EventsSponsored by Terra Strategies
Distress: Inside the Slow Reset of U.S. Commercial Real Estate
By Natalia Sosnina, Head of Acquisition and Investor Relations at Terra StrategiesJanuary 28, 20264 min read
We are privileged to publish this article by Natalia Sosnina following her participation as a panelist at the IMN RTL & DSCR Forum in Aventura, Miami. In this piece, she expands on the themes discussed on stage, offering a deeper look into how commercial real estate distress is quietly reshaping the market through capital stack resets rather than headline-driven defaults.
I spend most of my time today not underwriting buildings, but underwriting capital stacks. That’s because the most compelling opportunities in U.S. commercial real estate emerging quietly, deal by deal, at loan maturities—inside refinancing conversations where existing capital structures no longer work.
When I refer to distressed assets in today’s market, I’m not talking about vacant properties, court-ordered sales, or visibly failing operations. Most of today’s distress appears when a property can no longer support its existing debt structure, even if the asset itself is operating, leased, and generating income.
About the author
Head of Acquisition and Investor Relations at Terra Strategies
Natalia Sosnina is a structured finance expert with a specialty in distressed assets. Currently, focusing on the acquisition of distressed debt and securities, Natalia previously held roles at rating agencies, assessing the issuance of new CMBS as well as NPL Acquisitions for PE fund. Natalia started in real estate following the GFC as an analyst representing distressed borrowers in the restructuring of their loans on commercial real estate properties. After immigrating to the United States in with no real estate connections, Natalia has attained a professional excellence as well as having amassed a real estate investment portfolio. She holds an undergraduate degree in engineering from Moscow State University of Technology and Masters in Real Estate Investment and Finance from NYU.