Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT) is a real estate finance company that originates senior loans collateralized by commercial real estate in North America, Europe and Australia.
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March 15, 2017

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Declares $0.62 per Share Dividend

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE: BXMT) today declared a dividend of $0.62 per share of class A common stock with respect to the first quarter of 2017. This dividend is payable on April 17, 2017 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 31, 2017.

February 23, 2017

Blackstone Mortgage Trust to Present at the Citi 2017 Global Property CEO Conference

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) announced today that Steve Plavin, President and Chief Executive Officer, will participate in a roundtable company discussion at the Citi 2017 Global Property CEO Conference in Hollywood, FL on Monday, March 6, 2017 at 4:20 pm ET.

February 14, 2017

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Reports Fourth Quarter 2016 Results

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) today reported its fourth quarter 2016 results.

Who We Are

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT) is a real estate finance company that originates senior loans collateralized by commercial real estate in North America, Europe and Australia. Our investment objective is to preserve and protect shareholder capital while producing attractive risk-adjusted returns primarily through dividends generated from current income from our loan portfolio. We are externally managed by BXMT Advisors L.L.C., a subsidiary of Blackstone.

Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms, with $564 billion in assets under management, including investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. The firm’s real estate platform encompasses investments across the risk spectrum from opportunistic to core+ to debt, and is one of the largest real estate private equity businesses in the world today with $167 billion of investor capital under management.

Blackstone Affiliation
Our manager’s global presence and dynamic capabilities enable us to identify opportunities with conviction and partner with leading sponsors and financial institutions.
Floating Rate Senior Lending
Our mortgage loan portfolio is well positioned for yield and value preservation in various rate and credit environments.
Financing Advantage
Our large scale, high quality business drives efficiently priced and well structured financing with an emphasis on long term stability.
Our Portfolio

Our $18.0 billion portfolio is predominantly comprised of loans on major market assets with top sponsors and is well diversified across asset classes and geographies.

£112 million floating rate, first mortgage loan secured by a well-located, prime office building in London. The property is a long-let, freehold asset with close proximity to amenities and transportation hubs.

$146 million floating rate, first mortgage loan secured by three well-located, class A office buildings in Minneapolis, MN. Blackstone offered a solution for a repeat borrower to refinance and fund remaining renovations.

$243 million floating rate, first mortgage loan secured by a 37-building industrial portfolio located in Long Island, NY. Properties are located in infill locations and benefit from close proximity to thoroughfares and dense population centers.

$133 million floating rate, first mortgage loan secured by a newly-built beachfront hotel located in Huntington Beach, CA. The property is anchored by an irreplaceable location, generating robust transient and group demand.

Our Manager is part of Blackstone’s leading real estate platform which has $167 billion of investor capital under management. 

Michael Nash

Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors and Global Chairman of BREDS

Michael B. Nash has been a Director since 2012 and is the Executive Chairman of the Board. Mr. Nash is a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone and the Chairman of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. He is also a member of the Real Estate Investment Committee for both Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and Blackstone Real Estate Advisors. Mr. Nash has also served as a trustee of three registered investment companies in the Blackstone Real Estate Income Fund complex since October 2013. Mr. Nash is also a member of the Board of Directors of Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. Before joining Blackstone in 2007, Mr. Nash was with Merrill Lynch from 1997 to 2007 where he led the firm’s Real Estate Principal Investment Group—Americas. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Nash was a Senior Vice President at Barclays Bank, where he worked from 1991 to 1997 in the bank’s loan restructuring group. Prior to Barclays, he originated and structured real estate loans for Bank of Nova Scotia. Additionally, Mr. Nash worked at Deloitte & Touche serving brokerage and other institutional clients. Mr. Nash graduated from State University of New York at Albany and received an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Stephen Plavin

