FB Financial Corp

FB Financial Corp

FB Financial Corp was founded by Alan Fishman, a career real estate finance executive who previously led Independence Community Bank before its sale to Sovereign Bancorp. The firm emerged in the mid-2000s to fill a persistent gap in New York City commercial real estate lending: developers who needed sub-$50 million construction loans but could not meet the rigid underwriting standards of regulated depositories. FB Financial operates as a non-bank commercial real estate finance company, originating loans on multifamily, mixed-use, and light industrial projects throughout the five boroughs and adjacent New Jersey markets. The firm originates senior secured construction loans, bridge financing, and pre-development advances, with a typical hold period of 12 to 36 months before syndication. FB Financial does not maintain a balance-sheet portfolio; instead, it underwrites each loan to the credit specifications of its downstream buyer network, which includes regional banks, credit unions, and insurance-company separate accounts. Asset classes in the deployment history include ground-up multifamily rental, condominium inventory financing, and adaptive reuse of underperforming office and warehouse stock in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. The firm has publicly cited transaction counterparties such as Investors Bank and Dime Community Bank in past placement activity. FB Financial maintains a lean operation with a commercial team of relationship managers, underwriters, and a loan-syndication desk based in New York. The firm does not operate additional offices or affiliated investment vehicles, and it has not disclosed a philanthropic foundation or family-office structure. Alan Fishman remains the controlling principal and the primary credit-committee authority. In 2023, the firm indicated a continued focus on workforce-housing construction lending, responding to the expiration of the 421-a tax abatement program and the resulting shift in developer capital stacks toward private credit solutions. FB Financial is distinguished by its pure origination-and-syndication model — the firm places every dollar it originates, carrying zero portfolio risk for itself. This architecture effectively makes it a credit intermediary rather than a lender, earning fee income on origination and syndication rather than net interest margin. It is one of the few remaining independent commercial real estate finance boutiques in New York that has not been acquired by a bank holding company, a posture that gives its developer clients a single, non-bureaucratic point of negotiation.