CONNECTING
with Douglas Wilson Companies
Upcoming Event Appearances
DWC’s leadership is eager to learn and share best practices and education with colleagues, partners and industry associations. Book a meeting or say hello at one of many upcoming conferences on the DWC calendar.
May 12-14 — ULI Spring
Meeting
DWC Chairman and CEO
Douglas Wilson will attend this annual conference of the Urban Land Institute at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
May 15-18 — CBF 37th Annual Insolvency Conference
DWC is proud to serve as a Silver Sponsor for the California Bankruptcy Forum’s annual Insolvency conference. Stop by the DWC booth to meet with DWC Executives and Directors at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
June 9-11 — CRE Finance Council (CREFC Annual Conference)
Connect with Douglas Wilson and Michele Vives at the CREFC annual conference being held at the Marriott Marquis in New York, NY.
July 16-17 — IMN Bank Special Assets (West)
DWC executives Nich Wilson, Ryan Baker, Joe Corcoran, and Director
Michael Wilson will attend this annual conference held by the Information Management Network. Join for the latest from IMN at the Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, Calif.
October 7-10 — NAFER 2025 Annual Conference
Meet with DWC leadership including Board Member Ryan Baker at this annual meeting of the National Association for Federal Equity Receivers in Key Largo, Fla.
This part of the process also involves ensuring insurance requirements are met, developing a long-term budget, allowing the estate to obtain debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing and taking over accounting processes to maintain the site.
The assignment has been made more challenging by its various stages of construction, ranging from 30% to 80% complete.
“Our second function is on the asset side,” Vives says. “We hired a general contractor to stabilize the property including dust and erosion control, and examined the site, which had been subject to the elements for 22 months.”
Leveraging the firm’s three and a half decades of experience in master-planning development, real estate and problem resolution, the team is working with Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) as advisor to market the property, highlighting its 134-room Montage Hotel, 29 MontageBranded Residences, the 70,000 square foot conference centers and 200-room Pendry Hotel. The bidding process was approved by the Court on March 12, and will continue until a buyer is identified and is approved.
“We are confident we will find the right developer for this project and for the City of La Quinta that features a very unique opportunity to introduce a first-of-its-kind luxury community and resort to the Coachella Valley,” Wilson says.
A Portland hotel sees renewed future
About 1,000 miles north of La Quinta, DWC is assigned to another hotel property. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, Portland properties
suffered across the board, in part due to an area population decline of roughly 3% from 2020 to 2023 and a dearth of area conferences and conventions. Situated on Portland’s downtown waterfront, the Portland Marriott faced this struggling marketplace head on, with DWC being appointed receiver in 2024.
“Portland was among the areas hard-hit by pandemic-era factors,” says Corcoran. “As Receiver, DWC has stabilized the property and is seeking a new owner for the site.”
When Problems Arise, Solutions Vary
The SilverRock and Portland Marriott properties are just two scenarios where the experience of workout professionals can prove valuable.
In more than 1,200 assignments over the last 36 years, DWC has served as CRO, partition referee, receiver, special master, and liquidating agent, to name a few roles. Recently, the team has effectively utilized the Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) structure to liquidate and distribute assets outside of the bankruptcy process as another alternative.
In hospitality, DWC has formed a longtime partnership with TCOR Hotel Partners that supports hotel receiverships specifically. In other areas, DWC applies its 35 years of experience with operating companies from retail to resorts and cannabis.
“Hospitality is just one area where we are seeing distress,” Vives says. “As economic pressures continue to shift as they do in every cycle, we expect to apply our experience as well as our creativity to the problems that will arise.”
THE VALUE OF RECEIVERSHIP SALE
Douglas Wilson Companies
Three Assignments Close in Receivership Sale
DWC continues to see receivership assignments across asset classes and project types, from hospitality to residential, office and more.
The DWC project team completed three recent assignments all utilizing the receivership sale process, which continues to benefit creditors and other stakeholders
due to the potential for a less time consuming and less costly process than foreclosure. This can lead to maximized asset value due to the expertise and attention a receiver provides.
