Losses Pile Up in Top-Rated Bonds Backed by Commercial Real Estate Debt

  • Top bonds backed by loan for 1740 Broadway in NYC repaid 74%
  • Industry analysts warn of more pain to come in safest CMBS

An office building at 1740 Broadway in New York.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

For the first time since the financial crisis, investors in top-rated bonds backed by commercial real estate debt are getting hit with losses.

Buyers of the AAA portion of a $308 million note backed by the mortgage on the 1740 Broadway building in midtown Manhattan got less than three-quarters of their original investment back earlier this month after the loan was sold at a steep discount. It’s the first such loss of the post-crisis era, according to Barclays Plc. All five groups of lower ranking creditors were wiped out.