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Credit and Commercial Real Estate Summit Report
2 011 Second Q uar ter Roun dt able
Spring for Commercial Real Estate:
When will it
get warm?
igh volatility, high uncertainty and plenty of changes afoot. How
can we know where to go and how to get there?
In brief...
n Despite continued challenges, the market has thawed and momentum continues to increase.
n Institutional quality investment market fully robust, but questions of future yields remain.
n Multifamily continues to be the favored asset class.
Credit and Commercial Real Estate
Summit Roundtables
n Fannie and Freddie have been instrumental to the recovery, but there may be changes ahead.
n Interest rates will rise, but when? How should one prepare?
n Distressed assets still held by lenders continue to weigh down the market, but so far show few signs
A series of roundtable summits hosted by Wrightwood
Capital to explore the issues, risks and opportunities
of igniting another crisis.
present in commercial real estate with a “credit point
n Trust between lenders and borrowers is returning, but slowly.
of view”
• Attendance is by invitation only, and includes a
At the heart of commercial real estate there lies a singular paradox: success is determined
quite often by an ability to see ahead, to respond to change and to understand what few
others can perceive. And yet, crucial to that same success is the knowledge that the future,
though often familiar is always unknowable. The future twists and turns of commercial real
estate are analogous to the “undiscovered country” of the afterlife in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
It is prudent to be skeptical when someone proclaims certainty about anything, whether it is
the future of interest rates, inflation, absorption or cap rates. With an abundance of volatility
and change, certainty can only be illusory. Asking for a second, third, or even fourth opinion
is probably a good idea.
Wrightwood Capital’s quarterly credit roundtables are an attempt to hear as many
different views as possible. Even if the future is unknowable, our collective experiences and
perspectives helps us navigate through the darkness. April’s credit roundtable in Los Angeles,
California was an opportunity to sit down with a broad range of experienced and thoughtful
commercial real estate leaders – and collect their thoughts on what is happening right now,
what might happen in the days and months ahead, and what it all means for commercial real
estate investing, credit, and operations.
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small group of thought leaders in commercial real
estate investing.
• The summit directly addresses the current risks and
opportunities of innovation in today’s environment.
Candid, direct, even provocative viewpoints are
welcome and expected from each participant.
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Their points of view, insight and thoughtfulness may not have been definitive descriptions
of what we can expect, but they did provide some small light for our journey through the
“undiscovered country” of a post-recession commercial real estate environment. This report
lays out a few of their more cogent insights.
Life is better now than it was before…but it may not be easy.
Three years have passed since the capital markets began to freeze – a time period long
enough for less seasoned investors to forget what growth looks like. However, with first
quarter transactions of over $30 billion – handily surpassing first quarter 2010 levels – and
with CMBS back in action at $10 billion of debt originated in the first quarter, and cap
rates settling into a low end of their range, life is gaining a resemblance of normalcy and even
promise. Fundamentals may be stubbornly weak, absorption bad, job creation painfully low
and plenty of things on the horizon to worry about, but there is liquidity and deals are getting
done – albeit if getting it done requires twice as much work.
Unlike a year ago, there is a definite uptick in investments, particularly for multi-family
assets in core markets. Does that mean we are well on the way to recovery? Gary Grabel,
Managing Director of Ethan Christopher, LLC is cautiously positive, “I think this will be
a much slower recovery than what we saw in the 1990’s, we have an underlying current of
economic problems that still have to be fixed.” Grabel, however, felt that this was still a good
time to invest because of dislocation and change. “When there’s change, there’s opportunity.
If you structure your deal right – being far more careful with credit than in the past – there
are opportunities.”
“There is no shortage of debt for multi-family. From a
debt standpoint, it’s an extremely attractive product
because there is an exisiting cash flow.” — David Feingold
There may be opportunities, but they aren’t always easy. Institutional investors have been
aggressively bidding up pricing on core assets, especially multi-family. In core markets
like Southern California capitalization rates approaching 4% for the best assets are not
uncommon. According to Brian Lezak, President of Cameron Pacific/Majestic Investments,
“There’s so much capital rushing to multi-family right now, it’s hard to find an opportunity.
