News
HERE'S COMES THE (CMBS) PAIN
July 30, 2012
It began with a CMBS observation by Centerline?s John Beam (left) who quipped, ?What I want to know is how 350 [billion dollars] a year that's coming due in the next three years on average, how you guys are going to refi all that?? That's when Cantor Commercial Real Estate's Sam Kupersmith answered . . . | ||
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| ?We're happy to try and refinance it all, but honestly, there's going to be some pain.? That little verbal transaction was just one of the highlights from our third annual Atlanta Capital Markets Summit Friday at the Westin Buckhead. | ||
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| 320 CRE pros listened to our debt panel discuss the state of lending. And if you're a life insurance company, then you are having a great time in today's capital markets. (There's a standing order for confetti at all life companies.) ?Life companies are not stretching to do anything,? First Fidelity Mortgage?s Richard Booth tells everyone: They have their ?pick of the crop,? buying the top 25% of properties in the market. ?They are very selective, but they are willing to get very competitive for the right deal.? | ||
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| Wells Fargo?s Melissa Frawley says deal making in this ?choppy? economy means the bank?s Atlanta division will likely originate fewer loans than it has targeted for 2012. Wells Fargo hopes to originate $1B in loans this year out of Atlanta; Melissa says it will probably do $700M. But loan activity has been ?all over the board,? with a concentration in the Southeast and in Texas. ?We're seeing, surprisingly, [deals] in South Florida.? (Everybody always thought the only things coming out of SFL were oranges and sunscreen.) | ||
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| State Bank & Trust?s Brad Watkins (here with our moderator, Arnall Golden Gregory's Mindy Planer) sees a lot of opportunities in metro Atlanta for loans, especially funding multifamily renovations. ?Our view, right or wrong… is some of these deals may have been overleveraged or under-managed, but somebody still showed up to pay the bills,? Brad says. State Bank & Trust just closed loans on three Whole Foods shopping centers in Savannah, Virginia Beach, and Tallahassee and financed the Hyatt redevelopment in Midtown. As for his views on the economy? ?I don't see anything that gives significant lift to the economy? this year, with too much uncertainty over the election and the European debt crisis, he says. | ||
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| You may remember JAZ Development's David Oliver from when we was with Stafford Development. Or even more famously when he developed Two Buckhead Plaza. (Those are only two tracks on his greatest hits album.) He recently acquired 24-28 East Andrews. But he also has words for developers: Go ahead and get your sites entitled today. ?The demand is coming where you can start to put a shovel in the gound over the next two to three years,? David says. But you need to get your site secure before that, and that process could take time, he says. | ||
