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“Our company was heavily invested in a South Florida real estate redevelopment deal when the bubble burst in 2008 and values quickly plummeted. Our lender failed, sold our personally-guaranteed note to an individual investor, and we were faced with a problem unlike any that we had previously encountered despite having successfully navigated a $500MM workout during the 1990-91 recession.
Even with our prior experience, it was Richard Hollowell’s comprehensive evaluation of all portfolio assets and preparation of supporting materials that presented a compelling summary of the borrower’s financial status and enabled our creditor to cooperate with us on a substantially-discounted plan.
This approach, implemented in 2009, worked for us and in retrospect would not have been possible without Richard’s outstanding effort, perfect communication, and high-level guidance. Having worked with a major retail developer for more than thirty years, it is clear that our collaborating with Richard at such a vulnerable time was one of the most significant successes that we have experienced relative to the enormity of the challenge before us.”
“Richard Hollowell is a true professional, who brings tremendous in-depth personal knowledge and perspective in evaluating and addressing complex distressed commercial real estate situations – a person who has actually been there, done that, not a pontificator. A little over a year ago while representing a national restaurant chain in litigation with one of the nation’s largest owners of retail malls, I was fortunate to work with Richard as an expert consultant and trial witness.
Demonstrating a genuine ability to distill complicated statistical analysis and financial information and explain it in a way that is easy to understand, Richard artfully presented his opinions with compelling professionalism and was at the center of the trial verdict in favor of our client.”
William F. Ryan Jr.
Partner, Litigation Practice Co-Chair
Whiteford Taylor Preston
www.wtplaw.com
Baltimore, MD
“My partner John George and I retained Richard Hollowell to assist us in litigation brought by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver of one of the largest community banks to fail in Illinois during the Great Recession. The FDIC sued the bank’s former officers and directors to recover several hundred million dollars in alleged losses on dozens of commercial loans to borrowers in the hospitality industry in Illinois, New York, and Florida.
Richard’s unique expertise in banking and the relevant commercial real estate markets and his experience as a testifying witness provided invaluable assistance in responding to the FDIC’s allegations about supposed lending deficiencies as well as the claimed damages. It was a professional and personal pleasure to work with someone as talented and knowledgeable as Richard and we look forward to opportunities to do so again in the future.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Richard Hollowell for over 30 years; during that time I have dealt with him in my role as an attorney in my legal practice. I have consistently witnessed his ability to create effective workout strategies, in both complex and relatively straightforward distressed real estate situations, and then to execute competently and efficiently thereby maximizing the value of the asset. He also demonstrated excellent communication skills which was very important to me.
I’ve also dealt with Richard in my former role as the Chairman of a Florida based community bank with the same type of admiration for the services he provided.
I have the utmost confidence in not only Richard’s skill, acumen and ability as a professional, but also, and perhaps more importantly, in his rock-solid integrity.”
“I have had the absolute pleasure of knowing Richard Hollowell for close to 20 years, initially meeting through a mutual colleague regarding a Las Vegas casino redevelopment project on the Las Vegas Strip. What I learned then and what has been reinforced time and again since is there are few real estate experts with the breadth of knowledge and experience that Richard possesses.
As we head into an unprecedented time of head winds in the commercial real estate industry, his experience will be needed more than ever. And even more importantly, Richard is a person of integrity and honesty – qualities more important than any item on his long and accomplished resume!”
Stephen A. Crystal
Head of North America Development
Betfred USA Sports
Las Vegas, NV
“I have known Richard Hollowell for over 30 years. During that time I witnessed his ability to resolve complex distressed commercial real estate assets with creativity and determination, always the consummate professional. During the early stages of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) my firm, Real Estate Recovery, Inc., was awarded one of the largest SAMDA contracts, charged with the orderly disposition of defaulted real estate loans.
Richard, as Executive Vice President, was assigned the responsibility of establishing our Florida office, which under his leadership, grew to become the largest of our six regional offices, and a constant recipient of additional work from the government based upon the track record he developed. Then as President of the firm with a staff expanded to 175 professionals, he evaluated, developed exit strategies, litigated, restructured and disposed of over $1 billion of real estate assets.
Throughout this period, Richard’s integrity and interpersonal skills combined to make him a most sought-after professional by our bank and government agency financial clients. After the sunset of the RTC, Richard formed his own firm with which we collaborated on a number of major projects including portfolio acquisitions, debt restructurings and distressed bank consulting. Richard is truly one of the most knowledgeable and experienced workout specialists in the country.”
“As we find ourselves approaching what may be a major downturn in commercial real estate markets, distressed property and note investors are poised to capitalize on significant opportunities. Richard Hollowell is one of a select few ‘godfathers’ of distressed real estate investing and financial restructurings.
Richard advised us on a 1,600 bed student housing property restructuring in the 2015-2016 period and demonstrated the depth of his experience and expertise. Richard’s ability to engage constructively with lenders and special servicers, to think strategically about ‘win-win’ outcomes for both the borrower and lender, and to anticipate questions and incorporate those answers into presentation materials are priceless.”
“Richard Hollowell assisted our firm as a testifying expert in the defense of a general partner in a lawsuit involving a Southern California waterfront shopping village. His knowledge of available financing in the 2008-2010 time period, coupled with his experience in unsubordinated ground leases allowed us to successfully defend the general partner, after which the judge awarded our client all legal fees and expert witness costs.
I would wholeheartedly recommend Richard as a professional who is equipped to deliver solutions in hard to defend real estate disputes.”
Henry Lorber
Principal and Founder
Henry Lorber & Associates
www.henrylorberassociates.com
Atlanta, GA
Alan Kahn
President
Kahn Development Company
www.kahndevelopment.com
Columbia, SC
“Richard was an expert witness in a real estate matter on behalf of a client involved in a complicated foreclosure, escrow negligence and title insurance battle. The case involved a hurricane, lost documents, a gentleman who went to prison for fraud, and another gentleman who died behind the wheel of his sailboat. A detailed forensic analysis was needed. Richard was extremely helpful and always reliable and available. I recommend that you consider Richard as an expert witness.”
Timothy J. Donahue Esq.
Law Offices of Tim Donahue
Orange County, CA
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