Avatar Financial Group LLC (“Avatar”), a national bridge lender for commercial real estate, has hired Richard Caldwell as Director of Originations.
Richard Caldwell has amassed a wealth of experience in commercial real estate finance, fund management and banking for over the past 25-plus years, including extensive lending and joint venture equity structuring for real estate investments across a spectrum of product types.
“As a longtime member of the upper echelon of the industry, Richard is well-versed in both commercial real estate and capital markets, as well as with the decision-making process when it comes to investment and financing,” commented Avatar’s president, T.R. Hazelrigg IV. “We look forward to working with Richard and seeing the ways in which he will apply his significant expertise to help grow the Avatar platform.”
Before joining Avatar, Caldwell served as Chief Lending Officer of Extensia Financial, a credit union service organization and commercial real estate lender. He held a similar role at Pacific National Bank, where he was responsible for over $2 billion in real estate loans as EVP and Chief Lending Officer. Earlier in his career, he was a founding Partner at Buchanan Street Partners, where he oversaw the real estate equity fund manager’s San Francisco, Denver, and Seattle offices.
As a longtime executive team member, Caldwell has been responsible for lending, operations, credit management, policies and compliance, and team leadership. An alumnus of the University of Oregon, he also earned a Master of International Business Management at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management.
