Five Questions With: Keb H. Brackenbury

Keb H. Brackenbury is senior vice president and team leader of the Commercial Real Estate Department of Bank Rhode Island, having joined the bank in 2009.
Keb H. Brackenbury is senior vice president and team leader of the Commercial Real Estate Department of Bank Rhode Island, having joined the bank in 2009.

Keb H. Brackenbury is senior vice president and team leader of the Commercial Real Estate Department of Bank Rhode Island, having joined the bank in 2009. He is responsible for the development and cultivation of commercial real estate relationships and arranging financing solutions for nonowner-occupied commercial real estate properties in Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts, and areas of Connecticut. Prior to joining BankRI, Brackenbury, a lifelong Rhode Island resident, served as senior vice president with Sovereign Bank and BankBoston, and has more than 20 years of experience in commercial banking. He speaks with Providence Business News about current trends in commercial real estate lending.

PBN: What is BankRI’s Commercial Real Estate team seeing in Rhode Island in terms of trends in lending? How has volume changed?
BRACKENBURY:
The Commercial Real Estate team at BankRI has seen a great deal of activity over the past three years. Volume has increased and has been driven by both new development and refinancing activity. Although Rhode Island’s new development sector has been at a slower pace than other areas in New England, we’ve recently seen some positive momentum. Activity is emanating from both new construction and renovation work. In new construction, we’ve seen a diverse mix of projects, including medical-office, retail, apartments and industrial. With the historic nature of many buildings throughout Rhode Island, there has been a stream of rehabilitation and renovations projects taking place predominately in the residential housing sector. With regard to the number of commercial properties being refinanced, our volume continues to increase steadily.

PBN: Are there particular types of deals that have become more prevalent over the past year or two?
BRACKENBURY:
Over the past two years, there have been some interesting changes relative to the types of deals in the market. BankRI has been presented with a number of opportunities relating to both mill conversion rehabilitation for apartment use, and office rehabilitation in older industrial and manufacturing facilities. A number of these transactions have been driven by historical tax credits, while the balance of these developments has been based on changing demographics and economics. More recently, we have seen distinctive conversions of space that have filled a need for additional residential housing in and around Providence. Demographics and changing lifestyles have created a demand for rental housing. Additionally, we have been a part of the redevelopment of older manufacturing buildings that have been renovated into attractive and sophisticated brick-and-beam office space.

PBN: Would you say there is increased competition in the field of commercial real estate lending today compared with two or three years ago? What does this mean for the economy as a whole?
BRACKENBURY:
There continues to be a trend toward greater competition in Rhode Island’s commercial real estate lending industry. Looking back three to five years ago, a number of larger banks had taken a pause in the commercial real estate lending market, which allowed a number of regional and community banks to fill the void. Today, most all banks are back active in the market as the economy stabilized and began showing improvement. There’s also increased competition from out-of-state lenders. Life insurance companies and conduits, for example, have increased their presence in the market. It’s a sign that the economy as a whole is improving, albeit, very gradually.

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PBN: How does BankRI differentiate itself within the commercial real estate lending market? Do you offer products unique to this market?
BRACKENBURY:
I’d say that two of the biggest ways BankRI differentiates itself from other banks is our commitment to delivering the highest level of customer service possible and a line of products that are excellent in providing all phases of construction and permanent financing packages. We also have local decision-making by people who truly understand Rhode Island and the dynamics of our economy here, and an exceptional team of experienced lenders with administrative support that’s second to none. Building long-term relationships is something we take a lot of pride in. As a bank, we provide a consistent level of financing to all local regions while supporting our customers’ needs at each point in the economic cycle. By delivering this level of support and service, we feel we are offering a clear choice to the market as a whole.

PBN: Thinking specifically about refinancing deals, do you anticipate an increase in activity if the Federal Reserve increases short-term rates in December?
BRACKENBURY:
An increase in the Federal Reserve short term rates in December should not materially change the current development stream in place. Most of the developmental projects that have been in the pipeline for a long period of time will continue to matriculate through the development process. There may be changes in the borrower’s rate setting plans in general based on management’s decision regarding the hold period for their assets. So there could eventually be a changing landscape on rate terms based upon specific borrowers’ investment goals. We may also see movement by more investment developers looking to lock rates for longer periods of time to reduce the potential of rate volatility.

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