If you can find something good in multi-family, I would be bullish, but with all the money
that’s pouring into that sector, and investors willing to accept lower yields, it’s just hard to
compete. In the long run it’s a great time to invest, but it’s just hard to find opportunity in
multi-family anymore.”
Richard Harris, Managing Principal of Newport Venture Capital, observed, “We are seeing
institutional investors, especially in the multi-family sector, buying on future yield and not
looking closely at current yield. If it’s a debt driven transaction and interest rates subsequently
go up a couple hundred basis points when they are ready to exit others will not be willing to
pay the same cap rate as they paid. All of a sudden, there’s going to be a squeeze to the
equity investor.”
Regarding multi-family, there is no shortage of debt. David Feingold, Managing Director at
Emigrant Realty Finance, LLC, points out that, “from a debt standpoint, it’s an extremely
attractive product because there is an existing cash flow. There also appears to be great
opportunity for rent growth. While I may not be happy with the declining spreads, its’
probably the most comfortable asset for a senior leader.”
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Source: Real Capital Analytics
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Demographics and tougher economic times are certainly driving demand in multi-family in
core markets. According to Bob Champion, Principal of Champion Real Estate Company,
“in the 1990’s something like 18% of those aged between 22 and 32 converted to home
ownership. The estimates for this cycle are less than 5%. Their capacity to buy a new home is
dramatically dampened by the tighter lending standards and employment growth. That bodes
well for the rental market.”
Credit & Commercial Real Estate
Roundtable Participants:
It may bode well, but there are some questions about whether those demand characteristics
will be permanent. According to Shelley Magoffin, CEO of Dwyer-Curlett and Company,
“I have a hard time believing that we’re in this major shift where all of a sudden everyone’s a
renter and no one wants to buy a house forever more. We’re going to get to a point where the
economy is better, people are working and salaries go up. Young people will get married, have
their first child and want to buy that little house. Right now we have an ultraconservative
lending environment for single family housing. That will shift as the economy shifts, just like
it always does.” Shelley added, however, by saying, “At the same time, I think apartments are
a good investment. I wish I could lend on apartments all day long, but I do think everybody
isn’t going to suddenly become renters for the rest of their lives.”
• Bob Champion, President
Champion Real Estate Company
Paul Brindley, Senior Managing Director at HFF, had a slightly different take on multifamily demand, “Class A apartments are not necessarily the best long-term bet. The Class A
renter is typically the more transient renter – likely to purchase a home as things get better.
It’s different with Class B and C renters. They are renters now and will continue to be renters
in the future. They recently got a taste of home ownership – but it didn’t work out too well.
They are unlikely to return to ownership. Class A rental growth may only have slight growth
while Class B and C will experience huge growth – and there’s no new stock of
those apartments.”
“If you look at some of the census data and the formation
of new households and population growth, you will
see that it’s tremenduously influenced by immigration.
Immigrants aren’t typically Class A renters.”
— Steven Ludwig
Steven Ludwig, President of Coastline Real Estate Advisors, Inc., agreed, “If you look at
some of the census data and the formation of new households and population growth, you
will see that it’s tremendously influenced by immigration. Immigrants aren’t typically Class
A renters. While there may not be huge rent growth in B and C apartments, they are still
heavily occupied. They’ve had some dip in rental rates, but when you go into those units, you
see that instead of one or two people per unit, there are now four or five people in each unit.
As they get jobs, they aren’t likely to move up to A apartments or home ownership – more
likely they will convert to two B or C apartments as their economic situation improves.”
The future of Fannie and Freddie
Major players in the recovery of commercial real estate, Government Sponsored Enterprises
(GSE’s) such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been instrumental to this recovery by
providing debt when very few others could, but there is some question about their future –
and of the impact any changes might have on commercial real estate.
