CHICAGO — “It is with great enthusiasm that we announce the opening of Grandbridge Real Estate Capital’s Chicago office. Despite turbulence in the current market, Grandbridge has enjoyed excellent growth since its creation last fall and has continued to prosper in 2008. We feel that opening the Chicago office with the addition of three accomplished commercial real estate finance professionals will further increase our transaction opportunities as we continue to push our production platform further west,” stated Grandbridge CEO Thomas S. Dennard.

“Just as Grandbridge was forged on the solid and successful reputations of Laureate Capital and Collateral Real Estate Capital, our new Chicago office was created with experience and service in mind. ” detailed Grandbridge Executive Vice President John Davis. “We are proud to welcome Michael Goorvich, Randy Martin and Ashish Parikh, three seasoned professionals with more than 75 years of combined commercial real estate finance, to our loan origination team. Their expertise and long-term relationships with investors, brokers and borrowers, coupled with Grandbridge’s wide array of capital sources, will enable this team to structure successful deals in the midst of today’s turbulent market.”

As an industry veteran with experience managing commercial and multifamily loan origination, structuring, placement and closing, Michael B. Goorvich will manage the office and serve commercial and multifamily clients nationwide. His expertise, coupled with his broad spectrum of investor relationship management, will enable him to structure transactions with the right lenders to benefit his borrowers. “Our contrarian approach at this point in the financial cycle and our affiliation with BB&T, a bank with a stellar reputation and deep resources, makes our team different,” explained Mr. Goorvich.

Also joining the Grandbridge Chicago office are vice presidents Randy P. Martin and Ashish Parikh. During his commercial real estate finance career, Mr. Martin has originated loans for a variety of property types including multifamily, retail, office, industrial, hospitality and manufactured home communities. Prior to joining Grandbridge he served as a managing director of LaSalle Bank in Chicago where he was responsible for the origination, underwriting, and approval of more than $4 billion in portfolio, mezzanine and conduit lending for both large and small loans; working directly with mortgage bankers and direct lenders.

Ashish Parikh, vice president, has been actively involved in Chicago’s real estate industry since 1995. Prior to joining Grandbridge, Mr. Parikh served as a director and originator in LaSalle Bank’s Midwest region commercial mortgage-backed securities division. While with LaSalle he originated more than $2.5 billion in middle market CMBS, portfolio, and small balance loans.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Grandbridge, one of the largest full-service commercial and multifamily mortgage banking companies in the nation, is a Fannie Mae DUS® (Delegated Underwriting and Servicing) lender, a Freddie Mac Program Plus® seller/servicer, and a MAP-approved participant in multifamily products insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

The company arranges permanent commercial and multifamily real estate loans; services loan portfolios; and provides asset and portfolio management and real estate brokerage services. Grandbridge has a servicing portfolio of more than $22 billion representing 96 capital providers. It closed more than 1,000 transactions in 2007.

With $136.5 billion in assets, BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) is the nation’s 14th largest financial holding company. It operates nearly 1,500 financial centers in 11 states and Washington, D.C. More information about the company is available at BBT.com.

Contacts

BUSINESS

Thomas S. Dennard
Grandbridge CEO
704.379.6910

LOAN PRODUCTION CONTACTS

John Davis
Grandbridge EVP | Production Mgr.
612.341.7888

Michael Goorvich
Grandbridge SVP
312.925.2119

MEDIA

Patricia Muse
Grandbridge Marketing
205.978.1139