FS Investments has hired Rob Lawrence to lead the firm's real estate efforts and that the firm's first real estate investment trust, FS Credit Real Estate Income Trust, has commenced operations.
Lawrence, managing director and global head of real estate, will oversee the firm's real estate initiatives and help manage FS Credit REIT in partnership with its sub-adviser, Rialto Capital Management.
Lawrence most recently served as executive managing director at Singer & Bassuk, a boutique real estate finance firm. Prior to joining Singer & Bassuk, he was senior managing director and co-head of origination at Guggenheim Commercial Real Estate Finance, where he led and managed the origination platform for commercial mortgage-backed securities and affiliated life companies.
Previously, Lawrence held several high-level positions at JPMorgan Chase and Bear Stearns. At JPMorgan Chase, he served as managing director and head of the Securitized Products Group in Asia. Prior to the merger with JPMorgan Chase in 2008, he was senior managing director and co-head of origination at Bear Stearns, and a founding member of the firm's global CMBS department.
Lawrence is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the Young Presidents' Organization and the Nassau County Disaster Action Team for the American Red Cross. He holds a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Vermont and a master of science in real estate investment and development from the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University.
FS Credit Real Estate Income Trust is a a $2.5 billion non-traded REIT.
FS Credit REIT closed a $34.31 million senior floating-rate mortgage loan secured by a portfolio of seven office buildings totaling 492,559 square feet in Memphis.
And FS Credit REIT purchased a $9.5 million floating-rate whole mortgage loan from Rialto. The loan is secured by Oxford Point, a 200-unit garden multifamily property built in 2002 with 11 residential buildings on 17 acres in Gulfport, Mich.