Essex Financial Group, which will close an estimated $750 million in commercial real estate loans this year, is changing the guard. J. Jeffrey Riggs, who founded the firm 26 years ago, is passing the baton to Cooper Williams, who has spent his entire professional career at Essex. “We are proud to announce that Cooper Williams, effective…

Life insurance companies increasingly are a better option than Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac for investors buying apartment buildings, according to veteran mortgage banker Peter Keepper. Freddie and Fannie, known as government sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, have been the single biggest lenders for multifamily acquisitions in Denver and across the U.S. in recent years. Keepper…