Mezzanine Lenders Swoop In
Crains New York reports: In Manhattan alone, there are 130 troubled properties worth $7.5 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics. With credit markets still frozen shut, many owners will be unable to refinance loans falling due and will have no choice but to default.
Eastdil Secured, for example, is currently marketing a $100 million debt position owned by insurer The Hartford that was used in 2006 to help finance the $5.4 billion purchase of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village by Tishman Speyer and BlackRock. The owners had hoped to deregulate a substantial number of units in the sprawling rent-regulated complex and use the increased cash flow to pare down debt. That didn't happen, and the complex has been rapidly burning through rainy-day reserve funds. A default is possible as early as this fall, sources say.
It doesn't take long for vulture investors to bag their prey. That's because many buildings were partially financed with mezzanine debt, which bridges the gap between the buyer's down payment and the first mortgage loan.
View the full article on Crains New York: Mezzanine Lenders Swoop In
Posted by: Mark Alferman