Meridian Capital adds Corso to head coop and condo finance group

According to Meridian Capital Group, LLC, Robert Corso, Jr. has joined the company as senior vice president and managing director in charge of its cooperative and condominium finance group. Corso brings more than 30 years of real estate finance and property management experience to the newly-created role. Prior to joining Meridian, Corso served as vice president, managing director at Brown Harris Stevens, where he ran the commercial mortgage brokerage group and arranged cooperative and condominium financing on behalf of the Halstead/Penmark Management Division. Corso also served on the senior management team, supervising all aspects of property management activity for a portfolio of cooperative and condominium properties. He previously held roles as a senior-level commercial mortgage banker at Deutsche Bank/Berkshire and American Property Financing, where he originated cooperative financing via Freddie Mac Program Plus and Fannie Mae DUS loan programs. He also served as executive managing director for Insignia Residential Group (now Douglas Elliman Management), where he ran its cooperative and condominium mortgage brokerage business, served as a member of senior management team, and supervised all facets of the cooperative and condominium management group. "I am delighted to welcome Bob to the Meridian team and am highly confident that he will quickly make meaningful contributions to our organization and its origination capacity. Bob is a well-known and respected member of the New York real estate community and is recognized as a leading commercial mortgage finance advisor to an extensive group of cooperative and condominium boards," said Ralph Herzka, Meridian's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "He is a strong and focused leader with significant experience in the mortgage finance and property management fields. Robert's market knowledge and relationships, developed over the past 30 years, uniquely positions him to lead and expand Meridian's Cooperative and Condominium Finance Group," said Herzka. "I am excited and proud to be a part of Meridian's best-in-class team of dedicated professionals and to lead this group for the firm. Meridian has served a valuable role for many years as the preeminent advisor to the cooperative and condominium community and has an outstanding reputation and extensive domain experience. Meridian has consistently provided boards of directors, managing agents and other co-op advisors with access to the broadest array of highly competitive and specialized products and services to fully support their finance needs," said Corso. "My experience and strengths will perfectly complement Meridian's position in the marketplace," he added. Founded in 1991, Meridian Capital Group, LLC is one of the nation's largest commercial real estate finance and advisory firms. Meridian is headquartered in New York with offices in New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, Florida and California. Working with a broad array of capital providers, Meridian arranges financing for transactions ranging from $1 million to more than $500 million for multifamily, co-op, office, retail, hotel, mixed-use, industrial, healthcare, student housing, self-storage and construction properties.