President's Message
Welcome to the Real Estate Lenders Association, THE premier organization for providers of debt and equity to the commercial real estate industry.
Since 1992, RELA has provided an active platform for information exchange and professional networking in the New York metropolitan area. Eighteen years of impressive speakers and educational panels, industry-wide cocktail receptions and fund-raising golf events, have brought RELA into the fabric of NYC commercial real estate. RELA has since expanded into Chicago, entering its fourth successful year of bringing to the mid-West the same outstanding programming and networking events that New York colleagues have long enjoyed.
With our industry entrenched in such now-familiar topics as price capitulation, bank nationalization, and punctuated equilibrium, there is no better time to benefit from an expansive network of fellow real estate professionals. To that end, RELA has launched two additional chapters encompassing the Boston and Washington D.C. metropolitan regions, furthering its goal of achieving a national reach into the major financial centers in the US.
Now is a challenging time of uncertain paths in the world of commercial real estate finance, much like the period when RELA was founded. And same as then, this organization stands to support, enhance, and encourage the professional growth of our members. Please join us in sharing your knowledge, connection, ideas, and information. We look forward to greeting you at our meetings and events.
Past Presidents
Gregory J. Spevok (Dec.) 1992
Paul K. Goldberg 1993
Matthew Landau 1994
David T. Kra 1995, 1996
Joseph M. Bassil 1997
Bernard Rechtman 1998
Suzanne Kliegerman 1999
Maria D. Kastanis 2000
Scott Swerdlin 2001
Mark Lanspa 2002
Thomas E. Sasso (Dec.) 2003
Katherine Gnapp 2004
George Gnad 2004-06
John Gunther-Mohr 2006-08
Darcie Wendolowski 2008-09