TIAA Sells $182M Retail Loan Portfolio

NEW YORK CITY-Real estate investment banking firm Rockwood Realty Associates LLC, working on behalf of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, has reported the sale of a retail loan portfolio valued at roughly $182 million. The loans, which were sold to Lehman Brothers, are backed by regional malls located in Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Louisiana.

According to Rockwood managing director Frank Sullivan, who led the negotiations on behalf of TIAA, the deal was completed in less than 50 days. “The reason we were able to get it done so quickly is that we prepared so carefully,” he says. “All the due diligence material was digitalized, so we were able to provide information that was fairly complete. And we didn’t run into any problems with people confirming information.” Sullivan notes that TIAA sold the loans “for portfolio balance purposes and to take advantage of market conditions.”

Rockwood’s Mark DeLillo and Brian Dowd assisted Sullivan in the negotiations. Mike DeMarco and Scott Weiner represented Lehman.