LABJ Quotes EVP Bob McAuslan on CRE Lending and Market Shifts
The Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2022 Money Issue features Torrey Pines Bank and EVP Bob McAuslan on changes in the CRE industry driven by the housing shortage.
Contrary to fears that the pandemic would wreak havoc on the local CRE market, CRE lending for projects across the Los Angeles area has been extremely active, but the market focus has shifted.
Discussing changes to the CRE market in Los Angeles as empty offices and boardrooms are increasingly repurposed for sublease, residential or other types of spaces, McAuslan noted that Torrey Pines Bank has seen a “strong surge” of lending for infill projects, mostly multifamily, driven primarily by the ongoing housing shortage.
“Interestingly, two years into the pandemic, what we’re seeing is that many of these projects were not originally slated as residential — they were intended for other uses ranging from office to everyday services and retail,” McAuslan told the Business Journal.
One example: Torrey Pines Bank is currently finalizing financing for a multifamily residential project in Burbank, where new housing is in serious demand. “While thousands of new jobs have been added in Burbank in recent years, remarkably, just 55 new housing units have been built over the last five years,” said McAuslan.