Although the delinquency rate on legacy CMBS continues to tickupward, securitization has risen from the ashes of the 2008-2009capital-markets fire storm. The phoenix is still finding its wings,though, and even the most upbeat predictions don't anticipate thatthe volume of new CMBS this year will reach more than about 14% ofthe $207 billion achieved in 2007. Yet what industry players arecalling CMBS 2.0 is gaining altitude.

Investors and other stakeholders should be clear on whatdistinguishes it from, well, CMBS 1.0. Actually, the reboot of CMBSbears a pretty strong resemblance to that first generation ofcommercial mortgage securitizations, in that conduit lenders arecautiously feeling their way along. "We're a lot closer to 1.2 or1.3 than 2.0 based on the transactions we've seen," commentedStacey Berger, EVP at Midland Loan Services, during a July webinarpresented by GlobeSt.com.

Where the distinction becomes most apparent is between CMBS 2.0and later iterations of that first generation. In other words,don't hold your breath for something on the scale and complexity ofthe $3-billion CMBS issue that helped finance the acquisition ofthe Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town multifamily complex in2006.