AAA rated CRE 1407 in default
For the first time since the great financial crisis, buyers of top-rated commercial mortgage-backed securities are suffering losses.
1407 Broadway was, as far as the financiers of Wall Street could tell, as rock-solid an asset as could possibly exist. Located in the heart of Manhattan’s storied Garment District, its entrance cut from white marble flecked with a soft bronze terrazzo motif, the 43-floor tower was a money-minting machine with a never-ending roster of well-heeled corporate tenants.
https://www.1407broadway-ny.com/our-building
So when the owners floated a $350 million bond backed by the building’s rental income in 2019, the bulk of the debt was stamped with a AAA credit rating, the highest grade awarded by ratings firms.
Not even US Treasury bonds, the North Star for global financial markets, are deemed that safe.
But 1407 Broadway, the thinking went, was so impervious to the vagaries of economic cycles that a default was unfathomable — nothing more than a once-in-5,000 years kind of freak event.
On June 17 — four years and 212 days after the bond was issued — investors in the AAA rated chunk of debt were informed they wouldn’t be getting the full $1 million interest payment they were owed that month.
They’re now foreclosing on the building to salvage whatever they can of their investment.
Bloomberg 28 October 2024
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