Chief Executive Officer and Senior Managing Director

Stephen D. Plavin has served as one of our Directors and as our President and Chief Executive Officer since December 2009. Mr. Plavin is also a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone and our Manager and a member of our Manager’s investment committee. Mr. Plavin is also a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. Mr. Plavin is a member of the Real Estate Investment Committee for both Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and Blackstone Real Estate Advisors. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Plavin was also the Chief Executive Officer of Capital Trust, Inc. whose wholly owned manager was acquired by Blackstone in December 2012. Prior to joining Capital Trust, Inc. in 1998, Mr. Plavin was co-head of Global Real Estate for The Chase Manhattan Bank and Chase Securities Inc. During his tenure at Chase, from 1984 to 1998, Mr. Plavin also led business units responsible for commercial real estate loan origination, syndication, structured finance, portfolio management and real estate owned sales. Mr. Plavin received a B.A. in English from Tufts University and an M.B.A. in Finance, Accounting and Marketing from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Mr. Plavin is a member of the board of directors of each of Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. and WCI Communities, Inc.

Jonathan Pollack

Global Head of BREDS and Senior Managing Director

Jonathan Pollack is a Senior Managing Director and Global Head of the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies group and is based in New York. Since joining Blackstone in 2015, Mr. Pollack has been responsible for overseeing our real estate debt investment strategy. He is also a member of the firm’s real estate investment committee, and serves on the board of Blackstone Mortgage Trust. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Pollack was a Managing Director and Global Head of Commercial Real Estate, as well as Head of Risk for Structured Finance, at Deutsche Bank. Mr. Pollack joined Deutsche Bank in 1999 from Nomura Group. Mr. Pollack received a BA in Economics from Northwestern University. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the East Harlem Tutorial Program.

Kenneth Caplan

BX Global Co-Head of Real Estate and Senior Managing Director

Kenneth A. Caplan is a Senior Managing Director and Global Chief Investment Officer of the Real Estate Group. Since joining Blackstone in 1997, Mr. Caplan has been involved in over $100 billion of real estate acquisitions and initiatives in the United States, Europe and Asia. These include major acquisitions such as Equity Office Properties, Hilton Hotels, Trizec Properties and La Quinta. Prior to his current role, Mr. Caplan was Head of Real Estate Europe. Before joining Blackstone, he was at Lazard Frères & Co. in the real estate investment banking group. Mr. Caplan received an A.B. in Economics from Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was a John Harvard Scholar. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Prep for Prep.

Kathleen McCarthy

BX Global Co-Head of Real Estate and Senior Managing Director

Kathleen McCarthy is a Senior Managing Director and Global Chief Operating Officer of the Blackstone Real Estate group. She is based in New York. Ms. McCarthy oversees Real Estate Investor Relations and Business Development, Human Resources, Legal & Compliance and Finance. Previously she was responsible for marketing Blackstone's real estate private investment funds. Before joining Blackstone in 2010, Ms. McCarthy worked at Goldman Sachs, where she was a Vice President focused on investments for the Real Estate Principal Investment Area. Ms. McCarthy began her career at Goldman Sachs as an Analyst in the Mergers & Strategic Advisory Group within the Investment Banking Division. Ms. McCarthy received a BA with Distinction from Yale University.

Katie Keenan

President and Managing Director

Katie Keenan is a Managing Director in the Real Estate Debt Strategies group at Blackstone and President of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT). As President of BXMT, Ms. Keenan focuses on the REIT’s investments, operations and strategy. Ms. Keenan also originates loans and other investments for BXMT as well as for other investment vehicles managed by Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies Group. Before joining Blackstone in 2012, Ms. Keenan was a Vice President at G2 Investment Group, focusing on real estate and private equity investment activities. Prior to that, she worked at Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds and in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Lehman Brothers. Ms. Keenan graduated cum laude with an A.B. in History from Harvard College. She sits on the Advisory Board of NYPEN Real Estate and is a member of WX.

Nadeem Meghji

Head of Real Estate Americas and Senior Managing Director

Nadeem Meghji is a Senior Managing Director in the Real Estate group and Head of Real Estate Americas. Mr. Meghji has played a leadership role in Blackstone's investment activity in the US, including the acquisition of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, Biomed Realty Trust, and Brixmor Property Group. Before joining Blackstone in 2008, Mr. Meghji worked as an associate at the Lionstone Group. Mr. Meghji received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, where he graduated summa cum laude. He received a JD from Harvard Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Meghji serves as a board member for the Lupus Research Alliance and is the Co-Chair of the annual Rally Against Lupus fundraiser. Mr. Meghji was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2018.

