Grubb & Ellis Company (GBE), a well-known commercial real estate services provider, said Wednesday that that it had formed the a financial services asset management practice designed to provide critical services to financial institutions, special servicers and government agencies dealing with challenged real estate and mortgage assets. The new line of business will provide a wide range of services surrounding distressed commercial real estate, including receivership, property management, construction management, asset due-diligence, lease administration, valuation transaction management and capital markets execution. “The current environment is placing significant stress on a variety of our clients who are managing real estate debt as collateral values are challenged and recapitalization options shrink,” said Glen Esnard, president of Grubb & Ellis Capital Markets Group. He suggested G&E had access to the resources need to manage workouts, foreclosures, restructuring and asset disposition, given its position as a leading commercial real estate services provider. The new practice group is being co-led by Frank Mancini, executive managing director, in New York and Conrad Andersen, senior vice president, global client solutions in Newport Beach, Calif. It will draw from Grubb & Ellis’ entire pool of resources to provide lenders and servicers a comprehensive assessment of collateral quality and performance and to both develop and execute strategies designed to maximize value recovery, the company said in a press statement. “Our strength lies in our experienced practice leadership, which has both investment bank and major financial institution REO experience as well as our deep on-the-ground network and our ability to align our broad array of services to specific client requirements,” Esnard said. Write to Paul Jackson at [email protected]. Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.