Mortgage Investments Plus Being Advised by Koll Co.

Mortgage Investments Plus, a real estate investment trust in Woodland Hills, is being advised by Koll Co. in Newport Beach, which took over the role from Weyerhaeuser Co.

MIP, a publicly held concern that invests in commercial property, was formerly advised by Weyerhaeuser’s Income Property Division, an arm of the timber giant’s financial services group, and all of MIP’s workers actually were employed by Weyerhaeuser. The advisory role meant that Weyerhaeuser helped MIP with administration and selecting brokers and lenders, among other things.

However, MIP President Lawrence W. Farmer acknowledged earlier this year that Weyerhaeuser was making little money advising MIP. Weyerhaeuser has also been refocusing its operations to concentrate on residential lending.

Weyerhaeuser transferred its Income Property Division and its workers to Koll, a commercial real estate concern. Koll then set up Koll Realty Advisers to take over the group’s operations. The group will oversee about $400 million worth of loans and investments in commercial property belonging to Weyerhaeuser, MIP and Republic Savings Bank, a Woodland Hills-based thrift owned by Weyerhaeuser, Farmer said.

Farmer will now run Koll Realty Advisers.

Because no property assets actually changed hands, no cash or other compensation was exchanged, he said.