DLP Capital, a private real estate investment and financial services firm, announced that Raul Llanes has joined the company as Managing Director of Capital Markets, bringing to the firm more than 15 years of experience in commercial real estate debt and equity capital markets. His recent positions include serving as Head of Institutional Capital Markets at BankUnited (NYSE: BKU), one of the top-100 largest banking institutions in the U.S., with prior experience spanning risk-management oversight ranging from REITs, structured finance, and tax-credit equity, to offshore listed-fund vehicles, and a commercial real estate portfolio exceeding $8 billion. At DLP Capital, Llanes will oversee all aspects of the firm’s balance sheet debt and equity financings. DLP Capital, which has a real estate portfolio in excess of $4 billion, has been on the Inc. 5000 list of “Fastest Growing Private Companies in America” for 10 consecutive years.
“As DLP Capital continues on a high-growth track, Raul Llanes will optimize our capital markets activities, providing superior expertise that will allow us to identify and move swiftly on financing opportunities as well as leading us in maximizing our balance sheet and capitalizing of strategic acquisitions,” said Don Wenner, founder and CEO of DLP Capital. “Raul will also spearhead our launch of full capital markets services for our elite members—the group of top developers, builders, and operators we invest in helping scale their businesses.” Added Wenner, “Raul will also spearhead a number of big initiatives including our securitization platform, which we expect to become an integral component of our financing activities going forward.”
Llane’s duties at DLP Capital will include financing of the firm’s portfolio as a sponsor, which includes project and transaction finance focused on DLP Capital’s multifamily and single-family rental communities, and RV resort parks, among other asset classes. Included among the firm’s financings are bridge, construction, and permanent financings, in addition to warehouse lines. Llanes will also oversee development of DLP Capital’s securitization program along with additional leveraged finance transactions, among other responsibilities.
During Llanes’s eight-year tenure with BankUnited in Miami, his leadership roles included serving as Chief Credit Officer-South as well as Head of Commercial Real Estate Lending Strategies. Before that, he held senior positions in commercial real estate divisions at City National Bank/Bankia Group and Mercantile Commerzbank, both in Miami.
Raul Llanes began his real estate career with Bank of America in investment banking where he focused on affordable housing and structured finance tax-credit debt and equity investments. He was also an executive member of the bank’s lending committees.
Raul Llanes holds an MBA from University of Miami and a B.S. in Business Administration from Florida International University.