Sometimes the difference between a distressed property and a valuable development opportunity is finishing what someone else started.
Not every distressed real estate project involves abandoned construction, incomplete buildings, or costly repairs. Sometimes the most valuable work happens before a shovel ever hits the ground.
That's the situation we encountered when a lender engaged our team to help recover value from a partially entitled commercial development. The project had significant potential: approximately 23 apartments combined with 16,000 square feet of retail space.
Much of the entitlement work had already been completed, but the project remained stuck. Outstanding requirements stood between the lender and a permit-ready development opportunity. Although the remaining items represented a relatively small portion of the overall entitlement process, they required specialized knowledge and the ability to navigate some particularly nuanced development challenges.
For a lender trying to recover its investment, those final hurdles were significant. An almost-entitled project and a permit-ready project can be two very different assets. A prospective buyer evaluating an unfinished entitlement process must account for uncertainty, additional costs, potential delays, and the risk that outstanding approvals could change the project's economics.
Our assignment was to eliminate as much of that uncertainty as possible. Drawing on our team's experience in architecture, land development, entitlement, and municipal coordination, we stepped in to address the remaining requirements and move the project across the finish line. The result was a permit-ready mixed-use development with approximately 23 residential units and 16,000 square feet of retail.
From entitlement to disposition
But completing entitlements was only the first phase of our assignment. With the project positioned for development, the lender asked our team to handle its disposition — taking the asset to market, identifying prospective buyers, communicating the development opportunity, managing negotiations, and working toward a successful closing. And we're doing that in a particularly challenging real estate market.
Rather than simply listing a distressed property and hoping a buyer recognizes its potential, we're bringing a substantially more advanced development opportunity to market. The entitlement work has already been completed, allowing prospective buyers to focus on their development strategy, construction costs, financing, and projected returns rather than navigating the uncertainties of unfinished approvals.
As of September 2026, our team has completed the entitlement assignment and is actively working toward the property's sale. Our engagement will continue through negotiations and closing, with the objective of helping the lender achieve the strongest recovery the market will support.
Why this is what makes NAKO different
Our work doesn't necessarily begin with construction, and it doesn't necessarily end when construction is complete. Sometimes the greatest value we can create is resolving the final entitlement issues that have kept a development from moving forward. Other times, it's knowing how to package and sell the resulting opportunity.
And when market conditions make an immediate sale unattractive, our integrated development, architecture, construction, brokerage, and property management capabilities allow us to evaluate alternative paths forward.
Because recovering a distressed real estate asset isn't always about building something. Sometimes it's about finishing the development work, removing uncertainty, and creating an opportunity that the next owner is ready to pursue.