In 2023, Karla Vehrs became a member of Ballard Spahr’s national Distressed Office Buildings team, which is tasked with helping clients address underperforming office building real estate and loans. In 2024, Vehrs is continuing to address the issue as, across the country, over $900 billion in commercial real estate debt is set to mature as owners face rising interest rates and record-high vacancies. “The interesting challenge that we have ahead,” Vehrs says, “is as those losses are realized—and new owners, investors, [and] lenders step in under different terms—to be able to rethink how we use the spaces that we already have.”

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