Commercial loan mortgage originator

ARCS is No. 1 Fannie Mae DUS originator for 1997 - ARCS Commercial Mortgage Co. L.P., Calabasas, CA, Federal National Mortgage Association

In 1997, including DUS, ARCS closed mortgages for 147 properties, totaling $752 million, which was a 50% gain over the 1996 performance. This growth was attributed to continuing favorable market conditions, sharply increased marketing efforts and branch expansion.

The volume gain is consistent with the company's rapid expansion, growing from two to 12 offices nationwide in its first two years and creating separate and specialized divisions for conventional multifamily housing, tax credit affordable housing and capital markets for other income properties.

ARCS is also one of the top Fannie Mae DUS multifamily servicers, earning the No. 1 spot for 1994, 1995 and 1996.

The company has a servicing portfolio exceeding $2 billion, serving more than 500 borrowers across 30 states. This is a 25% net increase in servicing portfolio size since last year. It is attributed to the 50% growth in loan origination volume and to strong loan retention through the refinancing of existing portfolio holdings.

ARCS President and CEO Howard J. Levine pointed out that the increase was accomplished without sacrificing loan quality. "In fact, our loan delinquency ratio, already among the lowest in the industry, decreased even more in 1997 to less than half a percent," Levine said.

Plans for 1998 include expansion into other key geographic areas and continued emphasis toward diversification into all types of investment property fundings.

The company is a Fannie Mae DUS lender, a Freddie Mac Program Plus lender and has conduit relationships with key Wall Street houses and NationsBank. It has branches in Arlington, Va.; Burbank, Calabasas Hills, San Diego and San Francisco, Calif.; Chicago; Dallas; Jacksonville, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Portland, Ore.; and Princeton, N.J.

J.E. Robert Cos., a McLean, Va.-based real estate investment advisor and asset manager, has closed its first direct institutional investment fund, JER Real Estate Partners L.P., with total committed capital of $435 million, exceeding the company's target base of $300 million.