In the News

Common Bond Capital Partners Adds Ellen Jamason
and David Guy as Managing Directors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(February 20, 2013) Common Bond Capital Partners LLC has added real estate and finance attorney Ellen Jamason and real estate developer David Guy as Managing Directors as the firm increases its capabilities to acquire and turn around stalled land development projects troubled by defaulted municipal bonds.

Jamason brings to Common Bond broad experience in law, business and government affairs. She has been a partner at two major international law firms, specializing in complex land development projects, renewable energy, corporate real estate, and public/private partnerships, as well as the repositioning of distressed real estate assets. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jamason was Senior Director of Real Estate and Site Development for Cisco Systems, Inc., where she oversaw all of Cisco’s domestic and international real estate activities, including development of corporate campuses in the U.S. and Amsterdam and management of 17 million square feet of office space. At Cisco she also led the State and Local Government Affairs team, advising C-level executives on public policy issues.

Guy has an extensive background in real estate, both at large publicly-traded land development or homebuilding companies and as a founder of the GS Companies, a group of real estate development, consulting and advisory firms specializing in the southeastern United States. In addition to joining Common Bond, he will continue to manage projects of the GS Companies. Guy has developed over 15 master planned communities and has been directly involved with all aspects of development of more than 37,000 acres of land and over 71,000 residential units. As part of his real estate experience, he has developed over 10 million square feet of commercial space, over 5,000 apartment units and seven golf courses and clubhouse facilities.

“We are delighted to have Ellen and David join our team,” said Bill Huck, Managing Director and CEO of Common Bond Capital Partners. “They bring essential real estate skills to our business of resolving problems associated with defaulting bond-funded projects.” Common Bond Capital Partners was formed in January 2012 to provide capital, financial know-how and real estate development expertise to help resolve defaults in the complex land-secured municipal bond sector. The company provides a first-of-its-kind platform to build beneficial alliances between bondholders, the communities affected by recession-era bond defaults, and fresh sources of development capital and expertise. Common Bond is currently evaluating distressed bond projects in Florida, Virginia and California as additions to its turnaround portfolio.”

Municipal Bond Default Trends

In the last decade local governments issued nearly $30 billion in land-secured municipal bonds to finance the public infrastructure projects needed to build new communities in many of the nation’s fastest growing states. A significant minority--approximately 200 bond issues totaling over $5 billion—have or will default in the next few years because of high delinquency rates in the special taxes or assessments used to pay bond debt service. Land-secured bond defaults are a lagging indicator of the recessionary economy. And while the housing markets have started to recover, experts believe the bond default wave has not yet passed.

Aligning the Interests of Key Parties

”While the conventional private equity approach is to attempt to buy distressed bonds at deep discounts from desperate owners facing cash or regulatory pressures to sell, Common Bond Capital Partners proposes a strategy that aligns interests of key parties,” said Huck. “Most land-secured bonds are owned by sophisticated institutional investors with just as much cash, and typically more municipal bond sector experience, than the private equity opportunists who sometimes low-ball bids on distressed bonds. The Common Bond collaborative approach typically has significantly greater appeal to both existing bondholders and the communities involved. Even so, we also intend to be a source of liquidity for bondholders, as needed.”

For additional information on Common Bond Capital Partners investment opportunities and solutions to municipal bond defaults, please visit the company's website at www.commonbondcap.com.