• Eli Applebaum, President
High Desert Investment Group
• Paul Brindley, Senior Managing Director
HFF
• Bradley Cohen, President
Cohen Asset Management, Inc.
• Jeffrey A. Dritley, Managing Partner
Kearny Real Estate Company
• Michael T. Elmore, Senior Vice President
NorthMarq Capital
• Steven Fein, Partner
DLA Piper
• David Feingold, Managing Director
Emigrant Realty Finance, LLC
• Gary Grabel, Managing Director
Ethan Christopher, LLC
• Richard Harris, Managing Principal
Newport Venture Capital
• Brian Lezak, President
Majestic Asset Management
• Marianne Lowenthal, Executive Vice President
Combined Properties, Incorporated
• Steven Ludwig, President
Coastline Real Estate Advisors, Inc.
• Shelley Magoffin, CMB, President & CEO
Q10|Dwyer-Curlett
• Juri Ripinsky, Founder & President
Continental Development Group
• Torrey Ripinsky, Managing Member
Continental Development Group
• Sean A. Sheward, Executive VP/CIO
Turner Real Estate Investments
• Bruce Cohen, CEO
Wrightwood Capital
• David Kadin, Senior Director, Investments
Wrightwood Capital
• Michael Lowinger, Senior Regional Director
Wrightwood Capital
• Mark Macedo, Senior Regional Director
Wrightwood Capital
• Gunnar Branson, Principal
Branson Powers, Inc.
Michael Elmore, Senior Vice President of NorthMarq Capital was positive about GSE’s
continued role, “Fannie and Freddie are not going to go away in the next two to three years.
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What is the political incentive for either party to kill Fannie and Freddie until the single
family market truly recovers and you have a private market able to finance single family?
Multi-family financing from the GSE’s is a very profitable business, particularly at Freddie.
They make over a billion dollars net a year. Fannie is not as good, they’re bigger and have had
more losses.”
Michael continued, “meanwhile, life companies are beating Fannie and Freddie. We just did a
$50 million deal up in the Bay Area, where one of our life companies beat the agencies with
more money and a better price.”
Shelley pointed out, “GSE’s are a strong contributing factor to that competitiveness. If they
go away, life companies won’t feel compelled to give you that kind of pricing. I love telling
insurance companies we have agencies in the deal.”
David Feingold
“GSE’s are a strong contributing factor to that
competitiveness. If they go away, life companies won’t
feel compelled to give you that kind of pricing. I love telling
insurance companies we have agencies in the deal.”
— Shelley Magoffin
Michael Elmore
Aside from the benefit of providing competition, the importance of GSE’s as designed
clearly lies in their ability to provide liquidity when no one else is there. David reminded
everyone, “Think back to 2009 and 2010. The only liquidity was the agencies. The impact
today may be nominal, but in times of illiquidity, it is significant.”
Steven agreed, “Fannie and Freddie are the benchmark when times are bad in setting
the lending standard. If, in the future, times get tough again and Fannie and Freddie aren’t
there – who sets that benchmark? Could we ever recover the debt markets as well
without them?”
Threats to recovery… interest rates, changes in tenants
and distressed portfolios
Shelley Magofinn
Central to many investors concerns over current compressed cap rates is the fear that
rising interest rates could severely damage yields. The question is, will they rise? And
will they rise soon?
Marianne Lowenthal, Executive Vice President of Combined Properties, Inc., took a
proactive approach to the question: “I think interest rates will rise; when, I don’t know. But
we are refinancing as much as we can right now with the rates so low. We would love to be
buying and financing now, but it’s too competitive.”
Gary pointed out that an immediate risk is that of rates rising before any particular deal
closes, “We put a cap on a recent deal that we are trying to finance, because we feel the rates
are going up over the intermediate term.”
There was a consensus in the room that though interest rates will rise, and that there is some
volatility, it is unlikely that large shifts in rates will occur in the next few quarters.
