NEWSLETTER FALL 2026
SPECIALIZED SERVICES
PARTNERSHIP DISPUTES RISING Why today’s market is leading to more workouts due to failed partnerships.
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Many of DWC’s assignments relate to distressed assets and entities that have been mismanaged or have become insolvent due to market factors. Yet a rising number stems from another common scenario: partnership disputes. Partnerships can fail for any number of reasons, such as misaligned goals or lack of an exit strategy for one or more partners. Increasingly today, however, these disputes are distinctly related to a single phenomenon: generational differences related to family business operations. “America is aging,” says DWC Chairman and CEO Douglas Wilson. “Those in the older generation who have wealth and are trying to pass it down are often seeing conflicts arise relative to the desires of their heirs.” The number of Americans who are 65 and older is expected to rise from 58 million in 2022 to 83 million by 2050, according to the Population Reference Bureau. That shift among baby boomers is driving an unprecedented Great Wealth Transfer,
estimated to be at least $36 trillion, with some projections placing the value at a much higher level. Within that transfer, inherited businesses are making a mark. Bank of America’s 2026 Study of Wealthy Americans showed business ownership patterns shifting, with purchased ownership declining from 22% in 2024 to 11% in 2026, while inherited business ownership ticked up from 11% to 23% in that same time frame. The study also noted that since 2024, family member involvement in businesses has increased. This includes roles spanning leadership and decisionmaking, such as management and board representation. “The increasing participation of new family members in legacy family-owned businesses naturally brews some level of conflict,” Wilson says. “Sometimes these partnerships need a third-party voice of reason, and that’s where a receiver or another fiduciary can step in to aid in resolving the dispute and preserving value of the assets.” (Story continues on inside)
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with Douglas Wilson Companies
The Role of the Fiduciary in a Partnership Dispute
Executive news & speaking engagements
A receiver or another fiduciary may be appointed by a court if the dispute has raised legal issues, or it may be hired privately to take control of an entity’s assets, manage the assets while the dispute is being resolved, or develop a plan for the operating company or its portfolio moving forward.
DWC is on the event circuit this fall. Book a meeting with us or stop by and say hello at one of these upcoming industry events. November 19-20, 2026 — UT Law 45th Annual Jay L. Westbrook Bankruptcy Conference Austin, Texas DWC is pleased to announce that DWC Executive Vice President, Joe Corcoran will be in attendance. December 1-2, 2026 — IMN Bank Special Assets Dallas, Texas DWC is pleased to sponsor this annual event again in 2026 with President Michele Vives, EVP Joe Corcoran and Managing Director Michael Wilson attending. EVP Joe Corcoran is scheduled to participate in a panel on “Office, Retail, and Hospitality: SectorSpecific Strategies for a Volatile CRE Market.” January 5-8, 2027 — CREFC Miami Miami, Florida DWC leadership President Michele Vives, COO Nicholas Wilson and EVP Joe Corcoran will be attending CREFC Miami that brings thousands of commercial real estate professional together to discuss lending conditions and market outlooks shaping the CRE industry. Please say hello or book a meeting with DWC at one of these upcoming events!
FALL 2026 | DOUGLAS WILSON COMPANIES
DWC has recently served as receiver, provisional director and partition referee in several partnership dispute scenarios, spanning agriculture, cannabis operations and real estate. Referree: In one recent assignment, DWC served as referree for a family-run farming operation including facilities in Mexico and California. Due to infighting within the family, including aging owners, and increasingly challenged agricultural market conditions, such as input costs rising disproportionately with pricing, the decades-long partnership was stressed. Provisional Director: In another recent assignment, two partners owned a number of properties including a large, suburban retail center. As the partnership dissolved,
DWC aided the owners in assessing the highest and best use of the property to determine if retail or housing would be the best use. As provisional director in the case, DWC provided the tiebreaking vote and worked to orchestrate the sale of the project in order to net a return to both partners. Partition Referee: In a third partnership dispute, DWC served as partition referee in the partnership’s sale of a multifamily project in a slowing rental market with shortterm debt maturing. As partition referee, DWC was placed to oversee the orderly sale of the property. “As a fiduciary, DWC is placed as a neutral third party to monitor assets and operations while partners and families work to resolve their differences,” Wilson says. “In many cases, these disputes can be time consuming and personally challenging — taking owners and operators away from the underlying business needs. As a fiduciary with nearly four decades of experience in problem resolution relating to operating companies and real estate assets, we provide expertise and support that allows partnerships to dissolve while maintaining the value of their assets.”
