On part 1 of this Commercial Real Estate Secrets podcast, Michael Cohen, Managing Director of Brighton Capital Advisors, shares his perspective on how CMBS is functioning in today’s environment and where real opportunity exists. Drawing on more than thirty years in CMBS and special servicing, Cohen gives practical insight into borrower challenges, investor strategies, and the processes that drive outcomes in a tightening capital market.
“Going straight to the CMBS special servicer is the worst possible thing you can do today.”
– Michael Cohen, Brighton Capital Advisors
PART 1
Commercial real estate investors do not have the luxury of waiting for perfect conditions. In 2025, price discovery is uneven, refinancing is tough, and the market is sorting out what performs, what needs time, and what will ultimately trade. On the Commercial Real Estate Secrets podcast, Brighton Capital Advisors’ Managing Partner Michael Cohen walked through how CMBS works in practice, what is different this cycle, and where disciplined investors can still find an edge.
CMBS 101 Without the Jargon
Cohen distills CMBS to its essence. Loans are pooled, sliced, and sold to a range of investors who value predictable cash flow and diversification. That structure made long term, non recourse capital widely available. It also introduced a distance between the borrower and decision makers that does not exist with relationship lenders. The result is a system that is efficient when everything performs and rigid when it does not.
His quick history lesson matters. Coming out of prior stress cycles, securitization was a way to move assets and provide liquidity. In return, borrowers accepted standardized documents and a servicing architecture that routes requests through master servicers, special servicers, and the provisions of a pooling and servicing agreement. The promise was stability. The tradeoff was flexibility.
Why the Pain Feels Different This Time
In past downturns, liquidity evaporated and new money solved problems as markets reopened. Today the friction comes from rates, basis risk, and debt service that does not pencil for assets financed at the prior cost of capital. Owners may love the real estate but cannot justify injecting fresh equity at a basis that will not clear for several years. Meanwhile, banks have less appetite to refinance transitional stories and special servicers are triaging a heavy pipeline.
Cohen cautions that investors expecting a tidal wave of easy acquisitions from servicers will likely be disappointed. Special servicers rarely hand off properties to unsolicited buyers. They run processes, test the market, and follow the documents. Opportunistic bids that ignore those realities tend to die on contact.
Where the Real Opportunities Are
Brighton Capital Advisors focuses on the middle of that Venn diagram where there is an underperforming asset, a borrower who is out of equity or out of time, and a special servicer who needs a credible path to resolution. The investors who win in that scenario show up with an executable plan, clean documentation, and the right team.
Cohen is blunt on what not to do. “Waiting around for a special servicer to just hand you a deal is the worst possible strategy.” The better path is to present a solution that works inside the CMBS framework. That can look like fresh equity into a modification, a consensual note sale followed by a recap, or positioning to buy when the asset is formally marketed. Each route has constraints that come from the pooling and servicing agreement, investor consent rights, valuation tests, and fee waterfalls. Understanding those guardrails is the difference between a fast yes and a slow no.
Brighton Capital Advisors’ Role in an Opaque System
Borrowers in distress often describe CMBS as a black box. Calls go to a general line, requests come back for information that may not exist, and timelines feel unpredictable. Cohen calls it “effectively 1 800 mortgage,” which captures the frustration of trying to negotiate without access to the people who decide.
Brighton Capital Advisors exists to level that playing field. Our team has spent decades inside top tier CMBS platforms. We translate borrower business plans into submission packages that meet servicing requirements. We stage the sequence of asks so that valuation, business plan, and legal posture line up. And we sit side by side with counsel to protect clients from recourse risk and document traps that are not obvious until they block a closing.
Two principles guide our work.
- Start early. Six to nine months before maturity is the right window to open a dialogue, tighten operations, and build the file. Once a default occurs, leverage erodes and fees move against the borrower.
- Be complete. Half submissions waste precious time. Fully documented plans that reconcile cash flows, capex, tenant status, rollover, and sponsor support move faster and get better outcomes.
Practical Guidance for Investors in 2025
Cohen’s advice to investors looking for advantage in today’s market is straightforward.
- Focus on solvable problems. Assets with a clear path to stabilization, even if it takes time, will trade and refinance once debt service is right sized. Mission critical industrial near transport nodes, well located workforce multifamily with realistic capex, necessity retail with durable anchors, and selective office with proven leasing momentum all fall into this category. The key is underwrite to today’s debt costs and hold periods, not last cycle’s.
- Bring a plan that aligns with the servicer’s mandate. Special servicers are not in the business of taking heroic bets. They are paid to maximize recoveries within the four corners of the documents. A plan that shows credible capital, a documented business case, and a clean path to transfer or modification stands out.
- Expect a process. Even when you uncover an interesting situation, the servicer will almost always run a controlled sale or a structured negotiation. Relationships matter at the margin, but process governs the outcome.
- Use partners who have been on the other side. Cohen notes that complex negotiations require legal precision and operational detail. “You need the right advisors in the room so the investor has all the information they need to make an informed decision.” Brighton Capital Advisors pairs borrowers and buyers with that experience so proposals do not stall on technicalities.
What Borrowers Need to Hear Right Now
For current CMBS borrowers, the message is clear. Do not go radio silent. Engage before maturity, assemble your advisory team, and get your documents in order. There is no programmatic fix that fits every situation, but there are repeatable patterns that produce better results. Clean collateral narrative, realistic cash flow, transparent sponsor capacity, and a sensible request that fits the PSA will always beat last minute Hail Marys.
Cohen adds one mindset filter that we share with every client. Hope is not a strategy. The market will reward owners who face the numbers and choose a path that protects value. Sometimes that is a modification with fresh equity. Sometimes it is a structured handoff that limits downside. Either outcome beats drift.
Key Insights
- CMBS delivers non recourse capital at scale, but the same structure makes workouts procedural and slow.
- Real opportunity in 2025 sits where capital, business plan, and servicing rules intersect, not in wishful off market handoffs.
- Starting six to nine months before maturity and submitting complete, credible packages materially improves outcomes.
- Brighton Capital Advisors’ insider perspective and legal coordination turns opaque processes into executable plans for borrowers and investors.
Looking Ahead
The next twelve months will continue to separate durable assets from stories that require a reset. Investors who show up with discipline, patience, and a plan built for the CMBS playbook will find deals worth doing. Borrowers who engage early and lean on experienced teams will preserve options and value.
Brighton Capital Advisors will keep doing what we do best. We translate between borrowers, investors, and the servicing ecosystem so good real estate gets the solution it deserves.
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