A contributing factor perhaps to interest rates, inflation and the possibility of it heating up in
the U.S. economy has become a significant point of discussion. Bob stated unequivocally, “We
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think that there is going to be tremendous inflation down the road. We’re not sure when it
will happen, but we are concerned about our position in retail as a consequence. We’re locked
into rental increases that we think are probably going to be less than real inflation.”
Bruce Cohen, CEO of Wrightwood Capital countered that inflation may still be a way off,
“Despite the current volatility of commodity prices, the key for inflation is wage pressure.
Until unemployment really gets down towards 6%, there won’t be meaningful inflation.”
At the same time, uncertainty and volatility seems to have changed the thinking of the
potential companies that will eventually drive growth. When they consider leasing real estate,
the need for flexibility has become somewhat more important.
Bob Champion
Jeffrey Dritley, Managing Partner of Kearney Real Estate Company reminded the room that,
“You’ve got to remember that to the big companies, rents are not that big of a deal, flexibility
is. So we are seeing that industrial and office leases are now 1 to 3 years shorter. They may still
sign a five year lease, but they want a 2 or 3 year out. Flexibility seems to be more important
than cheap rates.”
“You’ve got to remember that to the big companies, rents
are not that big of a deal, flexibility is.”
— Jeffrey Dritley
Brian Lezak
Marianne commented, “That’s certainly cause for concern on the finance side. If that is truly
happening, as these leases roll more, all of a sudden these multi-tenant buildings will be more
challenging to finance.”
Juri Ripinsky, Managing Principal at Continental Development pointed out, “we try for
initial terms of 12 years, 13 years because we’re trying to get three to five years on the other
side of our loan maturities. And so, the conventional five or ten-year lease with multiple fiveyear options is out the window. As a matter of fact, we fight very hard not to give options and
if we do we fight even harder not to give five-year options because we like ten-year loans. It’s
worth going the extra mile to avoid that if we can.”
Marianne Lowenthal
Bradley Cohen, President of Cohen Asset Management, Inc. had a slightly different view, “I
don’t really see that having much of an effect because you really need two to tango. You need
a landlord to agree to a shorter lease. If they want the lease, they have to sign the lease we
want them to sign. If they want a 7 year lease versus a 9 year lease, you might do that, but
you won’t do a 2 or 3 year lease. You’re just not going to do it if there’s some demand for
your product.”
At this point in time, however, there are instances where the landlord may very well want
shorter terms. As a retail owner, Marianne pointed out, “in some instances, we are doing
shorter term leases because we don’t want to lock in the current low rents. You have to think
really hard about locking in a long term lease at today’s rents.”
Another threat often discussed is the distressed assets still held by lenders. Despite the
FDIC’s most recent quarterly report (2010 Volume 4, Number 4) that identified 860 banking
institutions on their problem list with assets valued over $379 billion, defaulted loans in the
fourth quarter of 2010 actually fell from 4.36% to 4.28% of assets. This is promising, but will
working out those troubled bank portfolios have a significant negative impact on the health
of the market? Perhaps the critics of “extend and pretend” were right to argue that we should
have had a forced liquidation like the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) effected in the
1990’s in order to reset the market.
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And yet, quite a bit of value was preserved by the banks just by waiting a little longer for
markets to improve. Loans that may have sold for half of their original price a couple of
years ago have regained at least some of the value lost. Borrowers were given a bit more
time to recover and perhaps even retain their assets while banks were able to gain a breather
and build up their reserves through deposits (and a few loans from the government). Now
that they are on sounder financial footing, they can handle an orderly resolution of assets is
possible without falling apart – and without flooding the market with too much discounted
product all at once.
According to David Feingold, “We have argued strenuously – keep the borrower in place if
the cash flow is sufficient to cover debt service and a reasonable re-margin payment offered.
