Walton Street to Return Properties to Lenders, Crain’s Says

Walton Street Capital LLC, a real estate private-equity firm, is poised to hand back to lenders a portfolio of West Coast industrial properties, Crain’s Chicago reported without say how it obtained the information.

Walton Street, whose managing principal is billionaire Neil Bluhm, bought the properties for $2.9 billion at the peak of the real estate market in 2007, Crain’s reported today. About $2.5 billion of loans on the Chicago-based firm’s portfolio come due June 8, and the properties are worth so much less than the debt that it makes sense to walk away, the newspaper said.