Among the assignments, DWC served as receiver for a 10-unit apartment building in San Diego; a private mansion in Beverly Hills, and a car wash located in Moreno Valley, Calif. — all very different assignment types, but all resulting in receivership sales.
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Blue Jay: Single Family Residence
In the case of “Blue Jay,” a Beverly Hills mansion with extensive incomplete construction, DWC was named receiver to oversee construction repairs and remediation for significant water intrusion issues on site. The property, a 11,500-square-foot single-family home in the Bird Streets of Beverly Hills, required
was tasked with managing, safeguarding and selling the property, which is zoned for a variety of uses. The brokerage team, led by DWC Managing Director Tom Olson, interviewed three Moreno Valley brokers specializing in the sale of car washes and selected a co-broker to help market the property widely, beginning in June 2024. The property was sold in a receivership sale process in September, by which the
not only repairs, but analysis as to an “asis” sale versus completing repairs in an attempt to maximize value. DWC completed a Request for Proposal (RFP) process by which it presented the project to eight developers who were capable and wellrecognized as able to complete the work.
Based on the proposals, DWC created a three-factor formula including 1) the present value 2) the estimated cost to repair and 3) the market value of a comparable fully-finished property.
“Ultimately, DWC determined a potential sale ‘as-is’ would net the greatest value, and proceeded with the receivership sale process,” says DWC Vice President Ryan Baker, who led the assignment. “This led to a positive outcome for the creditor and allowed a path forward for this unique and desirable property.”
Sunnymead: Car Wash
In the “Sunnymead” car wash assignment, Douglas Wilson was named receiver in December 2023, after the owner closed the car wash and stopped making payments on his loan. The full-service car wash had faced increasing competition from numerous nearby self-serve car washes, leading to the default. As Receiver, DWC
property went under contract with a stalking horse bidder that was subsequently overbid by the group that purchased the property — netting a higher value in the sale than in the original bidding process.
Madison: Multifamily
In a less common arrangement, DWC President Michele Vives was appointed as both Receiver and Partition Referee for a 10-unit apartment complex in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood following a partnership dispute among the property’s owners.
After one of the majority partners discontinued upholding its property management role, the 5,250-square foot building suffered from deferred maintenance and several health and safety concerns.
As Receiver, the DWC team took responsibility for the day-to-day operations and managed tenant-related issues during the receivership. To complete the sale of the property, DWC vetted brokerage firms and selected a local broker to support the marketing and sale, which ultimately took place as a partition sale. Finally, the assignment involved distributing the funds according to ownership percentages and the court order.
“Frankly, this was an unusual approach that DWC had not used previously,” Vives says. “All parties had agreed to the process, however, serving as both Partition Referee and Receiver with critical attention to the court order ultimately led to our completing a sale of the property — in this case as part of the receivership process.”
The Benefit of Receivership Sale
A receivership sale is typically more beneficial for a lender than foreclosure proceedings. This is because in a receivership sale, the lender never takes title, which reduces the lender’s exposure to liability. The receivership sale and all details must be approved by the Court that appointed the receiver, adding a step in the process.
DWC’s team has completed hundreds of receivership sales in several states and is experienced in the Court approval process and the steps needed for completion.
“As an experienced receiver with an experienced broker, supported by a team of great asset managers all under one roof, DWC is well equipped to manage this process,” Olson says.
Having completed hundreds of receivership sales, the DWC team has gone through the process with a variety of property types and orders — whether income-generating sites, property portfolios, or private residences. And with today’s operating environment stressed by a number of factors from interest rates to inflation, DWC has seen requests for receivership and other remedies increase in recent months.
“We are seeing an increase in receivership opportunities,” Douglas Wilson says. “A difficult business climate, interest rate increases and lenders who are willing to take legal action against loans in default are all contributing to the increase in receivership sales. With DWC’s experience with operating companies and real estate in distress, we will continue to apply our expertise as problem scenarios arise in the current economic environment and we continue to add staff to support this influx.”