The alternative of selling at a trough, costs everyone. The bank’s cost of capital compared to an
opportunistic investor is nominal. There are capital costs to carrying it, but valuation does and
has already improved.”
Jeffrey Dritley
Jeffrey agreed, “Everybody who went through the nineties saw how much the banks left on
the table – and how much was given to opportunistic funds, so if the banks are able to wait it
out, they should. And over the past year, they were proven right to do so.”
“Thanks to the initial slowness of the recovery
and the slow pace of distressed asset resolution,
smaller companies are able to take their time,
assess different opportunities and make better
investment decisions.”
— Bradley Cohen
Despite the lack of large portfolios of discounted assets hitting the market all at once, not
taking the RTC approach may also help smaller companies better participate. Bradley Cohen
pointed out that, “During the days of the RTC, it was difficult for small companies to invest
in those large portfolios so quickly – limiting the opportunity to only the largest companies
and those with the deepest pockets. Now, thanks to the initial slowness of the recovery and
the slow pace of distressed asset resolution, smaller companies are able to take their time,
assess different opportunities and make better investment decisions.”
Torey and Juri Ripinsky
Bradley Cohen
Sean Sheward, Executive Vice President and CIO of Turner Real Estate Investments
observed, “We talk a lot about all of the distress that’s sitting in these banks. Our view is that
stuff is clearing and that the banks know there’s an enormously liquid market. The bigger
issue is the tremendous amount of debt for stabilized income producing properties. There’s
no shortage of CMBS, no shortage of GSE debt, no shortage of life companies. Each of
them are projecting to do approximately $40 billion this year. There’s plenty of room for
stabilized properties.”
Sean continued, “The problem is for anyone dependent on short-term floating rate debt
for value creation – and that capital comes from the regional banks who are in worse shape
than the big guys. The bad news is, new growth will be repressed. The good news is, existing
properties will perform well without large amounts of new construction until the regional
banks restore themselves.”
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The state of trust and the return of Spring
As one would expect after a recession, the trust between borrowers and lenders has changed
somewhat since 2007 and 2008. According to Shelley, “I don’t see a lot of trust from the
financing side, it’s kind of sad. The questions are never ending because they don’t trust
anything unless you can show them a piece of paper that proves it. If you are trying to get
something like 65% leverage now, there is very little trust.”
According to Michael, “When it’s an acquisition, there’s a date that everyone is focused on.
Those appear to close within the timeframe. When you are dealing with large institutions
needing regulatory approval of some kind, it’s very difficult. There doesn’t seem to be a
rhythm to the business today. You have a month where there’s really great deal flow, and then
you go another 30 days and everything you were working on has fallen through.”
Richard Harris
Shelley added, “Part of the reason it’s so difficult for lenders to trust the borrowers are
the lengths they have to go to get tenants. It becomes complicated when all the leases are
negotiated differently and it’s tough to understand the economics of the property. No one
wants to make a mistake.”
David observed, “During times of workout, you learn how little we truly understood the deal
we were in. If a lender is going to resume their business, they want to make sure they really
understand what is going on.”
Dan Chandler
Brian added, “With the inefficiencies in the banks and the market, it is not a fluid process
anymore. You think you have a transaction, and then something happens and you have to
restart again.”
Despite an overall difficulty of getting deals done, not all lenders are the same. According to
Richard, “There’s a difference between banks like Wells Fargo or JP Morgan that are staffed
with professionals. Then you get into some regional banks who were making 90% loans and
thought they were 75% are now doing the workouts. When you sit down and try to buy an
asset and explain it’s not worth the debt and it’s not worth the appraised value, not even close,
they don’t want to hear it.”
Paul Brindley
“There’s a difference between banks like Wells Fargo or JP
Morgan that are staffed with professionals. Then you get
into some regional banks who were making 90% loans
and thought they were 75% are now doing the workouts.”
