Bloomberg reported that Capmark Financial Group, one of the largest U.S. commercial real estate finance companies has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Capmark was feeling pressure on two fronts.  First and foremost, they had originated more than $10 billion worth of commercial real estate debt.  As the default rates on these loans began to increase, [...]

Read Full Post »

According to a Bloomberg article published today, the outlook for commercial real estate is still very bleak with values having fallen 27% thru June of this year.  All indications also point to more downward pressure on rents and in turn on property values.  High unemployment, lack of consumer spending and a contraction in industrial production [...]

Read Full Post »

An article today by The Associated Press discusses an issue that I have felt for some time now has gone unaddressed by the media and the government.  This issue is that of “whole” loans which are also referred to as portfolio loans.  These are loans that are held by the lenders, as opposed to commercial [...]

Read Full Post »

The Wall Street Journal reported today that Maguire Properties, one of the largest office property owners in Southern California and a client that I have represented in the past, has warned that it will very likely default on $1.06 billion worth of debt encumbering seven properties.  Maguire has said that it will likely turn the properties [...]

Read Full Post »

The Business Insider posted an interesting chart today showing the rapid rate at which commercial real estate loans are going into default.  Deutsche Bank, a company that I have represented in the past on several deals, which has been generally very pessimistic about the condition of the real estate markets had to revise its projections [...]

Read Full Post »

Another report by Reuters today states that commercial real estate prices dropped a record amount in the second quarter of 2009.  According to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Real Estate, commercial real estate prices fell 18.1% in the second quarter, off nearly 39% from the markets peak in mid-2007.  Although [...]

Read Full Post »

Another day and another article sounding the alarm of the impending collapse of the commercial real estate markets.  Reuters reported today that the worst is yet to come for real estate loans.  Analysts estimate that banks will likely continue to take write-downs on commercial loans for the next two years and the number of such [...]

Read Full Post »