TAMPA - Consumers may not realize it, but shopping centers throughout the Bay area – even some that appear successful – are teetering on foreclosure.

Such foreclosures could ripple across the economy in a way that some economists say would make the residential real estate bust pale in comparison.

And the foreclosures aren't even the worst part of it. The foreclosure process is long – sometimes years – and properties often fall into disrepair before the lender takes them back.

Enter business opportunities. CB Richard Ellis, the world's largest commercial real estate firm, is launching a new division to concentrate on receivership for commercial properties.

Here's how it works: a lender requests a judge appoint a receiver to manage and help make decisions for the property while it winds through foreclosure.

"This is the kind of business that only comes around every 20 years or so," said Randy Buddemeyer, a managing director for CB.

CB's Florida division has a dozen active assignments now and another dozen that are awaiting approval by a judge.

Receivership is not new to CB and many other firms like it, but concentrating on such business is.

"They're trying to turn this troubled situation on its head," said Ben Thypin, senior market analyst for New York-based Real Capital Analytics.

It's not only a good business opportunity, Thypin said, but putting commercial properties into receivership could cushion the fall of the commercial market.

While Florida and the Tampa area is known well for its troubles in the housing market, the commercial market is hurting, too, Thypin said.

Rents, occupancy rates and values for commercial projects have plummeted - particularly in the Tampa metro area, according to New York-based Real Capital Analytics. Defaults are on the rise, too.

And taking the properties back doesn't help. Property values have dropped so much that lenders can't make up for losses when they sell.

Tampa is among cities with the lowest recovery rates, meaning lenders are eating bigger losses when they sell foreclosed properties. The Tampa metro area's recovery rate so far this year has been about 46 percent, according to the Real Capital report. The only city to fare worse was Detroit, which had a recovery rate of about 45 percent.

With recovery rates so low, managing properties through receivership is even more important, said Rick Klepal, a vice president with CB who serves as a receiver.

"We help lenders figure out what an asset is worth today and what it might be worth later," Klepal said.

As the receiver, CB helps the lender figure out its options. It works with tenants to determine rent or come up with a new tenant structure or market the property for sale. Typically, both sides of the foreclosure – the lender and the property owner – approve the decisions.

The bulk of CB's receivership work has been in the retail and office sectors, but Klepal said he's noticing an uptick in multifamily.

The majority of monthly receivership fees fall between $2,000 and $10,000, depending on the complexity of managing the property. Lenders pay the fee.

Mark Vitner, a senior economist with Wells Fargo, said lenders are trying to modify loans to keep the commercial real estate fallout at bay. The economic recovery will likely remain slow, though, and demand for commercial real estate will stay low, he said.

"There's really no escaping the problem that when credit was flowing freely a few years ago, people paid too much, and now the values are coming back down to earth," Vitner said.

Commercial properties bought during the real estate boom were financed 70 percent to 80 percent. Now that property values have dropped, owners have a difficult time refinancing. Especially since lenders now typically allow only 50 percent to 60 percent of the value to be leveraged.

The Tampa Bay area's office sector was set to have $132 million in loans due this year, California-based First American CoreLogic said in late July. An additional $204 million in industrial loans were expected to mature this year.

Receivership could help reduce the number of fire-sales and help manage the real estate slump better.

"It makes sense," Vitner said. "It's less disruption for communities and may help reduce the loss of wealth in a community."

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.