When it comes to securing financing for commercial real estate projects in Austin not many have been at it as long as Jim Lemos and John Morran have.
Lemos and Morran, the founders and principals of Texas Realty Capital, have been offering financing solutions in the local commercial real estate sector for 32 years. The small firm on West Sixth Street—it has less than 10 employees and completes about 50-60 transactions a year—touts its local expertise and access to national capital.
In a rapidly growing metropolitan area such as Austin, it is important to have a local voice for commercial mortgage banking and real estate investment, Lemos said.
He said the roughly 20 life insurance companies TRC represents are located throughout the United States.
“[Lenders] really trust our judgment at this level,” Lemos said. “They want to get [capital] out efficiently and do it in cities they want to travel to. There is no city that is more popular to come to than Austin.”
The tourist appeal of the Capital City is just one of the factors driving TRC’s success. The growth of Austin’s economy, in particular the increasing number of available jobs, in recent years has driven up demand for commercial real estate, Morran said.
He said that Austin has distinguished itself among the top performing economies in the country. While still considered a “secondary market” in terms of size among U.S. metropolitan areas, Austin is one of the top-performing secondary markets, Morran said.
“Austin is on everybody’s radar screen now, and everybody wants to deploy capital here,” Morran said. “It’s a market where the fundamentals have been so strong for so long that lenders have noticed that their investments have performed very well. So they want to continue to lend here and have exposure to this market.”
Among the services TRC offers are loan origination, access to capital sources and loan servicing. Origination entails services such as processing a loan application, underwriting a loan and other administrative services, according to the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. TRC earns an origination fee from the borrower after servicing a loan.
The commercial property types that TRC finances include multifamily, such as apartments; retail; office; industrial; medical office; hotels and hospitality businesses, self-storage and owner-occupied commercial properties.
The firm has closed more than $5 billion of commercial mortgages. Its transactions have ranged from as low as $1 million to as high as $100 million, and at least 80 percent of the properties for which TRC secures financing are in Central Texas.
Austin’s population and economic boom has been a boon to business for TRC, Lemos said.
“It’s something like a dream situation to be honest with you,” he said. “We are benefiting from a city that is growing rapidly.”
