Sweetwater Ranch in Austin TX - LBREP II - Jeff Cook - former principal of SunCal

.. sent to LehmanTeam@weil.com in regard to Sweetwater Ranch in Austin TX.

.. an equity participant with LBREP II. Further, it is in regard to Jeff Cook, a former principal of SunCal. He now manages a portfolio of properties for Lehman.


Mon, October 25, 2010 9:51:43 AM
Jeff Cook, Liberty Street Real Estate Group & TriMont Real Estate Advisors
From:
Mike Girouard
Add to Contacts
To:
LehmanTeam@weil.com
Lehman Team,

I invested (equity partner) with Lehman Bros. Real Estate Fund II in a property called Sweetwater Ranch in Austin TX. The resulting entity from this investment was called Sweetwater Austin JV, LLC. Jeff Cook, Liberty Street Real Estate Group, was managing this property for Lehman. His email goes to szimmerman@trimontrea.com of TriMont Real Estate Advisors of Atlanta, GA.


I believe that Jeff Cook may not be acting in the best interest of Lehman Bros. or the Real Estate Management Group for Lehman. He withheld a valid sales offer for paper lots in Sweetwater Ranch from Bank Midwest which would have brought the property within covenants of the loan. Mr. Cook did not try to renegotiate the term of the loan although Bank Midwest was willing to do so. Mr. Cook allowed Bank Midwest to foreclose on the loan with no effort to stop the foreclosure. Bank Midwest bought their loan back at auction with Mr. Cook present.

I believe that Mr. Cook may be engaged in some unethical profiteering at the expense of Lehman Bros. and their Real Estate Management Group. I would suggest you look at his and TriMont's portfolio of Lehman properties to determine if they or their agents are purchasing or developing properties that had been foreclosed and sold.

The Austin Texas market is one of the strongest in the country and large home builders are buying paper lots in the immediate area of Sweetwater Ranch. Mr. Cook didn't show a valid $14 million offer to Bank Midwest in the weeks prior to foreclosure.

I will continue to watch events related to Bank Midwest, Sweetwater Ranch, Jeff Cook (Liberty Street Group), and TriMont Real Estate Advisors. I hope this is an isolated case for you, but I can't help thinking this may not be isolated.

If this email is not getting to the right people, please let me know who to contact.

Sincerely,
Michael R. Girouard "

Jeff Cook reports to Rod Reynolds, SVP, Silverpeak Real Estate Partner