Rob Harper

Head of BX Real Estate US Asset Management and Senior Managing Director

Rob Harper is a Senior Managing Director and Head of U.S. Asset Management in the Real Estate group. Since joining Blackstone in 2002, Mr. Harper has been involved in analyzing Blackstone’s real estate equity and debt investments in all property types. Mr. Harper has previously worked for Blackstone in Los Angeles and London, where he served as Head of Europe for the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies business. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Harper worked for Morgan Stanley’s real estate private equity group in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Mr. Harper received a BS from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

Tim Johnson

Global Head of Originations and Senior Managing Director

Timothy Johnson is a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and the Head of U.S. Originations BREDS, based in New York. Mr. Johnson is involved in sourcing, underwriting, negotiating and structuring debt investments across all asset types and geographies. Before joining Blackstone in 2011, Mr. Johnson was a co-founder of BroadPeak Funding, a boutique commercial real estate finance company based in Los Angeles. Prior to founding BroadPeak, Mr. Johnson was a Vice President in the Lehman Brothers Global Commercial Real Estate Group where he worked from 2002-2008. While at Lehman his responsibilities included sourcing, structuring, underwriting and executing large structured finance transactions as well as select equity investments. Mr. Johnson received a BA in Mathematics from the College of the Holy Cross where he graduated cum laude.

Douglas Armer

Executive Vice President, Capital Markets, Treasurer and Managing Director

Douglas N. Armer is our Executive Vice President, Capital Markets and Treasurer. He is also a Managing Director of our Manager and of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and is a member of our Manager's investment committee. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Armer was a Managing Director at Capital Trust, Inc. whose wholly owned manager was acquired by Blackstone in December 2012. As a Managing Director at Capital Trust, Mr. Armer was responsible for the firm’s capital markets and finance activities, encompassing equity, debt and strategic transactions, as well as oversight of regulatory matters. Prior to joining Capital Trust, Inc. in 2004, Mr. Armer was responsible for developing the India-based capital markets group of Global Realty Outsourcing. Previously Mr. Armer held positions in investment banking at Gerard Klauer Mattison and at PaineWebber Commercial Real Estate Securities. Mr. Armer holds a B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Rochester, where he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Michael Eglit

Managing Director

Michael Eglit is a Managing Director of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Group. Since joining Blackstone, Mr. Eglit has handled evaluation of real estate debt investments in several property types. Before joining Blackstone in 2010, Mr. Eglit worked for Wrightwood Capital, where he worked on the origination, underwriting, and asset management of structured senior debt, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and JV equity commercial real estate investments. Mr. Eglit graduated with honors in Economics from Lehigh University and received a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Anthony Marone, Jr

Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director

Anthony F. Marone, Jr. serves as our Chief Financial Officer and has previously served as our Principal Accounting Officer since 2013 and as our Controller since 2008. Mr. Marone is also a Managing Director and the Chief Financial Officer of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, which encompasses all of Blackstone’s commercial real estate debt investment vehicles, including the Company. Before joining Blackstone in 2012, Mr. Marone was a Vice President and Controller of Capital Trust, Inc. whose wholly owned manager was acquired by Blackstone in December 2012. Previously, Mr. Marone worked in the Real Estate Assurance practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he provided audit and other assurance services to various real estate companies. Mr. Marone received a B.S. and an M.B.A. from Rutgers University and is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant.

Michael Nagelberg

Managing Director

Michael Nagelberg is a Managing Director in the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Group, based in New York. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Nagelberg was a Principal at TPG and was responsible for originating, acquiring, and structuring real estate debt investments across various property types in the United States. Prior to TPG, Mr. Nagelberg was an Associate in Deutsche Bank’s Real Estate Special Situations Group where he was involved in loan origination, acquisition, and asset management. Mr. Nagelberg started his career with Antares and then Warburg Pincus focusing on real estate investment, development, and underwriting. Mr. Nagelberg graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Economics and Finance.

