CWCapital Asset Management LLC said today that it has recently been appointed special servicer on 23 separate commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) transactions totaling over $36.6 billion. The appointment brings CWCAM’s total Special Servicing portfolio to approximately $108 billion, representing approximately 11,100 loans, which would position the company as the second largest servicer in the commercial real estate industry.
Of the 23 transactions, 19 were previously issued deals and had been specially serviced by Lennar Partners, Inc. These 19 appointments became effective December 22, 2006 and are listed in the attached appendix. The remaining 4 transactions are newly issued CMBS, all closed in the 4th quarter. In March 2006, the company announced that it had acquired the special servicing of 24 CMBS transactions via the acquisition of Criimi Mae, Inc. by CDP Capital Financing. That portfolio was comprised of 1,800 loans totaling over $10.3 billion. In June, CWCAM announced that it had been appointed special servicer for another 17 previously issued transactions, followed in August by similar appointments on 5 additional transactions. In total, the company said it grew its special servicing portfolio by $77 billion and 7,600 loans in 2006. “These most recent appointments round out our 2006 business plan and bring the total new appointments for the year to over 50 transactions,” managing director David Lannarone said. “With our Special Servicing Group being a very key component of our vertically integrated business plan, we are continuously looking to grow the business and expand on our portfolio, and the industry can expect to see more of this growth in 2007,” said company president Charles Spetka.