Commercial Distressed Real Estate from the Banks Prospective

Raymond W. Lowe, Sr. Managing Director Wells Fargo Bank Commercial Lending Group Los Angeles, CA

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

We interviewed Mr. Lowe at the 2011 GreenPearl Distressed Real Estate Event held in Los Angeles. For more event information go to www.GreenPearlEvents.com

Raymond Lowe, Managing Director

Managing Director, Real Estate Banking Group 

Wells Fargo Bank N.A.

Raymond Lowe manages the Downtown Los Angeles offices of Wells Fargo’s Commercial Real Estate Banking Group, a commercial real estate lender for medium and larger-sized customers.

Mr. Lowe joined Wells Fargo in 1985, and held prior positions in both the Pension Advisory and Non-Recourse Real Estate Lending Groups.

The Real Estate Banking Group provides a broad range of real estate financial products to well-capitalized commercial and residential real estate developers, operators, and investors, such as privately held companies, real estate funds, and public and private real estate investment trusts.

These products include senior secured and unsecured debt on a recourse and non-recourse basis, as well as mezzanine debt and structured debt products.

Ray has been in commercial real estate since 1976. He began his career with a west coast-based developer of industrial parks and strip retail centers, where he learned construction management, leasing, and property management. 

In 1985, he joined Wells Fargo Realty Advisors as an asset manager in the pension advisory group, managing a diverse portfolio of equity and debt investments for third-party institutional clients. He eventually became head of the asset management department. In 1995,

Ray transferred to the then-newly formed Asset Origination Group of Capital Markets as an underwriter and originator. Renamed Real Estate Merchant Banking (REMB).

That group became Wells Fargo's non-recourse commercial real estate lender for senior and junior balance sheet bridge loans, with more than $8 billion in commitments nationwide. In 2009, REMB merged with the Real Estate Group into what is now called REBG.

Ray holds a B.A. in music and a teaching credential from the University of California, Los Angeles and an M.B.A. from California State University, Northridge. He is active with local community non-profit groups, including serving on the board of directors for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Ray lives in Chatsworth, Calif., with his wife Ann. They have two grown children.