The Beav Gets Creative

Posted by jeff

Mon Jun 29th, 2009 05:12 PM

Beaver.jpgJust a quick update on the William Beaver House, which we discussed in a piece a little while ago as exemplifying the difficulties of downtown developments in the current environment. Last week Business Week did a piece on a new innovative approach to attracting investors to purchase some of the inventory of new condominiums that has piled up in certain markets, including those at William Beaver House downtown. Real Estate broker Roger Nino is being credited with applying "Master Lease" structures to this task. In a nutshell, the sponsor deposits funds representing a couple of years worth of rental income in an escrow account to be paid to a prospective income oriented investor buying a new condominium. Additionally, the sponsor either rents or promises to rent out the unit for the investor.

“The investor doesn’t want to take a chance on what the rent could be,” Nino explains. “It’s an interesting mechanism that helps you deal with the uncertainty.”

So there you have it, add "Master Leasing" to the list of incentives including "Price Protection" and "Rent to Own" that condominium sponsors are trying in order to address construction loan maturities. I would not be surprised at all to see more sponsors adopting this technique.


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