Oh, and Starwood could benefit from the federal government's largess; that is, the public-private investment program (PPIP). In other words, there should be some nice subsidies to juice up returns. Keep in mind that PPIP could reach as much as $1 trillion.

Perhaps, the biggest attraction to Starwood is the management team. The CEO, Barry Sternlicht, is a real estate legend. Over the past 18 years, he structured more than 300 investment transactions for a value in excess of $40 billion. He was also the CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE: HOT).

What's more, the six members of the executive team have worked together for more than 12 years. Keep in mind that there is extensive experience with distressed investing, especially with the Resolution Trust Corporation (which was the federal agency to clean up the S&L mess).

Interestingly enough, the Starwood prospectus states: "We believe that the next five years will be one of the most attractive real estate investment periods in the past 50 years. In the last decade, real estate became significantly overpriced as values appreciated beyond underlying fundamentals. In the past two years, a significant price correction has been underway. Due to continuing uncertainty about market direction, a void has been created in the debt and equity capital available for real estate."

And now, the company will have a slug of cash to pounce on the investment opportunities.

The underwriters on the IPO included BofA Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Citi.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The IPO Primer and The Complete M&A Handbook.