Mountain Real Estate Capital Closes 2010 With Four Note Acquisitions in December
Torrance, CA – January 13, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Charlotte-based Mountain Real Estate Capital (MREC) advanced its bank NPL/REO acquisition program by closing four transactions on Dec. 30, 2010, bringing its total 2010 residential land acquisitions to more than 12,000 acres and over 7,500 home sites nationally. Notes and equity purchases were closed with over 20 different selling banks, amounting to an unpaid principal balance in excess of $600 million. With these latest acquisitions, MREC now owns and manages more than 200 projects with over 10,000 lots and 7,400 acres of land across the U.S.
MREC’s most recent year-end acquisitions from banks include:
– Approximate $20 million note held by banking group led by Regions Bank on the mountainside community of Southcliff. Located in one of the more desirable retirement locations in the U.S, this community consists of 189 home sites on 400 acres. Plan is to sell individual lots or joint venture lots or entire sections with regional private builders.
– Approximate $20 million note held by CommunityOne Bank on Kellswater Crossing, a highly amenitized residential community consisting of over 600 home sites in Charlotte, N.C. MREC’s co-developer will be LStar Land out of Raleigh. Plan is to sell individual lots or joint venture entire phases with public homebuilders and regional private builders.
– Florida condominium in the desirable Crosswynde community, bought from GMAC as part of MREC’s fractured condo repurchase program.
– Purchase of foreclosure bid entered by a banking group led by Southern Community Bank & Trust on an approximate $35 million note secured by the waterfront TidalWalk community in Wilmington, N.C., consisting of approximately 197 home sites and nine boat slips. MREC’s co-developer will be LStar Land out of Raleigh. This transaction closed just eight days after reaching agreement with the bank group.
MREC is organized to invest $1 billion in bank REO/NPL over the next two years. The fund will primarily focus on residential assets and large development loans/projects, as well as the restructuring/recapitalization with existing borrowers. With a nationwide team of seasoned professionals providing quick underwriting, MREC has closed each of its REO/NPL transactions within 30 days of an agreement.
“As our bank asset acquisition program expands, we expect that we will benefit from more and more repeat business with banks,” said Peter Fioretti, chief executive officer of MREC. “During 2010, we were very pleased to acquire multiple portfolios and individual assets from major banks like Regions, Synovus Bank and Bank of America.”
MREC’s bank portfolio acquisition platform is headed by its chief investment officer, Arthur Nevid, located in the company’s Charlotte headquarters, and managed by Senior Investment Manager Tom Mahathirath in Atlanta and Keith Alexander, director of portfolio underwriting. The national origination team has additional offices in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Richmond and Newport Beach. MREC’s separate homebuilder joint venture program is led by Joel Kaul, managing director out of the Minneapolis office. The team continues dialog with large banking institutions on uture large portfolio buys and NPL/REO asset purchases.
“Part of our success has to do with our ability to offer a menu of solutions to banks and other financial institutions,” explains Nevid. “Not only do we purchase troubled assets, but we also recapitalize tier one capital for banks which may facilitate an acquisition by offsetting the effect of NPL/REO capital write-downs. Additionally, we are also a leading asset manager and special servicer of residential assets. Most of our group is comprised of former bank REO managers who had been responsible for the management and disposition of 46,000 lots and homes valued at over $2 billion, and currently manage over $600 million of various residential and commercial assets for MREC. As a result, we have close working relationships with most national homebuilders who provide us with unique market insights and ability to create structured sales with homebuilders.”
About Mountain Real Estate Capital
The Mountain Real Estate Group is focused on expanding its acquisition program by purchasing large portfolios and NPL/REO assets direct from banks. Additionally, the group provides capital through flexible debt arrangements, joint purchases, and restructure of current debt to its builder/developer/investor partners. Mountain’s equity fund is positioned to invest up to $1 billion in these types of opportunities.
Since 1993 Mountain has been a leading private capital source to its partners. Mountain Real Estate Capital is the equity investment arm of the Mountain Real Estate Group. Other affiliates include its lending group, Mountain Funding, LLC, and its management and special servicing group, Mountain Asset Management Group, LLC.