Thomas Ruffing

Head of Loan Asset Management and Managing Director

Thomas C. Ruffing has served as our Managing Director, asset management since February 2013. Mr. Ruffing previously served as our Chief Credit Officer since July 2006. Mr. Ruffing is also a Managing Director of our Manager and a Managing Director of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Ruffing was also Chief Credit Officer of Capital Trust, Inc. whose wholly owned manager was acquired by Blackstone in December 2012. Prior to joining Capital Trust, Inc., Mr. Ruffing worked at JP Morgan Chase in the Real Estate & Lodging Investment Banking Group. Mr. Ruffing’s responsibilities included structured corporate real estate finance transactions, major asset property sales, and the restructuring and workout of real estate loans. Mr. Ruffing holds a B.S. and an M.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Weston Tucker

Head of Investor Relations and Senior Managing Director

Weston Tucker is a Senior Managing Director, Head of Investor Relations, and is also Head of Investor Relations for Blackstone. Since joining Blackstone in 2007, Mr. Tucker's primary responsibility has been managing Blackstone’s interface with public shareholders and the equity analyst community. Before joining Blackstone in 2007, Mr. Tucker was an equity research analyst for JPMorgan, covering the telecom and cable sectors. He began his career at AT&T, where he worked in a variety of finance roles including investor relations and communications, as well as corporate development. Mr. Tucker graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Business Administration from Ohio State University.

Leon Volchyok

Head of Legal and Compliance and Secretary

Leon Volchyok has served as our Secretary and Head of Legal and Compliance since January 2016. Mr. Volchyok is a Managing Director in Blackstone’s Real Estate group, based in New York. He plays a key role in the structuring, launch and operations of the Real Estate group’s public vehicles, handles the legal affairs for the Real Estate Debt Strategies group and is involved in a number of other legal initiatives throughout the business. He also serves as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for both Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) and the Blackstone Real Estate Income Funds (BREIF). Prior to joining Blackstone in 2013, Mr. Volchyok was a Senior Associate in the Real Estate Capital Markets group at Proskauer Rose LLP, where he specialized in capital markets transactions and general securities law and corporate governance matters, with a focus on REITs and other real estate companies. Mr. Volchyok received a BBA from Baruch College - Zicklin School of Business and a JD from Fordham Law School.

Jimmy Yung

Managing Director

Jimmy Yung is a Managing Director in Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies based in Los Angeles and oversees West Coast debt investments. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Yung was Head of Originations and member of the Investment Committee for TPG Real Estate Finance Trust. Previously, he was Head of Originations for Deutsche Bank’s US Commercial Real Estate Special Situations business focused on principal high yield finance and distressed debt acquisitions. Mr. Yung received a BA from Georgetown University.

Michael Zerda

Managing Director

Michael Zerda is a Managing Director and Head of Europe for the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies business. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Zerda spent six years at LaSalle Investment Management overseeing the set-up and growth of its debt investment and special situations group. Prior to that, Mr. Zerda worked in Merrill Lynch's real estate private equity group as a Vice President focused on pan-European equity investments and at Archon, Goldman Sachs’ real estate and distressed loan management platform. Mr. Zerda received a BA in Finance from the Neely School of Business at Texas Christian University, where he graduated with honors.

BXMT Loan Parameters

  1. Primarily First Mortgage
  2. Size: $50mm – $500mm
  3. Last Dollar LTV: 80%
  4. Pricing: from L+3.75%

New York
345 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10154
Phone: (212) 583-5625 (Tim Johnson)

Los Angeles
1299 Ocean Avenue, Suite 320
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone: (310) 310-6949

Origination Contacts
Jimmy Yung
Jonathan Sizemore

London
40 Berkeley Square
London, W1J 5AL, U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)20 7451 4000

Origination Contacts
Michael Zerda
Michael Nagelberg