NEW YORK – Velios Capital, a new commercial real estate finance firm, born of the decades of experience and dynamic working relationship between its principals, George Eliopoulos and Dimitri (Jimmy) Vattes, hosted its grand opening at the brand new WeWork office space facility on April 9.
Velios finances anything from multifamily dwelling construction loans to business loans. They also do some residential loans, but they are focused on the commercial end of the market.
“We are now doing deals in Maryland, Long Island, upstate New York, and we just made an offer on a property in Kansas City,” Eliopoulos said.
His father is from a village near Lamia in Central Greece and his mother is from Athens. He was born on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and grew up at the Church of the Annunciation.
“My children George and Alexandra are here today with my grandchildren. Dimitri is here with his mom and his wife and infant daughter. We consider ourselves a family business” and that is reflected also in how they work with their clients.
“We are not transaction driven. We are relationship driven,” he continued. “Our clients come back to us over and over again,” Eliopoulos told TNH.
Vattes added that they have a wide array of clients and noted the have a client who is a doctor with whom he has done 30 deals over the past 10 years. “We’ve done his residences, his commercial properties and I have used 15 to 20 banks,” he said.
Vattes’ parents are both from Southern Chios and he was born in Queens and grew up in Manhasset Long Island.
He and Eliopoulos learned the business working at Mortgage World Bankers/MW capital. “We had great rapport there over the past 13 years there. We felt it was time for a change and we operate well together so we formed Velios Capital and we moved here on March 1.
“His nickname is Elios and we put the “v” from my last name in front,” he explained. It rhymes with Ilios – the Greek word for sun, and Vattes said the “v” is “catchy”
Asked about the division of labor between them, he said “We both do the same thing, which is debt placement, and we bounce ideas off each other.”
Eliopoulos, has been doing it for so long that he has many banking contacts, so he is more on the banking side and Vattes is more involved with brokerage debt placement.
Eliopoulos invited Fr. Micheal-Mircea Dobre, from his parish of St. Demetrios in Jamaica to bless the Velios’ home. “I am happy to be here on this special day to pray for the success” of his parishioner’s new venture.
Taking their intuition and ability to spot trends proven over decades of business success, they applied it to their own endeavor and the they love their new commercial home at WeSpace.
Eliopoulos saw that the complex was the perfect place from which to launch their new business. “We were the first ones to view, to sign up, and to move in.”
According to the WeWork website “the opportunities to meet and work with fascinating people with a variety of interests are endless.”
The guests at the grand opening were also impressed with the modern space, with mainly glass walls open to its Astoria environs and neighboring offices – in WeSpace they are called “members” not tenants – that encourages interaction that breeds cross-pollination of ideas and opportunities for business.
“It’s a wonderful space and the people are very friendly here” Eliopoulos said. “Everybody here is an entrepreneur. They are all high energy and very positive.”
The facility, which is called a co-working space, includes conference rooms they members share and boasts an attractive café.
“We have access to the roof in summer and there is a patio on the second floor and we have access to the largest beer garden in New York downstairs,” Eliopoulos added.
The office areas are located in the Studio Square complex “a bustling event and entertainment destination that hosts major events in fashion, food, music, and more.”