Joel D. Simmons

Joel Simmons serves as Executive Managing Director of the Debt and Structured Finance Group at Newmark since 2012. Prior to joining the firm, Simmons served as an Executive Vice President of Grubb & Ellis Company, a commercial real estate services and predecessor to Newmark. Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis in 2009, Simmons was a senior partner at Cohen Financial Corporation, a national real estate mortgage-banking firm since 1983. Simmons started his career in 1981 with Broms Capital Group, a boutique commercial mortgage brokerage firm.

During his career thus far, Simmons has been personally responsible for the structuring and placement of over 1,200 real estate commercial property debt and structured finance transactions, representing over $13 billion of capital deployed. During his career, Simmons developed many of the correspondent institutional lender relationships of the firms he has been associated with, and has assisted in the creation and growth of each company’s national mortgage banking platforms. His acumen for structuring complex real estate solutions along the capital stack is enhanced by his longstanding capital relationships including life insurance companies, debt funds, banks, private equity, agency lenders and other specialized lending sources. His client roster includes developers, fund sponsors, investment funds, REITS, private investors and family office investors.

Simmons currently sits on the Board of Directors of Inland Bank and Trust based in Oakbrook Illinois. Simmons has also served on the Board of Directors of Hilco Global, and currently serves as an observer to the Board. Hilco Global is a privately held diversified financial services company based in Northbrook, IL. Simmons has also served on the boards of Inland Real Estate Corporation, a real estate investment trust that was listed on the NYSE prior to it being acquired by DRA Advisors in 2015, and Albany Bank & Trust Co., an Chicago based bank. Simmons is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the ICSC Illinois State Committee. He also serves as an Executive Board Member of The Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation, one of the nation’s largest foundations committed to gastrointestinal cancer research and real estate education.

Education
Simmons received his B.S. Degree in Finance from Loyola University in Chicago.