CENTURY CITY, CA-“There will be no avalanche of deals. If it was going to happen, it would have already happened,” said experts at IMN’s Second Bank & Special Asset Executive Forum on Distressed Assets. The event, which attracted approximately 370 attendees, brought together experts reflecting a wide range of perspectives, all pretty much agreeing on one thing: “We will be better off when it is all over,” or as one panelist put it, “We will be better off in the long run once we get through the current environment today.”

IMN held the first bank and special executive conference back in New York City in April, and it was attended by over 450 real estate investors and service providers including over 60 bank workout, special servicing, REO and special asset workout professionals. The second conference of its kind, held this past Monday and Tuesday, also drew a wide range of participants, with panel participants from all types of firms. The opening panel, titled: The Economy and Its Impact on Real Estate Workouts & Banks, for example, included session chair, John Cuticelli, CEO of Sheldon Good & Co., and panelists: Richard Hollowell, managing director & real estate practice lead at BBK; Douglas Wilson, chairman and CEO of Douglas Wilson Cos.; Yelena Takhtamanova, economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; Robert Sheridan, principal and CEO of Robert Sheridan & Partners LLC; and Robert Kline, principal and CEO of R.W. Kline Cos.

Panelists from the opening session pointed out that as far as deals go, on the CMBS side at least, “there are deals getting done,” however they added that “there aren’t a whole lot of them.”

As far as restructuring loans go, panelists pointed out that workouts are being done, but it is just a matter of communication. They added that lenders will work with existing borrowers to the extent they are able to and to the extent that it makes sense. Another session titled: How the Current Macroeconomic Situation is Impacting the way Your Institution is Working out and Pricing Properties, brought together session chair Spencer Levy, senior managing director of CB Richard Ellis, with panelists: Dale Clayton, senior vice president of Keybank National Assoc.; James Follis, vice president of commercial ORE at Wells Fargo Bank; Richard Pulido, principal at Prudential Mortgage Capital Co.; and Michael Morris, executive vice president of the real estate banking group at Zions Bank. The session began by focusing on how “this time is different" from what happened in the 1990s. Panelists mentioned a slower deal volume, the lack of “the flood of assets,” a fundamental shift in value, adding that “we are in for a long haul of having to work through this situation [over-leveraging cycle] for a long time.”

Moderator Levy asked panelists to discuss how buyers/owners might go about getting direct deals, and the general consensus was to not just call and say “we have money… Show us what you have,” but instead, encouraged the audience to do their research, track the deals, build relationships with the workout group, and be creative.

Some of the other key industry participants at the event included: Scott Farb, managing principal of the Reznick Group PC; Leslie Lundin, managing partner of LBG Realty Advisors LLC; Tom Orradre, senior investment manager of Mountain Real Estate Capital; Terry Smith, senior managing director of Roosevelt Management Co.; Danuel Stranger, chief investment officer of Real Estate Opportunity Capital Fund LP; Charles Toppino, senior principal of Square Mile Capital Management LLC; Jess Bressi, a partner at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP; Greg Owens, vice president and senior real estate officer at Bank Annapolis; William S. Small, a partner at Blank Rome LLP; Kenneth Nitzberg, chairman and CEO of Devon Self Storage Holdings LLC; and Eleanor Martinez, a senior vice president and manager of special assets at Hanmi Bank; among many others.