Stamford, CT, March 19, 2007 — GE Real Estate announced today the appointment of Greg O’Stean to the position of executive vice president and managing director, hospitality, North America Lending. In this position, O’Stean is responsible for originating commercial real estate debt and equity investments for the acquisition, refinance, and renovation of hotels and hotel portfolios from $10 million to more than $100 million. He will lead a team of originators and associate directors and is responsible for managing existing customer relationships and developing new relationships to contribute to growth of the hospitality platform overall. He will report to Alec Burger, Senior Vice President of the North America Lending division.
"Greg brings nearly 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry to his new position at GE Real Estate,” said Burger. “He has a solid reputation in the industry and we are confident he will be instrumental in helping us reach our growth targets.”
O’Stean joins GE Real Estate from GE Capital Solutions, where he was the senior vice president of Franchise Finance. He began his GE career in 2005 with the acquisition of Security Capital, serving as senior vice president of strategic relationships for Storage USA (a division of GE Real Estate).
Prior to joining GE, O’Stean was vice president of acquisitions and development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, director of development for InterContinental Hotels Group, and manager of the Real Estate Group of Ernst & Young. In these roles, Greg worked on the acquisition, disposition, financing, and/or development of several billion dollars’ worth of hotels, resorts, and other commercial real estate. He holds a BS in management and accounting and MBA in finance and business administration from Georgia Institute of Technology.
GE Real Estate’s North America Lending division offers financing for retail, industrial, self-storage, multifamily, office, student housing, regional malls and outlet centers. North America Lending is also a provider of financing solutions for niche asset classes including affordable housing, golf, hospitality, vacation ownership, manufactured home communities and RV resorts.
GE Contact:
(Press inquiries only)
John Oliver
Office: 203/750-3089
Cell Phone: 203/984-7757
john.oliver@ge.com
For other inquiries please call 1-888-GE-First extension 333
HLB Communications, Inc.
Richard Ringer
312/649-0371
rringer@hlbcomm.com
Notes to editors:
About GE Real Estate
GE Real Estate (
www.gerealestate.com) is one of the world's premier commercial real estate companies with USD54 billion in assets and a presence in 26 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. Backed by GE's AAA rating, GE Real Estate offers a comprehensive range of capital and investment solutions including equity capital for acquisition or development, as well as fixed and floating rate mortgages for new acquisitions or re-capitalizations of commercial real estate. With a 28% compound annual growth rate since 1993, GE Real Estate is one of the world's fastest growing and most profitable real estate enterprises. This extraordinary record of success grows out of a reputation for collaboration and partnership; a depth of knowledge and experience and a history of building relationships, finding opportunities and opening doors for more than 5,000 owners, builders, borrowers and brokers worldwide.
GE Commercial Finance (
www.gecommercialfinance.com) offers businesses around the globe an extensive array of financial products and services. With over US$233 billion in assets and expertise in the middle-market, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs and innovative structured capital to help customers grow. Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, GE Commercial Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of the General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.