ON THE LEGACY FRONT
New assignments demonstrate today’s real estate succession planning needs While partnership disputes are one area where the aging population has created a need for third-party professional services, legacy asset planning is another where recent inquiries signal an influx on the horizon. As families with real estate assets look to transfer tens of trillions of dollars’ worth of value to their future generations, many of them will find that what worked in the past — both operationally and in terms of highest and best use — may not be optimal in the future. “While we are addressing a growing need for receiverships among families facing challenges in transferring their wealth or for assets in distress, at the same time we are seeing an uptick in demand for advisory services among families that aren’t dealing with distress — in fact, quite the opposite,”
Vives says. “In a lot of cases we see this in generational families for whom assets have come to the adult children and those children are asking: ‘How do we leverage this in terms of liquidity? How can we generate cash flow? Are these assets being optimized?’ Even with the uptick we are seeing in receiverships, we see families are coming to us with these forward-looking advisory needs.” DWC is currently advising a family the firm worked with on a separate engagement several years ago. The property in that case was a unique site, well known to the public, that required a close review of its highest and best use. Today, the family has engaged DWC for legacy asset planning on a well-known property in Los Angeles that has historic roots but faces new city rezoning that may change the nature of the site. (Story continues on next page)
(Continued from previous page) “We were hired to first do our analysis, completing Phase 1 to determine the possible site uses under current zoning,” Vives says. DWC’s advisory services process includes four phases: 1: asset and wealth analysis; 2: discussion of goals and desired outcomes; 3: development of a legacy asset transfer plan; and 4: implementation of the asset transfer plan. Clients have the flexibility to engage in the phases one at a time without commitment to completing all four phases. “In this case, we are now engaged on Phase 2, which involves things like environmental evaluation, examining
structures and getting into the specifics around what redevelopment opportunities might look like,” Vives says. In another current advisory project, DWC is supporting a family that held two office complexes. The initial analysis found it would be more advantageous to bring the properties to market separately versus keeping the portfolio together due to new zoning and development regulations. “Because of our experience advising families in the area, we are familiar with the benefits around office conversion and why it would be desirable for one of the properties,” Vives says. “Without a professional analysis, the family may have been inclined to keep the properties together in their existing uses, which likely would have limited the market value.”
As families with legacy real estate assets continue to pursue the highest and best use for their portfolios in light of the Great Wealth Transfer, or simply as they are seeking ways to plan for the next generation’s future, professional advisors like those in DWC’s legacy asset planning group can often offer a perspective not found elsewhere. “With flexibility around how we approach every single project, DWC’s services can be a boon to families with large portfolios or those with single assets they are looking to reposition or preserve,” Vives says. “Regardless of the real estate cycle and the timing, our team offers perspectives and creativity through our phased approach that often only a third party can see.”
DWC PERSONNEL NEWS
Welcoming Managing Director Marco McCartney and Stacey Nakahara as Assistant Controller DWC has hired new Managing Director, Marco McCartney, to oversee the company’s Bay Area operations. Mr. McCartney, who joined DWC from JLL, has worked extensively as property manager for San Francisco’s iconic former Standard Oil Building, 225 Bush Street, for which DWC served as Receiver from summer 2025 to fall 2026.
MARCO MCCARTNEY
STACEY NAKAHARA
Mr. McCartney is based on-site at San Francisco’s Parkmerced residential housing complex, a more than 3,000-unit multifamily development for which DWC has been serving as Receiver since March 2025. “We are thrilled to welcome Marco to the DWC team,” said Chairman and CEO Douglas Wilson. “He is savvy with all facets of property management including work with tenants, capex, unions and more. Leveraging this experience, he is well positioned for DWC’s immediate work at Parkmerced interfacing with management, leasing, capital improvements and working with community associations. In the future he will work on additional institutional-grade projects across office, multifamily and DWC’s various business lines.” Mr. McCartney joins DWC most recently from JLL, where he managed property operations at San Francisco’s Hills Plaza and 50 Fremont in addition
to work at 225 Bush Street. He is a mentor and committee member for Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) San Francisco and holds a real estate license in California. Continuing to strengthen the DWC team, the company is pleased to welcome Stacey Nakahara in the new role of Assistant Controller.. Ms. Nakahara, who is a Certified Public Accountant, joined the firm in May and has since worked closely with DWC’s finance and accounting teams on a variety of assignments and projects. Ms. Nakahara brings a background in both corporate and tax accounting and has held roles including tax management specialties, human resources and CFO. As a longstanding member of the greater San Diego community, she has served on the Board of Directors and Chair of the finance and audit committees of local community information exchange 211 San Diego, and has held volunteer roles for The Executive’s Association of San Diego and her local fastpitch softball league. “Stacey’s strengths in accounting and planning are a direct asset to DWC across a variety of project and assignment areas,” says DWC Chairman and CEO Douglas Wilson. “As new project inquiries continue to accelerate, the growth across our finance and accounting team is very well timed.”
