Brokerages’ new distressed teams tested

From the March issue: Over the past several months, the city’s real estate brokerage houses have mounted their efforts to harness the woes of New York’s commercial real estate market by creating and expanding distressed debt teams. The aim of these teams is to take advantage of what has quickly become a dire situation by managing and selling both distressed properties and loans. Last fall, CB Richard Ellis set up its own “restructuring services” group, which is being headed up by Spencer Levy, a senior managing director of capital markets. Additionally Jones Lang LaSalle, Colliers ABR, and Cushman & Wakefield, among others, have all announced the establishment of their own teams or are expanding already existing ones. Due to their recent entry into this field — which is already populated by a number of seasoned firms — the mettle and expertise of these newly formed distressed debt teams have yet to be tested. But with the volume of loans being offloaded by banks expected to skyrocket in the coming months, that is about to change.