Overview
CWCapital Insights is a collection of our latest whitepapers and articles, backed by extensive CRE experience and knowledge.
Downtown Offices Are Toxic. Suburban Ones Are Surviving.
Remote working has hit buildings in central business districts much harder than their sleepy counterparts in the ‘burbs.
Office Building Losses Start to Pile Up, and More Pain Is Expected
The distress in commercial real estate is growing as some office buildings sell for much lower prices than just a few years ago.
Property’s Waiting Game Is Getting Harder
As hopes of interest-rate cuts fade, some commercial real-estate borrowers want to cut loose.
America’s Office Fire Sale Has Barely Begun
Only 3.5% of offices sold last year came from a distressed seller, thanks to optimism and forgiving lenders.
Cash-Flush Buyers Dip Into Distressed Commercial Real Estate
With many owners unable to extend their loans, investors are starting to pounce on these properties.
Wanxiang Funded $40Mln of Fresh Equity to Get Term Extension on Pru Plaza Loan
Wanxiang America Real Estate Group, which owns Prudential Plaza in Chicago, had ponied up $40 million of fresh equity to win a two-year term extension of the $385.55 million CMBS loan against the 2.3 million-square-foot office complex.
Where to Invest in Commercial Real Estate? That Was the Question
A recent Commercial Observer forum on capital markets gathered lenders and investors, and found divergent views.
More Office Building Landlords Are Giving Properties Back to Lenders
Poor Performance and High Refinancing Costs Spur Owners To Walk Away
Office Landlords Can’t Get a Loan Anymore
Owners are scrambling to pay back lenders, throwing in more cash or facing default.
Fitch Affirms CWCapital Asset Management's Commercial Special Servicer Rating
Fitch Ratings – Austin – 09 Jun 2023: Fitch Ratings has affirmed CWCapital Asset Management LLC’s (CWCAM) commercial special servicer rating at ‘CSS1-‘, and assigned a Stable Rating Outlook.
What You Need To Know About Special Servicers, The ‘Problem Loan’ Problem-Solvers
The term “special servicing” can send a shiver down the spine of some commercial real estate owners, but many don’t have a clear picture of what occurs when a loan goes through that process.
MBA Elects 2023 Board of Directors
We are proud to share that our colleague, Brian Hanson, was elected to Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2023 Board of Directors. Brian will collaborate with other Board members to set strategic direction for MBA and oversee management of the association’s affairs.
The CRE Response: Interest Rates Hikes and Inflation
The Federal Reserve’s Sept. 21 Effective Federal Funds Rate (EFFR) hike surprised no one. Fed chairman Jerome Powell is upfront in that fighting inflation is the prime goal.
The Fed’s Latest Meeting Minutes Offer Details for CRE
There was a big jump in CRE loans on banks’ balance sheets.
Are CRE Price Drops Coming?
Like all of business, nothing is certain, but some pros are eyeing the conditions and readying themselves for an unwelcome surprise.
Biding Time For Business Hotels
Borrowers and lenders are optimistic that the sector will pick up momentum as business travel makes a comeback, but questions remain over how that will take place.
Fitch Affirms CWCapital Asset Management's Commercial Special Servicer Rating
Fitch Ratings – New York – 23 May 2022: Fitch Ratings has affirmed CWCapital Asset Management LLC’s (CWCAM) commercial special servicer rating at ‘CSS1-‘.
Fitch Upgrades CWCapital Asset Management's Commercial Special Servicer Rating
Fitch Ratings – New York – 24 May 2021: Fitch Ratings has upgraded CWCapital Asset Management LLC’s (CWCAM) special servicer rating.
Quantifying COVID-Driven Risks to Office Markets - Tracing Possible Mechanisms of Distress
In their latest joint research, Daniel Warcholak of CWCapital and Victor Calanog, PhD of Moody’s Analytics quantify COVID-driven risks to office markets. Unlike in the hotel and retail sectors, it will take time for office performance metrics to reflect the true impact of the pandemic. This paper presents updated expectations for the office sector: What actually happened in 2020? Where will the distress be felt in 2021?
COVID-19 and CRE Transaction Markets – Emerging Evidence of Selective Distress
Victor Calanog, PHD of Moody’s Analytics and Daniel Warcholak of CWCapital, team together again to address the challenges of Covid-19 and the CRE market. How can we reconcile potentially conflicting reports of hundreds of billions of dollars of “dry powder” seeking to invest in CRE deals, and the fact that transaction activity still appears to be severely constrained?
