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""Fannie Mae"":http://www.fanniemae.com is planning to unload a 25 percent stake in its stock of foreclosed apartment buildings. The buyer â€" ""Related Companies"":http://www.related.com, a New York-based firm founded by real estate mogul Stephen Ross, also of Miami Dolphins ownership fame.
_The Wall Street Journal_ reports that the deal also includes an option for Related Cos. to buy an ownership stake in any[IMAGE] [COLUMN_BREAK]
multifamily properties Fannie forecloses on in the future. The paper says Related will be responsible for investing in the maintenance and management of the apartment buildings.
The move signals a change in strategy for the GSE, which historically has shied away from selling off its nonperforming assets en masse.
According to the _Journal_, the Related Cos. transaction would be Fannie's first major bulk sale of foreclosed property.
Fannie Mae's multifamily delinquency rate stood at just 0.69 percent as of the end of February, but with the large price tags multifamily loans carry, even that small percentage adds up to a multi-million dollar portfolio of repossessed assets.
The _Journal_ says Fannie Mae's holdings of foreclosed apartment properties more than doubled over the 2010 calendar year, closing out the year valued at nearly $600 million.
