Starwood Capital Group acquired a commercial loan portfolio with an outstanding principal balance of approximately $312 million from a Southwestern regional bank. The portfolio includes 106 first mortgage loans and real estate owned (REO) assets. Approximately half of the loans are performing. The collateral involves office, retail, multifamily, hotel, residential, land and other properties.
Geographically, 70 percent of the loans are concentrated in Texas, followed by Colorado and Arizona.
“These loan portfolios are an important part of our ongoing strategy where we work directly with bank managements to structure transactions that fulfill their needs and also meet our own investment criteria,” said Managing Director with Starwood Capital Group Chris Graham in a statement. “We expect to continue to pursue similar transactions in the near future.”
Sabal Financial Group L.P. purchased a portfolio of performing and non-performing loans valued at $204 million. The portfolio consists mainly of commercial and residential acquisition loans and development and construction loans. The acquisition is part of a portfolio sale mandated by FDIC for assets held by failed banking institutions.
“This is our fourth FDIC transaction and we are currently bidding on others,” said Sabal Financial Group CEO R. Patterson Jackson in a statement. “Because of the recent influx in deals flooding the market, deal flow has been strong and we can be selective in our bidding process.”
Continental Real Estate Cos. (CREC) brokered the sale of 15 lender-owned assets in Florida valued at approximately $100 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.
In one of the more recent transactions, BACM Forum Way Office LLC sold the Sabadell United Bank Building and the Horizons Building in West Palm Beach to an affiliate of Pebb Enterprises for $15 million. The two office buildings total 177,000 sq. ft. of space. CREC represented the seller in the transaction.
In another deal, CS Pines Plaza LLC sold Pines Plaza, a 68,170-sq.-ft. shopping center in Pembroke Pines to Morris Pines Associates for $9.6 million. CREC, which as a leasing agent brought the property to 100 percent occupancy, represented the seller in the transaction.
In addition, CREC negotiated seven multifamily and land transactions totaling $50 million. The sales involved vacant land, partially completed projects, fractured condominium and negative flow transactions.
“The real estate market has finally shown transactional life and movement over the past three years,” said CREC Chairman and Co-founder Warren Weiser in a statement. “What began with properties falling into distress due to economic volatility ultimately gave way to workouts, receiverships and foreclosures. Previously, assets were held with no hope of recovery. The silver lining and recent trend has been driven by low interest rates, strengthening foreign currencies against the dollar and abundance of equity hungry for Florida assets.”
Helios Capital Advisors sold a non-performing commercial loan portfolio on behalf of Investors Bank for approximately $23 million. The portfolio includes 26 individual loans secured by assets located throughout New Jersey. The buyers were a New York-based fund investor and a New Jersey operator.
Helios went through two rounds of bidding for the portfolio and closed the transaction within a 90-day period.
Rockwell Partners has been named court-appointed receiver for the commercial portion of Streeterville Center, a 26-story high-rise building in downtown Chicago. Rockwell will now be responsible for operating, managing, repositioning and protecting the property.
Streeterville Center includes 65,000 sq. ft. of office space, 4,000 sq. ft. of retail space and a public parking garage. Ted Thilman, managing director, will handle this assignment on behalf of Rockwell Partners.
The RADCO Cos. purchased Highland Pointe, a 260-unit apartment complex in Union City, Ga. from an institutional lender. The complex features garden-style apartments consisting of two-, three- and four-bedroom units averaging 1,277 sq. ft.
CBRE Auction Services will hold an online auction on March 13 to sell a 42-acre development site with entitlements for 98 single-family homes in Garner, N.C. The auction will open at a minimum bid of $250,000.
The previous asking price on the property was $1.6 million.
“One of the largest special servicers in the country has decided the most efficient way to sell the property on a certain date is by auction,” said Paul Galanis, managing director of CBRE Auction Services, in a statement. “As a result, the special servicer has committed to sell the property to the highest bidder at or above $250,000, well below the previous asking price of $1.6 million.”
In a separate transaction, CBRE Auction Services will collectively sell six surplus properties on behalf of Schwan’s Home Service Inc. and Schwan’s Consumer Brands Inc. in an online auction on March 22. The properties are industrial assets located in North Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. They will be sold individually, some with reserve and one subject to a low minimum bid.
All of the properties are currently vacant and most come with dock doors, freezers and excess acreage.
“Schwan’s has identified these properties as underutilized in its overall portfolio and determined that the most effective way to sell them in a timely fashion is by auction,” said Douglas Johnson, managing director of CBRE Auction Services, in a statement. “They’re committed to selling all of the properties and are offering one with an extremely compelling low minimum bid.”
UGL Services, a division of UGL Ltd., formed a capital markets services group aimed at providing financial analytics support and advisory services for capital markets transactions, leasing deals and transactions involving distressed assets.
The group will be based in Chicago, but offer its services on a national basis. David Clark, senior vice president of advisory and consulting services, will be the group’s head. He will be supported by Ed Wlodarczyk, senior vice president, and Boris Shraybman, director of analytics and education. Other group members will include Jeff Donnelley and Mark Civitillo in New York City, and Mario Mexia, Matthew Mexia and David Otis in Los Angeles.