INDIANAPOLIS, IN- Oak Residential Partners specializes in turning around properties that, for one reason or another, don't produce enough revenue. But late last week they announced what might be a unique business deal on the Trails at Lakeside Apartments, a collection of 13 two-story buildings on 21 acres in Indianapolis.

“The property was entering into receivership,” said Richard J. Wise, Oak's managing principal, because, like many during and in the aftermath of the housing bust, the borrower had defaulted on its loan. Normally, the investors in the securitized pool of mortgages that back many of these developments would just cut their losses, Wise added, but this time, one of the Wall Street investors decided to take a different path.

The unnamed investor decided “'I'm going to bring in an operator and take over the property and turn this thing around,'” he said. “The idea that some Wall Street investor is going to buy such a property and try to effect a change is unusual. I'm sure it's happened in other instances, but it certainly doesn't happen often.”