Commercial mortgage woes mirror housing - South Florida Business Journal:

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Fitch Ratings on Dec. 10 said a defaulft on $900 million in General Growthj (NYSE: GGP) debt was likely as the clock ticked towardsa Dec. 12 deadline after a two-weekl extension was announced on Black the busy shopping dayaftee Thanksgiving. General Growth on Dec. 12 announcedd it had successfullycompleted $896 milliohn in new mortgages, mirroring the goal many othed property owners will be Real estate experts forecast the next fallout from the credigt crunch will be lender getting tough on mortgages for commercial properties such as retail, office and The result could be owners putting more equity into theidr properties or facing foreclosure.
This won’t affect the majority of Sout h Florida’s commercial real estate market, but it will be a problemk for properties with mortgages coming due saidNeil Merin, chairman of commercial real estatwe brokerage NAI/Merin Hunter Codman in West Palm He estimates that 10 percent of commercial properties in South Florida will need new mortgagesa next year, with half puttinh down more cash and the other half goinh into foreclosure. Owners with 10-year mortgage s coming due should be OK becausde property values have stilkl increased overthat time, and loan-to-value ratiosw were generally conservative at the time of Merin said.
But, commercial properties or short-terkm construction loans based on inflated property values and with an 80percent loan-to-value ratio could be in trouble, he Banks now favor 60 percen t or 65 percent loan-to-value on commerciakl properties, Merin said. “If the economy continues to sour and unemploymentg continuesto rise, even the commercial real estate sectoe could have some said Bruce Keir, CEO of in Daniz Beach.
“If they were making theidr payments before, they coulr continue making payments – but whether there will be a lenderr there for them is another Many banks that are sufferinb losses and losing capital need to shrini their assetsize – which includes loanz – to comply with regulatory capital ratios, Keir Some banks have been told by regulators that they are over-concentratefd in commercial mortgages, and that discourages them from renewint loans.
Rick Kuci, executive VP and chief lending officerfat , said he will ask some commercial borrowerzs to put more equity in at renewal to improvwe the loan-to-value ratio, but recognizes that some borrowers may not have enougu cash on hand to make that happen. He also coulsd offer them a shorter-term loan with a more aggressivs repayment schedule or help them find anequityy partner. Still, Kuci is worried that developerws holding commercial loans with Coconut Grovee Bank could be hurt if their other lenders take aharder “There are a lot of institutions that are shrinkinbg and calling in loans, and some good borrowers are goingt to be squeezed in the Kuci said.
Lance a managing partner at Miami commercial litigationfirm , said many of his clientd are being asked to put more equity into their properties at mortgage but how tough the banks get depends on the propertyt and its performance. A high vacanchy rate could weaken aproperty owner’s case. Hark e expects to see an increase in commercial propert foreclosuresin 2009. However, both Merin and Charles the vice chairman of inSouth Florida, believe the commercial foreclosurd wave won’t be as bad as in previouw downturns because there hasn’t been overbuildingh of office or retail.
The bulk of renewals from mortgagews signed during the boom years will take placse in 2011and 2012, Foschini said. For thoss due earlier, most banks will look to grant short-term but there could be casesz where banks will demand greater debt service coverage and more he said. “This will forcew some owners to sell assets and will create opportunitiez for other owners to create new sources of equity and brinfg in new owners withdeeper pockets,” Foschini said. “Inn instances where that doesn’t happen, the lender has a problem and couldc extend reluctantlyor foreclose.
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