New CMBS deal could reduce pressure on $1 trillion US debt

  Shopping centre specialist Developers Diversified Realty Corp is set to complete the first US commercial mortgage-backed securities deal in more than a year.   The deal should ease pressure on the $1 trillion US property loan sector.   DDR has worked with Goldman Sachs to structure a deal that could be eligible for a US government loan programme that is designed to increase liquidity in the financial markets.   DDR, which owns more than 670 shopping malls in the US, Brazil and Canada, would look to sell the CMBS bond to the Troubled Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility.   The facility buys asset-backed bonds, providing those holding them with improved liquidity.   So far, some banks holding CMBS paper issued before the downturn have used the facility. But DDR is the first property company to attempt to create new bonds designed to be sold to TALF to assist refinancing programmes.   michael.phillips@estatesgazette.com