ING opens new West Coast office.

Headquartered in New York, the US arm of ING Real Estate Finance has established a second real estate lending office to better serve its expanding regional and national client base on the west coast. The new office is located in downtown Los Angeles at 601 South Figueroa.

Christopher S. Godlewski has been appointed head of the Los Angeles office. Godlewski will be responsible for the organization's continued expansion of ING Real Estate Finance's real estate lending platform across the west coast region. Joining Godlewski is Christine Tran, as associate in originations.

David A. Mazujian, managing director and president of ING Real Estate Finance (USA) LLC noted, "Establishing a second beachhead in the US will fortify a key part of our growth strategy and allow us to be more responsive to our west coast clients' financing needs.

"While ING remains fully committed to its existing markets including The Netherlands, setting up a dedicated office on the west coast will directly address ING's desire to identify growth markets beyond ING's existing footprint."

Godlewski will continue to report to David Mazujian, having relocated from New York to set up the Los Angeles office.

Godlewski joined ING in June 2005 as a Team Leader in the New York office after seven years at Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen Girozentrale, where he held a similar position. Godlewski holds a Bachelors degree in Business Marketing from SUNY-Plattsburgh and an MBA degree with a concentration in Finance from LeMoyne College.

Tran joined the Los Angeles office earlier in 2006 after two years at MetLife, also in Los Angeles. Tran holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from Cornell University and an MBA degree with a concentration in Real Estate/ Finance from the University of Southern California. Mazujian expects to further grow staffing in 2007 based on business activity to date.