In 1991, when the real estate market in the United States was in free-fall, Michael Sonnenfeldt saw opportunity. In response to banks failing at the highest rate since the Great Depression, the government established the Resolution Trust Corporation to acquire “bad banks,” protect their depositors, and reposition the assets the banks once held.  Over the course of a few years, billions of dollars of real estate loans and assets were auctioned off to try to restart a real estate industry which had largely frozen up. Sonnenfeldt seized the moment and led the successful bid to acquire a loan portfolio from the former Ensign Savings Bank which included 78 mortgages, mostly non-performing, with a face value of over $200 million for approximately 20 cents on the dollar.  From that first acquisition, Emmes and Company was formed. The company went on to lead another nine acquisitions under Sonnenfeldt’s leadership, totaling 200 mortgages and properties encompassing 20 million square feet.  During Sonnenfeldt’s tenure as founding Chairman, the firm acquired approximately $1 billion of assets, and delivered a 38% IRR on the invested capital of approximately $300 million from institutional and family office equity partners. The firm was relatively unique in that it created a diverse and flexible team to reposition assets of almost every property type, leading the asset management, property management, leasing, construction and redevelopment internally. Sonnenfeldt exited Emmes & Company in 1998.