Bankrupt Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries have nearly $2 billion in commercial real estate loans in Miami and South Florida, according to a new report by Condo Vultures® LLC.

Lehman (NYSE: LEH) has 35 outstanding loans in South Florida with 22 loans in Miami-Dade County totaling $964 million, and 13 in Broward County totaling $899 million, according to the report by the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy.

Lehman and its subsidiaries are the lead lender on a number of high profile South Florida real estate projects, ranging from the new Trump Hollywood oceanfront condominium under construction to the high-end Aventura Mall, the two-story Galleria of Key Biscayne retail center to the Courvoisier Centre office complex on Brickell Key, according to the Condo Vultures® report.

The report only identifies the lead lender and not any participants that may own a share of the syndicated debt originated by Lehman and/or its subsidiaries.

Hamstrung by about $60 billion in troubled real estate loans, Lehman’s debt stood at $613 billion when the 158-year-old Wall Street investment bank with assets of $639 billion when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization protection on Sept. 15.

The bankruptcy action was Lehman’s last option after failing over the weekend to find a suitor.

Lehman is expected to sell off many of its assets in the weeks and months ahead to satisfy creditors. Citigroup is Lehman’s largest unsecured creditor with $138 billion in bonds. The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. is owed about $17 billion, according to the Associated Press.

The British bank Barclays is reported to be in discussions to buy Lehman’s “U.S. broker-dealer business and include Lehman’s equity, fixed income, forex and M&A advisory business in the U.S.,” according to Reuters.

At the end of trading Monday, Lehman’s stock closed at 21 cents, down 94 percent or $3.44 per share from Friday. Lehman’s 52 week high price was $67.73, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Lehman’s bankruptcy ranks as the largest in U.S. history based on assets held. Disgraced telecom company WorldCom now ranks second with assets of $104 billion, and the failed energy company Enron Corp. is third with $63 billion.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

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