Fitch downgrades 12 classes of Wachovia CMBS

Fitch has classified eight of the top 15 loans in the pool, approximately 40.4%, as loans of concern, including two specially serviced loans.

Among the 12 downgraded classes, Fitch slashed the ratings on two classes of mezzanine triple-A to triple-B. However, the firm did not downgrade any super senior classes, which are those identified as triple-A with 30% credit enhancement at issuance.

The most significant loan in the effected pool is tied to the Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town development apartment complex in Manhattan. That loan, which is still in servicing, represents about 19.2% of the pool. In January of last year, Tishman Speyer Properties and Blackrock missed a scheduled repayment to senior lenders on a bond that was previously used to finance debt from the joint venture purchase of the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. (The vast apartment complex is pictured above.)

According to Fitch Ratings, the collateral for Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town loan is 56 multi-story buildings with a total of 11,227 apartments. A special servicer has control of the property after acquiring the mezzanine debt of the borrower. The servicer is currently working with property manager Rose Associates to stabilize the buildings, Fitch said.

Part of the stabilization plan includes the $48 million renovation of 570 vacant units. Fitch said “property performance continues to be below what is needed to service the debt, but the securitized loan balance per unit of $267,213 is low relative to other New York City multifamily properties.”

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