Capital One acquires Beech St Capital

Washington: Capital One Financial moved to become a larger player in the financing of apartment buildings Friday when it announced that it was acquiring Bethesda, Maryland-based Beech Street Capital, the country’s sixth-largest issuer of multifamily loans backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. Founded in 2009 by Grace Huebscher, a 14-year veteran of Fannie Mae, privately held Beech Street grew its multifamily mortgage business from $1 billion in loans in its first year to $3.9 billion in 2012. Virtually all of the loans are backed by one of the government-sponsored entities, typically for 10-year terms. Rick Lyon, head of commercial real estate banking for Capital One, said the bank had been looking for more than three years for a company with Fannie and Freddie expertise that could expand its commercial real estate business.