THE NEXT WORKOUT WAVE: MULTIFAMILY REAL ESTATE ASSETS Multifamily Real Estate Faces a Critical Debt Maturity Cycle In past issues of this newsletter, Douglas Wilson Companies wrote about a handful of current multifamily assignments under which the company is serving as receiver: San Francisco’s massive 3200-plus-unit Parkmerced apartment complex and a smaller multifamily development in Washington, D.C., to name a couple. These were glimpses into a major wave of multifamily assets across the nation facing an impending debt wall that is already starting to lead to a surge of inquiries and assignments for these types of distress scenarios. “This is unlike other recent drivers of real estate turmoil related to shortterm factors,” says Douglas Wilson Companies Chairman and CEO Douglas Wilson. “Instead, this is a trillion-dollar wall of term debt placed on properties during a short timeframe pre-pandemic and during the pandemic that is going to lead to a massive wave of troubled assets for the next 24 to 30 months.” There are some market-specific factors that have led certain markets to experience this turmoil first on the front end of the wave, with Dallas, San Diego and Washington, D.C. representing three of those markets where Douglas Wilson Companies is active.
owner’s loan coming due, a conflict arose between the operating partner and the equity partner and Douglas Wilson Companies was placed as a Partition Referee to help manage the sale of the property — a sale to which both parties agreed. “With value expectations of the recent past being far from today’s market valuations, San Diego is seeing a flurry of urban infill properties built during the last development wave, without the parking infrastructure needed to support them,” Wilson says. “Those types of properties are seriously challenged and will face the need for workout professionals to help navigate their troubles.”
Currently Douglas Wilson Companies is serving as receiver for two properties in Washington, D.C. one spanning nearly 400 units and another with 50 units of urban infill. Subject to rent control, the properties are newer in terms of their age, yet they are economically impacted because of the declining rents that can be achieved.
Dallas Douglas Wilson Companies is serving as Receiver for a multi-acre 1970s multifamily property in the Dallas area. With significant deferred maintenance and set in a market that previously was very active in terms of transactions, the building struggled to service its debt and lacked the needed capital to improve.
San Diego In San Diego, Douglas Wilson Companies recently worked to help pave a path forward for a 28-unit property of micro-units and with very little designated parking. With the
FALL 2026 | DOUGLAS WILSON COMPANIES
Washington, D.C.
“Dallas was a frothy market, but now this type of property is the first to fall,” says DWC Executive Vice President Joe Corcoran. “Due to the fact that it is extremely capital intensive to restore this type of aged property and the operating climate and cost of borrowing, this is not a unique scenario in the Dallas market.”
“These properties do not appear to be distressed on the outside, yet the shift in rents combined with the other challenges to operating today provide a confluence of factors some owners aren’t able to withstand,” Wilson says. “We will continue to see marketspecific pressures mounting as the entire country faces the collective multifamily debt coming due, all of which will lead to a steady flow of demand for fiduciary and workout services like those offered by Douglas Wilson Companies. The continued stress in the bond markets combined with the reality that interest rates will not be coming down in the near future result in more challenges ahead.”
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRMAN & CEO D O U G L A S P. W I L S O N
A GENERATIONAL DIVIDE All generations experience gaps between them. Text messages versus phone calls, work loyalty versus job hopping, or workaholics versus “slackers” are a few front and center among today’s distinct generations. Many of the characteristics of the working generation when I started Douglas Wilson Companies in 1989 have long since gone by the wayside, making way for technology advancements and an up-and-coming generation today composed of workers who are distinctly fueled by the information age. Their behaviors are different, yes, but their underlying values are different, too. This is the core of any generational divide. And with these gaps — all of which are to be expected by the differences each age cohort experiences — we are seeing an interesting result from our standpoint as a fiduciary and an advisor: more engagements and assignments. Perhaps even more interesting is the types of assignments we are seeing that all relate back to a shift in values among today’s generations. On one side of the coin, generational gaps in business often lead to operating partnership disputes and disagreements; many of which can be supported and resolved through a receivership or another fiduciary role DWC serves. On the other hand, many
families with generational wealth are taking a proactive approach to planning for the future of their legacy assets, and DWC’s advisory business works to support those families with analysis and action plans to help best position their portfolios. In this newsletter, we share details on both types of assignments and the shifts we are seeing, due both to the Great Wealth Transfer, and to the differences some generational gaps create. We also introduce exciting new hires, and more. Whether you and your colleagues are proactively preparing legacy assets for the future, or if you are facing challenges related to distress or dispute, we welcome your inquiries as to how DWC can apply its 37 years of experience in an advisory capacity, as a fiduciary resource or in any of the other areas we serve. We look forward to supporting the needs of all of today’s generations.
Sincerely,
Douglas Wilson Chairman and CEO dwilson@douglaswilson.com 619-906-4312
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For More Information Contact: Douglas Wilson Companies info@douglaswilson.com (619) 641-1141
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When DWC founder, Douglas Wilson, moved to San Diego in the early 1980s from the busted energy bubble of Denver, he was thinking big. As DWC enters its fourth decade, it does so with an executive suite of high-achieving young professionals who have already experienced a round or two of cycles.
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FALL 2026
IN THIS ISSUE PARTNERSHIP DISPUTES RISING
THE NEXT WORKOUT WAVE: MULTIFAMILY REAL ESTATE ASSETS
Why today’s market is leading to more workouts due to failed partnerships
Rising demand for multifamily receivership services as maturing debt & market pressures drive distress
ON THE LEGACY FRONT
DWC NEWS AND UPDATES
Why today’s market is leading to more workouts due to failed partnerships
DWC’s growth and evolution through personnel updates and appearances at industry events.
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