Stinson Real Estate and Finance Partner Talks South Florida CRE, Private Capital in Daily Business Review

08.01.2023

Stinson LLP Partner Cris Cicala is featured in a Daily Business Review article, "As High Interest Rates Threaten Florida Real Estate Deals, Private Cash Flows to the Rescue."

Cicala discusses the risks banks face with commercial loans and how private equity can provide solutions as the commercial real estate market faces an uphill battle.

"We're seeing the lenders not having a ton of willingness to extend because there's not a lot of incentive, especially with liquidity tightening, and we're seeing borrowers not being nearly as worried about handing the keys back to the bank," Cicala notes. "We're seeing in some cases … handing the keys back over rather than writing equity checks."

Cicala says the banking crises in early 2023 forced banks to be stricter with lending practices, making deal-making with developers more difficult. The "extend and pretend" approach that previously helped banks get through financial crises is no longer being utilized. Banks are now having to get more creative as higher interest rates threaten debt financing, and pressures like inflation, supply chain issues and Florida's insurance crisis materialize.

Cicala is a real estate and finance attorney with a business operator mindset. He focuses his multifaceted practice on providing corporations, financial institutions and investment funds, real estate developers, media companies and entrepreneurs with practical and strategic legal advice.

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