St. Pete commercial mortgage workout firm raises $20M, expects much more
By Margie Manning
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 12, 2014

A St. Petersburg-based company that focuses on distressed commercial mortgages has launched its seventh fund.

DCR Mortgage Partners VII LP would be the largest fund to date for Directed Capital Resources. The fundraising goal is $105 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"We're very pleased with the reaction we've had from the investment community,” said Christopher Moench, CEO of Directed Capital Resources. "Between what has been closed and what has been circled [commitments] we're at the $20 million level now.”

DCR buys, manages and resolves distressed commercial mortgages. The latest fund will maintain that focus and also be used for a limited amount of bridge lending, Moench said. Those are higher-yield loans that are made when a quick closing requires funding that can't go through normal channels.

While the economy is improving, there are still plenty of distressed commercial properties around. Distressed commercial real estate assets stood at $25.9 billion at the end of 2014, according to a report compiled by Transwestern, a Houston-based real estate firm. That was down by a third from $38.4 billion at year-end 2013.