Aries Capital Miami Now Open. Plus New Chicago Location, Promotions & Hires

October 21, 2019

Aries Capital Miami Office Brickell Bayview Center Neil D. Freeman, Chairman and CEO of Chicago-based commercial real estate mortgage and investment banking firm Aries Capital, is pleased to announce the opening of a new regional office in Miami, Florida, as well as the relocation of its Chicago headquarters to 401 W. Ontario in River North. The firm is also pleased to announce that Christina Vasquez and Brandon Perdeck have been promoted to Senior Vice President and Vice President respectfully, and Steve Adams has joined the firm’s Chicago office as Assistant Vice President.

Aries Capital Miami Opens

Situated within the Financial District’s Brickell Bayview Center, Aries Capital’s new Miami office will serve as a regional headquarter location in the vibrant and fast-growing South Florida market. Aries has been active in the region since the boutique firm’s founding in 1991, closing over $22.4 million in deals in Miami within the last 12 months. Recent transactions include loans for The Eurostars Langford Hotel in downtown Miami and a 48,000 square-foot industrial/flex office space in the up-and-coming Little River/Magic City District (an Opportunity Zone). Both Freeman and Perdeck grew up in the area and earned degrees at the University of Florida, where Freeman serves on the advisory board of the university’s Kelley A. Bergstrom Real Estate Center. Perdeck will be based in the new Brickell office and Freeman will travel between Chicago and Miami.

“We are very excited to bring our commercial lending expertise to Miami to serve the Florida and Southeast markets. We understand these areas well, from Miami and Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers, Jacksonville and the Panhandle,” said Freeman. “Florida has a great economy with strong growth, but lacks the creativity and financial relationships you find in some other major cities such as New York, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and LA. Aries Capital expects to help our clients make more money through our entrepreneurial approach to arranging real estate capital. Many of our Midwest and Northeast clients, as well as our Florida developer clients, are working on major projects in the state.”

Perdeck was promoted to Vice President from Senior Associate and joined Aries Capital in 2016. In addition to establishing the Miami office, Perdeck will continue to originate, underwrite and close financing for hotel, commercial and multifamily properties nationwide, as well as develop and nurture capital source relationships.

“South Florida is seeing a massive wave of investment opportunity thanks to a combination of good weather, no state income tax, and plentiful financing as capital sources flock to establish or move offices to the region,” said Perdeck. “Having a physical presence in the epicenter of this growth not only feeds deal flow, it also allows us to bring these new, creative sources of capital that are beginning to call Miami home, to our clients nationwide.”

Prior to Aries, Perdeck was a financial analyst with Hart Advisory Group, a Miami real estate advisory firm. Perdeck earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Master of Science degree in Real Estate from the Hough Graduate School of Business at the University of Florida. He remains active in the University’s Kelley A. Bergstrom Real Estate Center and is a member of Chicago’s Real Estate Investment Association (REIA), the Self-Storage Association (SSA), Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

“Brandon has successfully demonstrated his skills on a national basis and across all asset classes, as a producing originator in our Chicago office,” said Freeman. “This expertise, merged with his strong Florida ties and local market knowledge, are the ideal foundation on which to build our Miami office.”

Aries Capital Staff Promotions & Hires

Christina Vasquez was promoted to Senior Vice President from Vice President. Based in Chicago, she has been with the firm since 1996 and is responsible for supporting the CEO, as well as day-to-day operations, office and vendor management, book-keeping and Human Resources for Aries Capital and Freeman’s other businesses in the United States and the Caribbean. Vasquez also serves on the board of Aries Capital’s affiliate, Urban Development Fund (UDF). She is a member of REIA and attended Robert Morris College.

“Christina is an integral member of our team who has contributed significantly to our firm’s success. Our staff, vendors and clients rely on Christina’s broad expertise, organizational skills, and leadership.” said Freeman. “I am also pleased to welcome Steve Adams to Aries Capital. He is a long-time friend of our firm and we look forward to leveraging his lending experience and underwriting skills to our clients’ benefit.”

Adams joins the firm from Chicago-based Continuum Capital Funding where he served as Portfolio Manager. In his new role as Assistant Vice President in Aries Capital’s Chicago office, Adams will assist with originating, underwriting and packaging client transactions, as well as evaluating new investment opportunities and capital source relationships. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance and is a member of REIA.