— Richard Harris
Despite the difficulties, there seems to be a desire to re-build whatever trust was lost and to
focus on carefully building new business in the future. Michael Lowinger, Senior Regional
Director, at Wrightwood Capital stated, “We’re looking to build trust, to prove that we
understand borrowers’ business, the complexities of their plan, and what’s at stake. There’s a
real focus on transparency and communication.”
As everyone reflected on the state of the market today, and of how to succeed in the future, a
common theme was focus. Despite the volatility and uncertainty for the economy, of demand
and of values over the next several months, that focus should help many participants in
commercial real estate thrive through challenges.
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Brian, represented several people who are emphasizing the importance of their tenants.
“We’re focused a lot on our tenants, on understanding their business, their future and
their competition.”
Intermediaries are focused on getting and keeping the right people. Paul commented,
“We’re really focused on on growing the company with people that fit the culture of our
company. We’ve added 20 investment sales people on the west coast and continue to
selectively add producers.
“The key for us is really going to be routine and discipline,
staying patient and not getting too excited: We have a
deal, let’s do it, let’s stay disciplined.” — Sean Sheward
Eli Applebaum
Investors are focused on maintaining discipline, as Sean said, “We’ve had a few successes
lately and definitely see a pick up in volume and quality of deal flow. The key for us is really
going to be routine and discipline, staying patient and not getting too excited: We have a deal,
let’s do it, let’s stay disciplined.”
Lenders are more focused on their borrowers. According to Bruce, “As a capital provider, the
lesson for us has been all about the quality of the sponsor. When we look at the mistakes we
made, it was less about the real estate, the basis or the valuation – and much more about who
we provided capital to. Trust has become even more important – as we are focused on doing
business with the best quality people we possibly can.”
Compared to a year ago, the prospects for every player in commercial real estate have
improved markedly, and so has the sense of confidence in better days. Bruce Cohen summed
the state of emerging confidence when he pointed out, “When markets are going up, there
is a false sense of security, when they go down, there’s a false sense of panic. Every investor is
asking, ‘is it safe to go out there again?’ The answer depends on their judgments about where
the market is going long term, not just what is happening right now.”
Bruce Cohen
Gunnar Branson, Facilitator
“I’ve been fairly optimistic about our sector over the last 18 months as it progressively
rebuilds itself. It is not going to go off a cliff. We may not have a market where you can buy
on Tuesday and sell on Thursday for a profit. But if you buy it on Tuesday and hold it for a
period of time, you will do quite well.”
There is little doubt that the participants in this credit roundtable are all finding their way
towards making the right moves in volatile times.
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ATTENDEES
• Michael T. Elmore, Senior Vice President
NorthMarq Capital
www.northmarq.com
• Eli Applebaum, President
High
Desert Investment Group
High Desert Investment Group is an investment and development
company active in the spectrum of commercial real estate ranging
from creating and developing mixed use venues, office buildings
and shopping centers as well as Triple Net leases of public and
private companies.
• Paul Brindley, Senior Managing Director
HFF
www.hfflp.com
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, LP (“HFF”) and HFF Securities LP (“HFFS”)
are owned by HFF, Inc. (NYSE: HF). HFF operates out of 19 offices
nationwide and is a leading provider of commercial real estate and
capital markets services to the U.S. commercial real estate industry.
HFF together with its affiliate HFFS offer clients a fully integrated
national capital markets platform including debt placement, investment
sales, advisory services, structured finance, private equity, loan sales,
and commercial loan servicing.
• Bob Champion, President
Champion Real Estate Company
www.championrealestatecompany.com
Champion Real Estate Company has developed, renovated or
repositioned over $700 million in retail, office, multi-family and mixeduse properties in top tier, urban locations. Our projects have received
national recognition for their excellence including a NAHRO award for
one of our public-private partnerships, multiple ICSC Maxi Awards for
our shopping centers, multiple Builder Magazine Gold Nugget awards
for our multifamily, mixed-use and transit oriented projects and an
award from the California Historic preservation Society.
