LOS ANGELES-The huge volume of distress in the commercial realestate world is all about money, but in another sense it isn’t justabout money. Capital alone won’t always solve the problems ofborrowers, lenders and special servicers saddled with distressedassets—which is where companies like Ocean West Capital Partnerscome in.

The Los Angeles-based company, launched earlier this year, isproviding capital for its clients, but—as Ocean West partner TroyMiller tells GlobeSt.com—the capital is only part of the solution.How the capital is structured and how the distressed asset ismanaged are keys to solving the problems that beset borrowers,lenders, special servicers and others who are trying to get outfrom under distressed assets or turn them around.

Ocean West’s approach is “to really try and manufacture dealswhere we will identify a distressed asset and put together both acapital and restructuring solution for the lender or the specialservicer and approach them with a whole package solution,” Millerexplains. Just one example of the types of assets that Ocean Westis targeting are so-called “zombie buildings,” a term that has beenused with increasing frequency in reference to some officebuildings. These are buildings whose owners lack the capital toprovide tenant improvements and other incentives to attracttenants—placing them at a distinct disadvantage in trying tocompete with better-capitalized landlords. “Given what the debtload is on the assets, usually the sponsors aren’t really willingor able to put in new equity to lease space up, so these buildingshave been sitting,” Miller says. Ocean West can bring in newcapital for leasing costs, capital expenditures and principalpaydown. It can also restructure the debt and take over operationsand management of the properties if necessary. “It is a really goodsolution on assets where you have an office building, for example,that is 50% leased, and the lenders don’t want to take it backtoday and sell it at today’s levels,” Miller says.