You’ve probably heard of Mastermind Groups by now, and maybe you’re even involved in one, but are you using them to drive your distressed real estate transactions? Ken Hecht is doing just that.

Ken was a key player in the Wang Towers deal, probably the most famous distressed commercial property transaction in New England during the late 80’s early 90’s real estate bust. The four principals in that deal went on to net approximately $15 million each from a $25,000 initial investment – yes, you read that right.

Ken later became an SVP at CBRE Whitier Partners where he founded their Retail Advisory Group. He has sold or leased nearly $500 Million in commercial real estate. Ken has developed and owned a number of retail sites with partners and JVs and he has developed more than 4 million square feet for a major national retail tenant.

In this episode of the Distressed Property Professional’s Podcast series, Ken and I talk about:

• How the Wang Towers deal went together
• Differences and similarities between opportunities in the 90s and now
• How to put together effective distressed assets networking groups
• What banks should do to minimize their commercial real estate losses
• A forecast for the future of distressed CRE opportunities

The following content is available to non-members until January 27, 2010

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Commercial property receivership is getting to be a hotter topic by the day. With mountains of distressed commercial real estate loans piling up with banks across the country and an increasing number of vacant commercial properties, property preservation and receivership assignments are on the grow.

I recently caught up with Greg Trotter (see [download id="3"] resume), President of Commercial Building Consultants, a commercial property project management firm. Greg has an impressive background in REO and distressed asset management and members have been asking me for exactly this kind of information.

Greg provided me with a tremendous amount of background information, but I’ll just give you a sample of some of the recent REO workouts and projects his company has been responsible for:

• 510 Unit Condominium Conversion Project located in Miami, Florida
• 150 Unit Luxury Apartment Complex located in Orlando Florida
• 652 Unit Apartment Portfolio located throughout the State of Indiana
• 404 Unit / 18 Story partially constructed Condominium-Hotel Located in Orlando Florida
• 806 Unit Multi-Family Apartment Complex located in Baltimore Maryland

Greg’s clients range from local and regional banks to national lenders and special servicers.

When Greg and I spoke he was in his office in Florida having just returned from halfway across the country looking at an assignment. We were lucky to have him available for this so I hope you find it informative.

The following content is available to non-members until January 21, 2010.

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Join the conversation. Are you a proven professional in the distressed property space? We want to talk to you. We’re looking to talk to note sales and consulting professionals, note buyers, private equity investors, asset managers, special servicers, bankers, workout officers and others. Click here to contact us if you have something to contribute.

I’m excited to announce that among a flurry of launches for 2010 we’ll be bringing you the Distressed Property Professional’s Podcast Series (that’s a mouthful!). I’ve been talking with high level professionals engaged in various aspects of distressed property and I’m recording it all so you can hear them here and on iTunes (as well as a whole host of other sites across the web).

Opportunities and Challenges in Commercial Property Receivership

Greg Trotter

Greg Trotter is President of Commercial Building Consultants based in Orlando Florida. He has been involved in commercial property receivership and distressed asset management for more than 10 years. He came to this career after more than 20 years in construction and has spent most of his career in commercial property preservation, distressed asset management, and asset preservation. Greg’s been involved in more than $200 Million in successful commercial property workouts with a focus on multifamily assets.

In our interview we talk about:

• 1980-82, 1990s, and now what’s different and the same?
• The mechanics of successful receivership assignments
• Working with banks and bankers
• Challenges and opportunities in commercial property and receivership

6 Critical Components for a Successful Distressed Assets Funds

Warren Kirshenbaum

Warren has been the lead attorney in assembling and structuring distressed assets funds, and creating the equity raise strategies for 4 separate distressed asset investment funds in 2009.  The funds have ranged in capital size from $1.5 million to $10 million.  Fully leveraged, the fund size that Warren has been working on range from $3 million to $35 million.   The funds have ranged from those seeking single family homes to 3-6 family homes and to commercial properties, both retail, industrial, flex, and multifamily.

Warren has a law degree from New England Law and a Masters in corporate law from NYU.  He practiced in New York both in-house for a Wall Street investment house and in private practice for a law firm.  He was the General Counsel to a large real estate developer, manager, and builder based in Texas, and now uses his corporate/securities background and real estate/tax background to great benefit in the structuring of distressed assets funds.

In our interview we talk about:

• 6 Key Components to Assembling a Successful Distressed Assets Fund
• Raising Money For a Distressed Assets Fund
• The biggest mistake would-be investors make in starting a fund

How to Setup and Run Distressed Asset Mastermind Groups

Ken Hecht

Ken has been in the commercial real estate business since 1986. Ken’s recent experience has been as founder and President of The Hecht Company, a Retail Brokerage and Development firm founded in August of 2001. Currently the firm is involved in over 4 million square feet of Retail Development.

Prior to founding The Hecht Company and then Hecht Development in 2006 , Ken rose to SVP and Partner at CB Richard Ellis Whittier Partners, the largest commercial real estate services firm in the world where he founded the Retail Advisory Group, selling and/or leasing over $500,000,000 worth of commercial real estate including over $100,000,000 of retail assets.  He has also completed a number of complex joint ventures, 1031 tax-deferred exchanges, long term ground leases, land sales for hotel development and leasehold interest sales.

In our interview we talk about:

• Ken’s involvement as the broker on the famous Wang Towers deal in the 1990s and the details behind it
• The differences between the last crash and this (forthcoming) one
• How he sets up and runs successful distressed asset networking (aka Mastermind) groups
• The commercial real estate challenge facing banks today and what they can do about it
• Forecast for the commercial real estate market

We’ll be releasing these podcasts and transcripts each week this month.

Join the conversation. Are you a proven professional in the distressed property space? We want to talk to you. We’re looking to talk to note sales and consulting professionals, note buyers, private equity investors, asset managers, special servicers, bankers, workout officers and others. Click here to contact us if you have something to contribute.

This is the first in a professional podcast series. The goal of this series is to bring real life, real time, information to our members and subscribers about how professionals on the front-lines of the distressed property and loan market are making it all happen. In this episode I talk with Bob Thomas.

Bob is the owner of Turnstone Property, a Boston based firm that offers debt and asset management services for individual assets and portfolios, including loan portfolios and REO. Bob’s website goes on to say that Turnstone principals have extensive experience identifying, planning, underwriting, and executing complex projects. Particular expertise in repositioning and disposition of under-performing and nonperforming assets, adaptive re-use and urban infill.

In this interview we talk about:

• Workout strategies for distressed commercial and construction loans
• Preemptive strategies for performing loans
• Distressed asset opportunities for investors
• And more…

Learn from other real estate professionals on the front lines of the distressed commercial property wave to learn more about how you can be successful with investing in distressed assets or servicing those lenders who need your help in this shifting market.

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