Saturday, June 13, 2009

Spanish Bank Hires Marcus & Millichap to Arrange Public Sale of SoHo Buildings for $4.9M

NEW YORK, NY– Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has arranged the public sale of 100 percent of the membership interests in Mediterranean Sun Property LLC and Sohomar Property LLC, which were pledged as collateral for a defaulted loan.


The LLCs are single-purpose entities organized to own and operate 448 Broome St. and 450-52 Broome St. (top left photo) , two mixed use buildings in SoHo (bottom right photo).

The final auction price was $4.9 million.
Peter Von Der Ahe,(top right photo) a vice president investments, and Scott Edelstein, a senior associate in the Manhattan office of Marcus & Millichap, arranged the sale on behalf of the buyer, Caixa de Aforros de Vigo Ourense e Pontevedra, a Spanish bank.

Marcus & Millichap was hired by Caixa de Aforros to perform the auction, which was the entity’s preferred method of foreclosing on the LLCs that owned the property. After several rounds of bidding, Caixa de Aforros emerged as the highest bidder. The auction took place on May 8 at the Manhattan office of Marcus & Millichap.

“The membership interests of these LLCs were pledged as collateral for a loan on a development project in South Florida by three Spanish developers,” explains Von Der Ahe.

“In February 2008, the borrowers defaulted on the construction loan in South Florida. Upon default, the bank asserted its rights to the collateral by offering a public sale of the membership interests in the LLCs that were formed to operate the Manhattan property,” he adds.
“The SoHo buildings were performing well,” says Von Der Ahe, “but the developers were enmeshed in troubled investments in Florida, thus prompting them to put the New York assets up as collateral.”


The two buildings, located at the corner of Broome and Mercer streets, encompass a total of 27,174 square feet. Both properties have residential and commercial space.

“More than 100 people responded to the auction, evidence that there is an incredible amount of equity on the sidelines waiting for opportunities,” says Von Der Ahe.

“Despite the near-term challenges facing the local economy and real estate market, the long-term outlook for New York City investment real estate remains strong.”

According to Edward Jordan, (middle left photo) Northeast regional director of the firm’s Special Assets Services division and regional manager of the Manhattan office, additional properties are expected to come under duress as economic conditions continue to soften in New York and throughout the region.

“To date, Marcus & Millichap has completed more than 1,500 special asset assignments for financial institutions, asset managers and large owners, including valuations, advisory work and dispositions,” says Jordan.


“Distressed properties and portfolios are being well received by our private investors, and we expect to market a large volume of these properties during the coming months and years.


"This is driven by our lender clients’ need to clear their balance sheets and our fund clients actively working to free up capital,” he adds.


Press Contact: Stacey Corso, Communications Department, (925) 953-1716

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