Rankings & Awards
NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Nov. 1, 2007--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today affirmed its ABOVE AVERAGE rankings on TriMont Real Estate Advisors Inc. (TriMont) as a construction loan servicer and a commercial mortgage special servicer for the U.S. market. Concurrently, we assigned our ABOVE AVERAGE ranking to TriMont as a construction loan special servicer in the U.S. The
outlook for all rankings is stable.
The rankings and outlook weigh TriMont's ongoing operational enhancements, sound procedures, staffing depth, and portfolio complexity against our requirement that commercial mortgage servicers and special servicers satisfy our semiannual data file request completely and in a timely manner. A timely and complete submission facilitates Standard & Poor's ability to analyze a special servicer's performance on an individual and peer-comparative basis. Additionally, the rankings balance TriMont's handling of increased REO volume with consistently high recoveries (based on net sales proceeds-to-value) against a lengthy average REO disposition time and longer aging of its unsold REO inventory relative to peers.
As of June 2007, TriMont had 270 total employees, with the majority of staff based in its Atlanta headquarters. TriMont's special servicing and related asset management work centers on third-party investment funds. In addition to servicing sponsored funds for Lehman Bros. Global Real Estate Group, which remains its core client, TriMont is now the asset manager for other clients covering five other large real estate funds. The company also provides asset management services, particularly REO disposition, to Fannie Mae. The company's construction servicing portfolio has grown rapidly since 2004. In particular, in 2006, TriMont was appointed construction loan servicer for a securitization (CDO) of single-family home development sites issued through Barclays Capital Real Estate Inc. The company's public finance team also serves as the bondholders' representative on a $4 billion construction portfolio of military housing. Also in 2006, TriMont became the servicer on five projects in two separate condo securitization deals and on the New York City Plaza Hotel condo conversion senior loan in CSFB 2006 TFL2.
As of June 30, 2007, TriMont had a $28.526 billion commercial real estate portfolio under management consisting of 1,324 loan, equity, and REO assets. The portfolio included $12.294 billion of serviced construction investments (both loans and equities) consisting of 483 projects. The active special servicing portfolio encompassed 147 loans and 53 REO assets totaling $1.958 billion in unpaid principal balances. The company also was the named special servicer on eight rated CMBS deals consisting of 100 loans with an unpaid balance of $4.1 billion.
The rankings and outlook weigh TriMont's ongoing operational enhancements, sound procedures, staffing depth, and portfolio complexity against our requirement that commercial mortgage servicers and special servicers satisfy our semiannual data file request completely and in a timely manner. A timely and complete submission facilitates Standard & Poor's ability to analyze a special servicer's performance on an individual and peer-comparative basis. Additionally, the rankings balance TriMont's handling of increased REO volume with consistently high recoveries (based on net sales proceeds-to-value) against a lengthy average REO disposition time and longer aging of its unsold REO inventory relative to peers.
As of June 2007, TriMont had 270 total employees, with the majority of staff based in its Atlanta headquarters. TriMont's special servicing and related asset management work centers on third-party investment funds. In addition to servicing sponsored funds for Lehman Bros. Global Real Estate Group, which remains its core client, TriMont is now the asset manager for other clients covering five other large real estate funds. The company also provides asset management services, particularly REO disposition, to Fannie Mae. The company's construction servicing portfolio has grown rapidly since 2004. In particular, in 2006, TriMont was appointed construction loan servicer for a securitization (CDO) of single-family home development sites issued through Barclays Capital Real Estate Inc. The company's public finance team also serves as the bondholders' representative on a $4 billion construction portfolio of military housing. Also in 2006, TriMont became the servicer on five projects in two separate condo securitization deals and on the New York City Plaza Hotel condo conversion senior loan in CSFB 2006 TFL2.
Outlook
The outlook for all rankings is stable. The outlook reflects TriMont's ongoing technology initiatives for construction loan administration, efforts to enhance the organizational structure and staffing expertise, and related process improvements to realize higher levels of efficiency while adhering to proactive construction risk management practices. The outlook further reflects Standard & Poor's expectation that TriMont will maintain proficiency while gaining further experience servicing construction loans for an increasingly diverse and substantially larger investor client pool during the coming 12-month period, including potential participation in more securitized structures. Standard & Poor's expects TriMont to continue to serve as a competent special servicer for its investor clients. The company also should remain acceptably positioned to manage any transfers of assets for which it is the named CMBS special servicer.As of June 30, 2007, TriMont had a $28.526 billion commercial real estate portfolio under management consisting of 1,324 loan, equity, and REO assets. The portfolio included $12.294 billion of serviced construction investments (both loans and equities) consisting of 483 projects. The active special servicing portfolio encompassed 147 loans and 53 REO assets totaling $1.958 billion in unpaid principal balances. The company also was the named special servicer on eight rated CMBS deals consisting of 100 loans with an unpaid balance of $4.1 billion.
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