names Leland Bunch as Chair of Executive Committee
CREFC Welcomes New Members to its Executive Committee and Board of Governors at Annual June Conference NEW YORK, June 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) announced today the selection of Leland F. Bunch III, Managing Director at Bank of America, as the Chair of the CREFC Executive Committee and the Board of Governors for 2025-2026 at its Annual Conference in New York City. Mr. Bunch, a 25-year veteran of the commercial real estate finance industry, has been actively involved in CREFC as a member for 20 years. He succeeds outgoing Chair Bob Foley, Partner at TPG Real Estate and Chief Financial Officer of TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc. Mr. Bunch is a Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets and Banking for the US RESF group. He joined Bank of America 17 years ago and oversees commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) structuring, securitization, large loan execution, and warehouse finance. Mr. Bunch also has been responsible for more than $30 billion of large loan CMBS 2.0/3.0 originations and is the GSE relationship manager. Before joining the Bank, Mr. Bunch was the Head of European CMBS at UBS, and he started his Wall Street career with JPMorgan in New York while finishing in London. "CREFC is an important voice for a wide range of members it serves – lenders, issuers, loan servicers, investors, rating agencies, and other commercial real estate market participants - in a $6 trillion industry that plays a key role in the nation's economy," said Mr. Bunch. "For three decades, CREFC has worked to ensure the commercial real estate market is efficient, liquid, transparent, and continues to grow. I look forward to serving as CREFC Chair in the coming year and continuing to support the work and priorities promoted by Bob Foley and Lisa Pendergast, CREFC's CEO." "On behalf of CREFC, I'd like to congratulate Leland Bunch on being selected to lead the Executive Committee and Chair our Board of Governors. As an established CREFC member and seasoned CRE professional, he will help us articulate and address the industry's needs," said Lisa Pendergast, President and CEO of CREFC. "I would be remiss if I also didn't thank Bob Foley for his time, effort, and dedication over the last year as chair. We are grateful for his leadership and commitment and look forward to his continued service as past chair." In addition to Mr. Foley's transition, CREFC also announced members of its 2025-2026 Executive Committee: Chair-Elect: Lissette Rivera-Pauley (Regions Financial Corp.) Immediate Past Chair: Bob Foley (TPG Real Estate and TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc.) Vice Chair: Elaine McKay (Ares Management LLC) Secretary: Kim Diamond (NYU) Treasurer: Adam Behlman (Starwood Property Trust) Long Range Planning & Investment Committee Chair: Daniel Olsen (KeyBank Real Estate Capital) Membership Chair: Toby Cobb (3650 Capital) Policy Committee Chair: Rick Jones (Jackstay Ventures) Program Committee Chair: Mary Jane Potthoff (Morningstar DBRS) The association also welcomes and congratulates new members to its Board of Governors, including: Nitin Bhasin (KBRA) Josh Cromer (Rialto Capital Advisors) Marshall Glick (AllianceBernstein) David Harrison (Midland Loan Services) Adam Hayden (NY Life Real Estate Investors) Spencer Kagan (Barclays) Sean Ryan (JLL) AJ Sfarra (Wells Fargo) Lindsey Wright (KKR) "We want to welcome the newest members of the Executive Committee and our Board of Governors. We look forward to collaborating with you on key issues that have the greatest significance and directly impact our industry and its members," added Pendergast. About CREFCThe CRE Finance Council (CREFC) is the trade association for the $6 trillion commercial real estate finance industry, with a membership that includes approximately 400 companies and 19,000 individuals. Member firms include balance sheet and securitized lenders, loan and bond investors, private equity firms, servicers, rating agencies, and borrowers. For more than 30 years, CREFC has promoted liquidity, transparency, and efficiency in the commercial real estate finance markets, and functioned as a legislative and regulatory advocate for the industry, playing a vital role in setting market standards and best practices and providing education for market participants. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE CRE Finance Council
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Are taller seawalls the answer to rising seas and storm surge?
