Trepp and CompStak – two of the biggest names in commercial real estate data – are teaming up as the property-information sector turns its sights toward fallout from the economic slowdown.
The two companies formed a partnership that allows users of Trepp’s database on commercial mortgage backed securities to access CompStak’s trove of data on leases and rents in properties like office buildings and industrial sites.
“We talked to our CMBS clients and asked them, ‘What more do you need from us?’ One of the most often asked-for items was the need for more and more granular information on leases,” Joe McBride, head of CRE finance at Trepp, told The Real Deal.
CMBS loans report some lease data on the largest tenants in properties such as office buildings, but the information is far less comprehensive than the details CompStak collects on leases. To demonstrate how CMBS investors can use the data, teams from the two companies put out a report that analyzes lease expirations to identify properties that may have difficulty refinancing as those agreements come to an end.
The report identified 120 New York City properties with a loan balance of $750 million that are at risk.
CompStak founder Michael Mandel said he’s been in talks with Trepp to do a partnership for years, and that it’s become more viable as his company’s reach expanded in recent years.
“We started out in major markets in office properties and we’ve moved to tertiary markets and other asset classes,” he said. “As our coverage increased, we were better positioned to do something like this.
The tie-up between the two companies comes as their largest competitor expands its reach.
CoStar, the $25.6 billion real estate data behemoth, paid $190 million last month to buy the auction-website Ten-X – a move the company said will bolster its ability to help investors navigate the wave of properties expected to become distressed as a result of the coronavirus-induced economic downturn.
McBride said the timing of the Trepp-CompStak partnership was coincidental.
Mandel founded CompStak in 2012. Trepp, which launched in 1979, is owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust media company.
Contact Rich Bockmann at rb@therealdeal.com or 908-415-5229