Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Lenders Take Control Of 1,900 New Miami Condos In 45 Days


A trio of lenders have taken control of more than 1,900 new unsold condos located in six skyscrapers in Greater Miami since mid-April in three separate transactions, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

Newly created entities of HSBC Bank, Bank of America, and iStar Financial have taken ownership of a combined two million square feet of new saleable condo space in a pair of troubled projects - Everglades on the Bay (top left photo)  and ICON Brickell (bottom  right photo) - in Greater Downtown Miami and a third project - Terrazas Riverpark Village - just east of Miami International Airport, according to the report based on Miami-Dade County records.

The latest condo grab comes eight months after Starwood Capital Group's residential division purchased the condo construction loan portfolio of the failed Corus Bank.

 Starwood Capital's loan portfolio in South Florida includes the new Paramount Bay and Mint projects in Greater Downtown Miami, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.
"We are entering the phase of the real estate cycle where the lenders, not the developers, are dictating the course of the condo market going forward in Greater Miami," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

 "This is a position that lenders are not comfortable being in as owning and managing real estate carries with it various responsibilities and liabilities that are out of their circle of expertise.

"Given the risk, watch for the lenders to introduce options that were previously not available to the developers of the troubled projects."

Contact:  Peter Zalewski,  Condo Vultures®,  800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com

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