

MetLife Investment Management has found its new head of real estate debt in David Politano following the retirement of Gary Otten from the role. The New York-based manager announced Politano’s appointment on May 31. He is taking on the reins after a 27-year tenure at MIM and MetLife and was most recently leading the firm’s international platform, Northeast region and real estate capital markets group with MIM’s real estate division.
Politano started in the new role on May 19 and reports to Robert Merck, global head of real estate and agricultural finance at MIM. Politano will continue his previous responsibilities while a successor is determined, the firm said.
As of March, MetLife Investment Management had $70.8 billion in commercial mortgage loans AUM as part of its $99.5 billion in commercial real estate portfolio.
MetLife most recently grew its debt portfolio with a $210 million loan to Rockrose Development for a 396-unit apartment building in Queens, New York. According to a CRE Direct report from May 25, Avison Young arranged the 15-year loan on the property at 47-05 Center Boulevard.
The new loan allowed Rockrose to complete a $159 million loan provided by Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen Girozentrale in 2012. Atop its multifamily exposure, MetLife has been expanding its CRE lending efforts further into life science, self-storage, student housing and manufactured housing assets in recent quarters. The lender aims to originate senior notes between $15 million and $400 million per single property, according to the firm