The servicer’s menu is short: modify, refinance, sell, or surrender. Modifications trade on principal, and the refinance that would produce it rarely sizes — that is why you are here. The land under the asset is the layer that breaks the loop: a paydown that is not debt, needs no debt-yield test, and leaves the building, the flag, and the upside with you.
| Your goal | The land move |
|---|---|
| Win the extension or modification | Extensions get granted when principal moves. Land proceeds fund the paydown and the reserve refill the servicer asks for — and unlike mezz or pref, the money is not a new lien fighting the trust for position. |
| Refinance out entirely | Land proceeds plus a right-sized leasehold loan can reach payoff when a conventional refi alone cannot — the combined stack routinely exceeds what a DSCR-capped mortgage produces. |
| Buy time on a maturing balloon | A performing matured balloon is a negotiation, and the sponsor with a funded plan negotiates from strength. An indicative land number in the package changes the conversation. |
| Keep the flag and the operation | Nothing about the ground lease touches the franchise, management, or operations. The building, the business, and the upside stay where they are. |
Two things to know: the servicer must consent to the transaction (standard CMBS mechanics — we are comfortable working inside that process and the ask is stronger when it arrives with principal attached), and timing matters: the earlier in the workout, the more options survive. Related: loan-maturity options.
Modify, refinance, sell, or surrender. Modifications trade on principal: servicers respond to paydowns, refilled reserves, and a funded plan. The land under the asset can produce that principal without new debt — which is exactly what a DSCR-capped refi cannot do in a stressed period.
It requires servicer consent, like any material transaction on CMBS collateral. The ask succeeds or fails on what it delivers the trust: a meaningful paydown funded by the land sale is the strongest version of that ask. We structure the lease to institutional standards so the consent package is clean.
Often, yes — that is the point. The land is priced off the asset's stabilized income with the recovery plan underwritten, not off this quarter's operating statement. A paydown does not need to clear a debt-yield test the way new debt does.
Every month in special servicing accrues default interest, fees, and advances that come out of your side of the table. Options are widest early. Getting an indicative land number costs nothing and arms the negotiation either way.
Send the address, the income, and the debt picture. An indicative land value comes back fast — ammunition for the servicer conversation whether or not you use it.
Email us the property