Feb. 24—In response to last year's winter storms, Maine allowed coastal landowners to rebuild docks, wharves, and piers higher to prepare for future storms and sea level rise. Now a Wells lawmaker wants state regulators to allow the state to permit higher seawalls, too. Rep. Bob Foley, R-Wells, wants landowners or municipalities to be able to raise seawalls by up to 2 feet, even if they are located in one of Maine's protected coastal sand dune systems, to safeguard buildings and public infrastructure from rising seas and storms. "During last year's storms, waves simply rolled over the tops of sea walls, damaging the property behind them while washing hundreds of cubic yards of sand, rocks and debris off the beaches and into the properties and the roadways," Foley told a legislative committee Monday. Seawalls protect private homes and public infrastructure — Wells spent $200,000 last year fixing Webhennet Road three times — as well as municipal tax revenue, Foley said. Seawall-protected land in Wells is assessed at $970 million, bringing in an estimated $5 million in local taxes. Maine's 3,500-mile shoreline is being reshaped by rising seas and storm surge. Sea levels are rising faster than ever before, with record-high sea levels measured along the coast in 2023 and 2024. Maine Climate Council projects at least 1.5 feet of sea level rise by 2050 and 4 feet by 2100. But opponents argue that seawalls meant to keep out rising waters can cause sediment erosion at their base, deflect water and damage neighboring properties, the sand dune system that provides natural flood protection and wildlife habitat, and the state's 35 miles of sandy beaches. The state only allows a rebuilt seawall to be larger than the original if it is less damaging to nearby sand dunes, wildlife habitat and neighbors, said Rob Wood, director of DEP's Bureau of Land Resources. That generally means it must be built further inland to open up additional beach area. Foley argued the limited erosion occurring at the base of existing seawalls won't be increased by adding 2 feet to their height. Some property owners do not have the option of moving a seawall inland because they are sandwiched between the shore and a property line or road. The DEP and several environmental groups testified against LD 228 at a Monday hearing of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee. They urged coastal landowners to raise buildings or sand dunes rather than seawalls that cause beach erosion. Wood and others noted that not everyone can afford to raise their seawalls. Those who live near a coastal property owner who could raise their seawall may find themselves facing a higher flood risk from storm surge that is deflected by their neighbor's taller wall. Nature-based solutions such as newly constructed sand dunes absorb storm surge rather than deflect it. Sand dunes protect more than just homes and wildlife habitat, environmental groups noted — they also protect Maine's sandy beaches, which generate $2.6 billion of yearly tourism revenue and 34,000 jobs, and raise the property value of the land located behind the seawalls. "Maine beaches are economic engines that need to be protected," said Luke Frankel, a staff scientist at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. This bill intended to limit sea level rise damage allows for "the temporary fix of one problem while making other problems worse." A lobbyist for Maine Audubon, Francesca "Ches" Gundrum, said Maine must strike a balance between trying to save coastal communities from sea level rise and acknowledging that such climate-related challenges will only get worse over time. "We do really need to be thinking sort of big picture," Gundrum said. "Is living as close to the coast as we are, living within these very sensitive systems that are disappearing, going to work in the long term? ... There is not any one silver bullet." If lawmakers endorse the proposal, however, DEP requested the bill be amended to require applicants to offset erosion through beach nourishment or dune improvements, get permission from neighbors, and prove they can't build the replacement wall inland or raise the protected structure instead. Manager Katy Kelly said a seawall protected her employer, Lafayette Hotel in Wells, during last year's storms. But the same waves overran smaller seawalls nearby and sent debris and hundreds of yards of sand washing over homes, businesses and roads, causing massive damage. "It was stunning in its intensity," said Kelly, whose hotel chain employs more than 1,000 people along the Maine shore. "The state depends on these properties for taxes and jobs. The state should be working with us, not against us." The committee will take the bill up again at a future work session that has not yet been scheduled. Foley introduced it as emergency legislation, which means that it would need 2/3 approval by both the House and Senate as well as the support of Gov. Janet Mills to take immediate effect. Copy the Story Link
