Broker questions FDIC tactics

With an interest-free loan from the FDIC, the private equity firm that acquired the real estate portfolio of Chicago-based Corus bank is in no hurry to sell off assets, which include about 900 unsold condo units in distressed Las Vegas properties. Commercial real estate broker Ron Opfer doesn't agree with the government's financial tactics, particularly when it holds up the sale of condo projects that have gone into default or foreclosure. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Corus last year and auctioned a stake of the bank's real estate loans to a private investment group led by Starwood Capital Group. ST Residential, also based in Chicago, was created to manage the portfolio. Corus was highly exposed to the Las Vegas condo market, loaning $123 million for One Las Vegas, $123 million for Streamline Tower, $236 million for the first two Panorama towers, $106 million for Juhl and $111 for the Meridian condo conversions.

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