Maria D. Kastanis, Chair of the Board
ING Real Estate Finance
Maria D. Kastanis is a leader in the New York metro area real estate finance with over 25 years of experience in all stages of lending and asset management, involving origination, underwriting, negotiating deal terms, closings, and construction loan management.
She is currently Head of Portfolio Management/Senior Director with ING Real Estate Finance managing a $7 billion national real estate portfolio of construction loans, mezzanine debt, term loans, and lines of credit. Ms. Kastanis also originated new loans with New York City real estate developers for INGREF. Currently, Ms. Kastanis is restructuring loans and workout loans due to the market downturn.
Prior to joining INGREF, Ms. Kastanis was Senior Vice President/Team Leader with Bank of America’s Real Estate Banking group and managed a $750 million real estate portfolio of construction loans, mezzanine debt, repositioned properties, opportunity funds, and lines of credit for New York City clients. Prior to the merger of Fleet with Bank of America, Ms. Kastanis expanded Fleet’s already-successful $7 billion real estate portfolio by moving investments into boroughs outside of Manhattan and developing clients beyond established NYC real estate families.
Before joining Fleet, Ms Kastanis was a Vice President in the Real Estate Lending Division at The Bank of New Yor,k providing banking services, financing, construction loans, and asset management for major real estate customers. She was instrumental in expanding Bank of New York’s real estate portfolio to include lending relationships with real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the tri-state area.
Ms. Kastanis began her career in the real estate industry with both domestic and internationally-based companies, including Merrill Lynch Hubbard, Credit Lyonnais, Sentinel Real Estate Corporation, and KreditBank (KBC).
Ms. Kastanis received her B.B.A. and an M.B.A. from Pace University. She was Past President and is currently Chairman of the Real Estate Lenders Association and a ULI member. Ms. Kastanis is on the board of The Ghetto Film School and has been a Student Mentor for New York City High School students. She resides on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and is an avid cyclist and traveler.