WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(NEW YORK, NY) -- The federal Office of the Comptroller of Currency has granted preliminary approval to New York real estate developer-investor  and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross and two partners to charter a new bank.

The new bank, SJB National Bank, would allow the Ross group to bid on the troubled $7 billion in assets of big-name condominium lender Corus Bank of Chicago.  The bank would also be qualified to bid on other failed institutions shut down by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Corus has not  been seized by the FDIC but bank officials previously acknowledged the institutionally is grossly under capitalized and may not be able to survive.

There have been 89 bank failures this year, according to the FDIC. There were 26 in 2008; three in 2007; and none in 2006 and 2005.

Other groups hoping to bid for some of those assets are Miami-based Crescent Heights, Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, Colony Capital LLC,  iStar Financial Inc. and  Starwood Capital Group of New York City.

(Please see related postings, "Corus Bank Trophy Caribbean Miami Beach Condo Sold After Owner Returns Key to Lender, Sept. 7, 2009; Big-Name Condo Investors Await Corus Bank's Pending Seizure by FDIC, Sept. 4, 2009.")

Stephen Ross

Ross is chairman of New York City-based Related Cos., frequently associated with The Related Cos. of Miami, headed by condo developer Jorge M. Perez.

Jeff Blau and Bruce Beal Jr., executives in Related Cos. of New York are Ross's partners in the new bank. 

SJB Bank's CEO would be  Adolfo Henriques, a veteran Miami banking executive who in July was named chairman of Gibraltar Private Bank of Coral Gables, Fla.

The OCC also approved Stuart M. Rothenberg, Goldman Sach's former head of real-estate investments, as a potential bank director.

Various publications previously reported Corus's condominium and other real-estate loans have drawn interest from investors because the 111 developments backing that debt are generally regarded as top-quality projects.

By contrast, Corus's banking franchise hasn't attracted much interest because the lender has only 11 branches and attracts deposits primarily by selling online certificates of deposit with above-market interest rates.

Bank regulators have split the assets and deposits of Corus and are soliciting bids for both units in an effort to draw higher bids for the FDIC-brokered auction.

Related itself has teamed with Philadelphia-based Lubert-Adler Partners LP, a real-estate investment firm, and other investors to bid on the assets of Corus.

The Wall Street Journal reports the regulators' split makes it unnecessary for SJB to purchase the entire bank in order for Related and its partners to win control of Corus's condo assets.

John Douglas

Still, being able to bid on both the deposits and the assets of a bank could give a potential bidder a competitive leg up.

"The advantage to the FDIC of selling both the assets and the liabilities to the same institution at the same time is that the FDIC doesn't have to write as big a check," said John Douglas, a former general counsel at the FDIC.

Bids on Corus assets were originally due Sept 8. They now have been pushed back by at least two weeks, according to sources in a position to know.

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