NEW YORK CITY—If 2011 serves as any indication, much of the equity generated in the industry this year may well come through recapitalizations. Last year saw a blizzard of recapsfrom the SL Green Realty Corp.'s $425.7-million recap of 180 Maiden Ln. with developer the Moinan Group, to Keystone Property Group's $23.8 million recap of Sentry Park West in Blue Bell, PA.

CBRE's Darcy Stacom says that "last year more than 50% of the volume was recaps." She adds that she anticipates that 2012 could bring much of the same. "Before when we brought out a couple of the recapitalizations in a brokered format, people were pretty surprised," she says. "Up and until then, recapitalizations had occurred when a partner would say to an operator, 'I want to be bought out'. The operator would then go run the auction to find a new partner and thereby take out the existing partner. The existing partner, in a lot of instances, felt there had been something left on the table, so we started to just go out directly with them."

The first model of recap Stacom mentions is illustrated by the recent recap of One Times Square. Jamestown Properties bought out Sherwood Equities' interest in the tower for $112.8 million in mid-February. The company, based in Atlanta, announced that it would remain the majority stakeholder, leaving Sherwood to manage the building and maintain its iconic signage.