Alicia Cervera LaMadrid, managing director of Cervera Real Estate, and Ocean House

iStar Financial chose Miami-based Cervera Real Estate to market its forthcoming condominium in the South of Fifth section of South Beach, the firm announced.

“Cervera’s market knowledge and keen awareness of tastes and trends are integral to our plans for the reposition and launch of this one-of-a-kind South Beach property,” said Anthony Burns, senior vice president of iStar Financial. Yesterday, managing partner Alicia Cervera LaMadrid was named one of South Florida’s top power brokers. She boasted of the “exclusivity” of the units in a statement. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

As commercial real estate lender iStar Financial tries to restructure some of its $8.6 billion in debt, it may seek bankruptcy protection, after creditors blocked it from amending loans, company insiders told Bloomberg News. The company expects to meet with creditors next month to discuss a potential “pre-packaged bankruptcy,” which could occur sometime next year. New York-based iStar recently saw its shares plunge more than 25 percent, losing more than 90 percent of their value since 2007. The company, led by CEO Jay Sugarman, hired Lazard, and Kirkland & Ellis to advise them on the debt restructuring. IStar made loans on properties including the nearly complete Paramount Bay condominium on N. Bayshore Drive in Miami. Aside from bankruptcy, iStar is considering a proposal to extend maturities on its debt as well as a potential exchange offer, sources said. [Bloomberg via Crain's]

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LNR Property, the commercial real estate company controlled by Cerberus Capital Management, has received a $417 million cash infusion from a group that includes Vornado Realty Trust, iStar Financial, Oaktree Capital Management and Cerberus, the company announced Friday. The new investments helped LNR, which is among the country’s largest servicers of commercial real estate loans, reduce its debt to $425 million from $1.3 billion. Steven Roth’s Vornado now has a 26.2 percent equity interest in LNR, which comes from a $116 million new cash investment, combined with a conversion of its $15 million mezzanine loan into equity, the New York-based REIT said. In a statement, LNR CEO Tom Hughes called the deal a “substantial new investment in LNR by our sponsor and four largest creditors” that will make LNR “well-positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the commercial real estate market.” TRD

Peter Zalewski

A group of three lenders controlled by HSBC Bank, Bank of America and iStar Financial have taken control of over 1,900 new unsold condos in the greater Miami region in the last month and a half, according to real estate tracking firm Condo Vultures. The seizures were largely localized at troubled developments, including Everglades on the Bay, which filed for bankruptcy in August 2009 and saw its title transferred to its lender late last month. Peter Zalewski, head of Condo Vultures, said that the takeovers signal a new phase in the market. “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,” Zalewski said. TRD

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Windmoor Project, which was unable to sell any units in the 324-unit Terrazas Riverpark Village condo west of Miami, has lost the property in a foreclosure action by lender iStar Financial. According to a report by Condo Vultures, the Terrazas River Park project, which is 2.2 miles north of the future home of the Florida Marlins in Little Havana, sold for $45 million, about $139,000 per unit in the building. The March 2006 construction loan was valued at $84.5 million. TRD Comments

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Despite the all-time high delinquency rates seen among commercial mortgages, more lenders are showing optimism toward the commercial mortgage-backed securities market, and are gingerly buying up shares in the real estate investment trusts that own those loans, according to the Wall Street Journal. And their positive outlook might be justified — overall, REITs are up about 16.7 percent so far this year and some commercial-mortgage REITs, like iStar Financial and Arbor Realty Trust have made strides as well, up 140 percent and 113 percent so far this year, respectively, according to the Wall Street Journal. But Jason Yablon, a vice president with investment firm Cohen & Steers, said that the positive momentum needs to be taken with a grain of salt. “Because the stock has been beaten down, any incremental good news [about] the financing environment is going to make the stock move a lot,” Yablon said.

The sprawling, overextended empire of Corus Bancshares loans, many of
them in Florida, is attracting interest from major distressed debt
investors. Thomas Barrack, who first made his fortune in the aftermath
of the savings and loan crisis; Barry Sternlicht, the man behind the
Starwood empire; Jay Sugarman of iStar Financial, the public real
estate giant; and New York developer Stephen Ross, sometimes called the
King of Columbus Circle, in league with Lubert-Adler, a big property
investor in Philadelphia, are all mentioned as possible buyers of these
troubled loans and tattered projects. Early this year, federal
regulators ordered Corus to raise capital or put itself up for sale. It
was unable to do either. In late June, the bank reported that its
entire capital base had been wiped out. Auditors Ernst & Young have
walked away, and the stock faces delisting from the Nasdaq exchange. [more]