Easton Lynd Management has purchased a major asset on a distressed property for the first time in the firm’s history.
The Miami-based commercial real estate investment and management company bought $62 million worth of notes on a pool of distressed assets throughout the country. The deal includes the acquisition of 14 total assets consisting of office, industrial and retail properties in Florida, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Maine and Washington, D.C.
The total amount of space acquired from the assets is 1.3 million square feet.
“We have a big appetite for this type of product and another $100 million of equity available to invest,” said A. David Lynd, president of Easton Lynd. “We are actively looking for more opportunities that make sense. Once lenders and their servicers decide to sell they are looking for serious buyers who bring certainty of close. Our ability to close all cash in a very condensed time frame makes us a good fit for anyone to divest of these kinds of troubled assets.”
With the recent transaction, the firm now owns and manages approximately 12 million square feet of commercial real estate in the nation.
Albert Couto, COO of The Easton Group, a co-owner of Easton Lynd, said the recent note purchase is the fourth major acquisition that the firm has been involved with in the past 90 days.
“We believe it’s the right time to be buying assets at this point in the cycle,” Couto said. “We will continue to be active in this space as opportunities present themselves.”
The seller is an undisclosed special servicing agent assigned to handle disposition of the distressed assets. Some of the notes are associated with properties owned by the lender, while the balance is connected to properties still going through the foreclosure process.
Zac Gruber, senior vice president at Easton Lynd, said this type of transaction shows why the company has been successful in the industry.
“Our ability to work out problems at both the loan and property level by utilizing our management experience allows us to create value for each investment,” Gruber said. “This skill set is what gives us a competitive advantage in this arena.”
