Tribeca Cos. Picks up Lembi Group property

Tribeca Companies, a private-equity group located in San Francisco has acquired a block of 10 apartment buildings formerly owned by the Lembi Group. Tribeca reportedly purchased non-performing notes backed by several of these apartment buildings from UBS.

According to an earlier WSJ report, “By spending more than $1 billion between 2003 and 2007 and borrowing up to 95% of a building’s purchase price, the Lembi Group became San Francisco’s dominant residential landlord.”

It is glaringly obvious that the majority of Lembi Group’s acquisition activity was at the peak of the market. Being leveraged to the hilt, Lembi Group continues to face tremendous pressure from its debt load.

According to the most recent report in the Wall Street Journal, “Lembi’s woes are another example of how debt-fueled real-estate acquisitions are now coming back to haunt landlords and other property investors. Between 2003 and 2007, Lembi became San Francisco’s dominant residential landlord by spending more than $1 billion and borrowing up to 95% of a building’s purchase price. The company accumulated a portfolio of 307 buildings and more than 8,000 apartments across the city.”

SquareFeetBlog.com reported that UBS foreclosed on several more buildings this week, including 2642 Gough Street, 2011 Sacramento and 121 Broderick in San Francisco and 255 El Camino Real in Burlingame.