• Bradley Cohen, President
Cohen Asset Management, Inc.
www.cohenasset.com
Cohen Asset Management, Inc. is a private real estate investment firm
with more than three decades of experience as an active operator
of and an investor in industrial real estate assets and has a well
established reputation as a value-added investor focusing on real
estate opportunities that are inefficiently priced due to a variety
of circumstances.
• Jeffrey A. Dritley, Managing Partner
Kearny Real Estate Company
www.kearny.com
Kearny Real Estate Company, headquartered in Los Angeles, is
a partnership of experienced real estate professionals active in
the acquisition, entitlement, repositioning, development, leasing,
management and disposition of large, complex commercial projects
in Southern California. Since 1993, Kearny has been involved in $4.7
billion of projects including $2.1 billion of distressed real estate debt.
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NorthMarq Capital is the largest privately-owned servicer and provider
of commercial real estate debt and equity in the U.S. with an annual
production volume of $7 billion and a loan servicing portfolio of
nearly $40 billion on behalf of more than 50 institutional investors.
With 32 regional offices coast-to-coast, clients are offered an ideal
combination of a strong national company capable of attracting a wide
range of capital sources and an organization strategically positioned
to provide vital firsthand knowledge of local markets. NorthMarq has
a proud legacy of providing the highest quality service to real estate
investors, developers and capital sources for more than 50 years.
Our professionals recognize the importance of fulfilling the goals of
each client and work harder to help achieve this success. NorthMarq
continually sets new standards of excellence in serving our nationwide
client base while always remembering the importance of local
relationships and local service.
• Steven Fein, Partner
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
www.seyfarth.com
Seyfarth offers clients more than 750 lawyers practicing in ten offices
(Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San
Francisco, Sacramento, Washington D.C., and London. As a fullservice law firm, Seyfarth provides a broad range of legal services,
including: Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Finance, Securities,
Tax, Real Estate, Litigation, Labor & Employment and Employee
Benefits. Our clients range from Fortune 20 to sophisticated start-up
companies, and include publicly traded and privately held businesses.
We represent clients in multiple industries and geographies, and we
are diligent in providing the same level of commitment to each client.
We are committed to a set of core values that form the foundation
of our practice: Value-Driven Service, Transparency and Excellence.
Adherence to these core values helps us achieve both positive
results and positive experiences for our clients. It means that
we deliver our legal services in a manner that fosters long-term,
successful relationships.
• David Feingold, Managing Director
Emigrant Realty Finance, LLC
www.emigrantrealtyfinance.com
Emigrant Realty Finance is the nationwide commercial real estate
arm of New York based Emigrant Bank, a privately-held institution
with $14 billion of assets and $1.2 billion of real estate balance sheet
loans. With offices in New York and Los Angeles, Emigrant provides
senior, secured or unsecured financing for existing properties, new
construction and real estate operating companies of all real estate
asset types, principally in the East coast, West coast and Sunbelt.
• Gary Grabel, Managing Director
Ethan Christopher, LLC
www.ethanchristopher.com
Ethan Christopher LLC is a full service real estate firm which was
established in 1999. We are a leader in regional real estate investment
in both medical office buildings and shopping centers. Our goal is to
maximize the return of our investor’s money.
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• Richard Harris, Managing Principal
Newport Venture Capital
www.newportvc.com
• Juri Ripinsky, Founder and President
• Torrey Ripinsky, Managing Member
Continental Development Group
Newport Venture Capital is a commercial real estate finance and
mortgage banking company that helps its clients grow their businesses
through access to a broad range of capital sources, strategic
investment advice and top-notch execution of business plans. Our
clients include start up entrepreneurs, regional developers and
institutional investors.
Continental Development Group, LLC is a private real estate company
that has developed, acquired, repositioned, and managed commercial
and residential properties for over 30 years in southern California
and New York. Continental Development focuses on an investment
strategy that centers around strong government relationships, value
enhancement, and entitlement restructuring. In this current market
especially, Continental Development has shifted its focus on taking
advantage of the disparity in non-preforming notes and the valuation
of those securitized assets.