The Inside Perspective: Commercial Real Estate Loan Sales Webinar hosted by Ballard Spahr, Cushman & Wakefield and CWCapital
James Shevlin joins Ballard Spahr and Cushman & Wakefield to discuss the current state of the CRE loan market amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Inside Perspective: Commercial Real Estate Loan Sales Webinar
Tuesday, October 27th | 2:00-3:00pm ET
Debt collectors bulk up to deal with US property loan defaults
Rise in distressed commercial mortgage puts special servicers in demand. “it’s a naturally countercyclical business,” said Alex Killick of CWCapital.
Buying, Selling & Working Out Distressed Assets in a Post-Pandemic Environment Webinar
October 14th, 11am ET
CMBS borrowers in need of relief must compromise
This recession is vastly different than the Great Recession when it comes to how distressed loans and assets are working through the system, and borrowers committed to solutions and contributing capital will be better equipped to weather the storm.
Insurance Interview with CWCapital's George O'Neil and Harbor Group's Emily Rasmussen
MBA CREF Associate Director Kelly Hamill interviewed Emily Rasmussen, Managing Director of Business Strategy with Harbor Group Consulting, and George O’Neil III, Managing Director with CW Financial Services LLC, about the insurance market during the coronavirus pandemic.
Office Markets Under Pressure as Coronavirus Squeezes Cities
CWCapital in the News
Office Markets Under Pressure as Coronavirus Squeezes Cities
Companies rethink rented space as remote work takes hold; fears of urban malaise begin to swirl.
By Konrad Putzier and Mark Maurer
Aug. 4, 2020 8:00 am ET
Urban office markets and other commercial real estate in major cities are experiencing their worst stretch in decades, upended by the pandemic, changes in work behavior and struggling city economies.
James Shevlin, President of CWCapital, discusses the valuation crisis vs the current liquidity crisis with the WSJ.
Updated COVID-19 and Distress in the CMBS Markets
In early June, Moody’s Analytics and CWCapital published a paper that provided a sense of where and how distress was manifesting in CMBS markets. Given how the COVID-19 crisis has persisted (and arguably become even worse), we provide an update in this paper on the worst affected property types and geographic markets—and offer our thoughts on how conditions in the CRE debt markets will likely evolve through the rest of the year.
CWCapital, RealINSIGHT, and RealINSIGHT Marketplace: An industry-leading power team
Many know CWCapital as a power player in the special servicer and asset management space. With an asset management team holding an average of approximately 16 years of experience per employee, CWCapital is the trusted resource for commercial real estate services.
What many may not know is that CWCapital launched a cloud-based commercial real estate software solution, RealINSIGHT, which is designed to streamline workflows, proactively ensure compliance, and effectively manage debt-focused investments in 2016, which CWCapital uses itself and for its clients. The software solution is available for licensing via RealINSIGHT and is currently offering a 60-day free trial.
The RealINSIGHT platform covers the full life-cycle of the loan and all debt structures, including:
- Warehouse, Repo and CLO
- Bridge and Construction
- CMBS and Agency
- Mezzanine
- Balance Sheet
RealINSIGHT provides full lifecycle support from loan origination, securitization, and underwriting through surveillance and disposition, via RealINSIGHT Marketplace, another product of CWCapital.
With over $11B in commercial real estate disposition experience, CWCapital launched RealINSIGHT Marketplace, an online commercial real estate auction platform, in 2017. The platform brings together buyers, sellers, and brokers to efficiently list, market, and close deals, and allows local, national, and international investors the opportunity to easily review and bid on commercial real estate assets throughout the country. Since launching, Marketplace has become the fastest growing online auction site in CRE, with the highest sell-through rate in the industry.
To learn more about CWCapital, RealINSIGHT, and RealINSIGHT Marketplace, we put together a quick two-pager for your convenience, which you can download here.
COVID-19 and Distress in CMBS Markets
For this paper, Moody’s Analytics collaborated with CWCapital. Will distress become more widespread given the expected duration and depth of this downturn, or will some property types or geographic markets emerge relatively unscathed?
Does My Commercial Property Insurance Have Coverage for COVID-19?
Uncertainty is a fact of life for commercial real estate lenders in the age of coronavirus. In this post, we’ll take a close look at whether insurance coverage can help soften the blow taken by sectors like hospitality and retail.