Evan Bell is Managing Partner and co-founder of Lorimer Capital, a direct portfolio lender that provides creative financing solutions for commercial real estate opportunities across the eastern U.S. He has over two decades of expertise in structured real estate credit products and started his career as a real estate finance attorney, representing major institutions like Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Lehman Brothers, and Wachovia Bank on mortgage and mezzanine financings, which totaled over $10 billion.

Prior to launching Lorimer Capital, Evan served as co-founder and Principal of Unity Capital, where he played a major role in leading the company to success and sustained growth. He earned his B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany and received his J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law. While there, he was a member of the Hofstra Law Review and a recipient of Westlaw’s Corpus Juris Secundum Award.

Insights from Evan Bell on Relationships and Discipline in Real Estate Financing

Evan Bell started his first day of work on September 10th, 2001. By the next morning, everything had changed. That jarring introduction to his career taught him early that you can't control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond. Fast forward two decades, and that philosophy has guided him from law firms to launching Unity Capital with "very little clue" what he was doing, to now building Lorimer Capital with partners he's known for years.

In this episode of The Dealmakers' Edge, Evan talks candidly about why he still puts his own money in every deal, how he went from doing small multifamily loans to closing $51 million construction deals with developers like Kushner Companies, and why he tells young people to treat everyone with respect because you never know where careers will lead. He also opens up about managing the stress of high-stakes lending by reading philosophy, keeping perspective, and remembering that "everyone's got their bag of problems no matter how great they look when you see them out at lunch."

1:55 - Evan’s childhood, educational background, and career transitions

7:33 - The current cycle for private credit lenders and discipline as essential for navigating market cycles

11:16 - Relationship-based business as paramount to long-term success in real estate finance

14:42 - Evan’s thought process when looking at dealmaking opportunities right now

18:03 - Prioritization and focus of Evan and his partners as they continue to grow the firm

20:36 - The key to navigating anxiety in a high-stress industry

25:57 - The importance of showing up and staying in the mix to build a business

Mentioned In Why Relationships and Discipline Matter Most in Real Estate Financing with Evan Bell

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Lorimar Capital | LinkedIn

Unity Capital | LinkedIn | Instagram

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