SAN ANTONIO-In 2006, during the frenzied real estate bubble,debt was incredibly cheap and plentiful. Six years later, much ofthe debt issued in the mid-2000s is maturing – and USAAReal Estate Co., based here, has positioned itself to takeadvantage of that trend by making what has been termed in reportsas a "significant investment" in Square Mile CapitalManagement LLC, which is based in New York City.

And there is plenty of opportunity to be had when it comes todistressed debt. Square Mile's managing principals JeffreyB. Citrin and Craig H. Solomon tellGlobeSt.com that the current deleveraging cycletaking place will last for several more years.

"Over $1.5 trillion of first mortgages originated prior to 2008remain on the books in the U.S. alone, and a large proportion ofthese loans are secured by real estate worth less than the loanbalance," Citrin explains. As such, Square Mile is looking to bothacquire the debt from financial institutions and to supply capitalto overleveraged commercial real estate owners.