In re General Growth Properties Inc.1 and In re Extended Stay Inc.2 both challenged how effectively the single purpose entity (SPE) prevents real estate Chapter 11 filings. The findings of these reorganizations indicated that SPE structure alone will not preclude a bankruptcy filing.

Familiar to most real estate professionals, these two cases initially appeared to threaten the viability of the SPE structure in real estate finance. But the damage was not lethal, and the SPE does not have to die.