• Brian Lezak, President
Majestic Asset Management
www.majesticllc.com
Majestic Asset Management (“Majestic”) is a full service real estate
management and investment company. Majestic specializes in the
investment, development and management of retail, office, industrial
and multi-family properties throughout the United States. Majestic
and its principals have been actively managing and investing in real
estate since 1979. Majestic and its affiliates manage over 6,000,000
commercial square feet and 1,000 apartment units.
• Marianne Lowenthal, Executive Vice President
Combined Properties, Incorporated
www.combined.biz
Combined Properties, Incorporated is a full-service commercial real
estate development and asset management company. Combined was
founded to manage, develop and acquire retail shopping centers. It
has grown to be one of the largest, privately held, retail real estate
companies in the Washington, DC metropolitan area with an expanding
urban retail and mixed-use presence in Southern California. The
company’s current portfolio is valued at over $1 billion. Combined
specializes in the acquisition, development, and redevelopment of
open-air shopping centers and mixed-use projects. Combined is
committed to enhancing the urban environment through smart urban
design and sustainable development.
• Steven Ludwig, President
Coastline Real Estate Advisors, Inc.
www.coastlinerea.com
Coastline Real Estate Advisors, Inc. is a fully-integrated, boutique
real estate company offering property management, construction
management and consulting services to select investors looking
to maximize investment returns throughout all phases of the real
estate cycle.
• Shelley Magoffin, CMB, President & Chief Executive Officer
Q10|Dwyer-Curlett
www.dwyer.q10capital.com
Q10|Dwyer-Curlett is a pioneer commercial real estate finance firm
specializing in the placement of real estate debt and equity with life
insurance companies and other institutional sources. Dwyer-Curlett
finances a wide spectrum of commercial property types including
industrial buildings, office buildings, shopping centers and apartment
complexes. Methods of securing business, underwriting standards,
personnel and general outlook reflect the high standards and
requirements of these quality lenders.
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• Sean A. Sheward, Executive VP/Chief Investment Officer
Turner Real Estate Investments
www.TurnerREI.com
The principals of Turner Real Estate Investments (TREI) apply 30 years
of commercial real estate development, ownership and operational
expertise to acquire, manage and grow private equity funds that deliver
exceptional returns to discerning investors. Specifically, Turner Real
Estate Investments leverages its competitive advantages - unmatched
experience, best-in-industry relationships and an unparalleled deal
sourcing network - to purchase well-located, well-built industrial
and office projects at solid values in the California, Arizona and
Nevada markets.
• Bruce Cohen, CEO
• David Kadin, Senior Director, Investments
• Michael Lowinger, Senior Regional Director
• Mark Macedo, Senior Regional Director
Wrightwood Capital
www.wrightwoodcapital.com
Wrightwood Capital has made over $5.4 billion of loans and investments
since 1997, and currently manages approximately $1.5 billion in assets.
Smart commercial real estate operators and investors have learned to
depend on Wrightwood Capital’s views on risk, credit and capital flows,
as well as its ability to custom-tailor credit and equity structures to fuel
their real estate business plans.
• Gunnar Branson, Principal
Branson Powers, Inc.
www.bransonpowers.com
Branson Powers, Inc. helps business-to-business and professional
services firms innovate products, markets and process to deliver
tangible sales growth. It has developed new products, channels and
markets, implemented cross sales platforms and advised on strategic
and social marketing, sales management, change management and
training for clients such as Wrightwood Capital, Jones Lang LaSalle,
Wells Fargo, CIBC, GEMSA Loan Services, Jackson Healthcare, Perseus
Capital, GE Healthcare, The Nielsen Company, Ecolab and Mayer Brown,
Rowe & Maw. Gunnar Branson conducts regular roundtable summits on
behalf of clients such as Wrightwood Capital and writes on marketing
and innovation issues at www.bransonpowers.com.
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