The firm had planned even more purchases.

“We think we’ll do $2 billion next year, that’s our goal,” Wehba said in an October 2006 interview.

The cracks emerged as U.S. property prices plunged. One of the first BentleyForbes buildings to run into trouble was the Watergate, purchased in 2005 for $86.5 million. The 11-story complex -- made famous by the political scandal that brought down President Richard M. Nixon -- was pulled from the market in May 2008 after failing to attract a high enough offer.

Expansion Plans

Still, just a few months later, BentleyForbes -- managed at the time by David Cobb, president and chief executive officer, and Chief Operating Officer Bert Dezzutti, along with Wehba and his son, co-founder C. Frederick Wehba II -- announced an ambitious five-year growth program, with plans to expand its portfolio to $12 billion by 2014 from $3 billion at the time.

It wasn’t meant to be. In March 2009, BentleyForbes put the Watergate back on the market, but turned it over to partner Capri Capital Partners the following year. By November 2009, BentleyForbes was behind on payments on the Texas Four Seasons, which eventually was sent to special servicing, then sold in 2014. Prudential Plaza faced a similar fate, with a loan on that property being transferred to a special servicer in October 2012. BentleyForbes still has a minority stake in the property.

The firm’s chief partner for its boom-era purchases was Capri, which invested in the Watergate, the Four Seasons resort and office buildings in Dallas, and ended up suing BentleyForbes over some of the ventures.

Three Employees

BentleyForbes is down to overseeing just $200 million in assets and employs only an asset manager and two assistants, after once having 102 workers. The elder Wehba, who plans to devote his time to the Wehba Foundation, a charity supporting Christian, educational and humanitarian initiatives, pegs total BentleyForbes losses at $170 million.

The biggest mistake BentleyForbes made was expanding from small, single-occupant buildings to large, multitenant office properties, Wehba said.