Organization

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Note 1. Organization

References herein to “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Capital Trust, Inc. and its subsidiaries unless the context specifically requires otherwise.

We are a fully integrated, self-managed, real estate finance and investment management company that specializes in credit sensitive financial products. To date, our investment programs have focused on loans and securities backed by commercial real estate assets. We invest for our own account directly on our balance sheet and for third parties through a series of investment management vehicles. Our business model is designed to produce a mix of net interest margin from our balance sheet investments, and fee income and co-investment income from our investment management vehicles. In managing our operations, we focus on originating investments, managing our portfolios and capitalizing our businesses. From the inception of our finance business in 1997 through December 31, 2011, we have completed approximately $12.0 billion of commercial real estate debt investments. We conduct our operations as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for federal income tax purposes. We are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, under the symbol “CT”, and are headquartered in New York City.

March 2011 Restructuring

On March 31, 2011, we restructured, amended, or extinguished all of our outstanding recourse debt obligations, which we refer to as our March 2011 restructuring. Our March 2011 restructuring involved: (i) the contribution of certain of our legacy assets to a newly formed subsidiary, CT Legacy REIT Mezz Borrower, Inc., or CT Legacy REIT, (ii) the assumption of our legacy repurchase obligations by CT Legacy REIT, and (iii) the extinguishment of the remainder of our recourse obligations, our senior credit facility and junior subordinated notes. The restructuring was financed with a new $83.0 million mezzanine loan obtained by CT Legacy REIT from an affiliate of Five Mile Capital Partners LLC, or Five Mile, and the issuance of equity interests in the common stock of CT Legacy REIT to the former lenders under our senior credit facility and our former junior subordinated noteholders, as well as to an affiliate of Five Mile.

Capital Trust, Inc.

Following the completion of our March 2011 restructuring, we no longer have any recourse debt obligations, and retain unencumbered ownership of 100% of (i) our investment management platform, CT Investment Management Co., LLC, (ii) our co-investment in CT Opportunity Partners I, LP, (iii) our residual ownership interests in three of the CDOs that we issued, CT CDOs I, II, and IV, and (iv) our tax-basis net operating losses. Furthermore, we have a 52% equity interest in the common stock of CT Legacy REIT. Our economic interest in CT Legacy REIT is, however, subject to (i) the secured notes, which are non-recourse obligations that are collateralized by certain of our retained equity interests in the common stock of CT Legacy REIT, (ii) incentive awards that provide for the participation in our retained equity interests in CT Legacy REIT, and (iii) the subordinate class B common stock of CT Legacy REIT owned by our former junior subordinate noteholders. See below for further discussion of the secured notes, management incentive awards plan, and class B common stock.

In addition to our interest in the common stock of CT Legacy REIT, we also own 100% of its outstanding class A preferred stock. The class A preferred stock initially entitles us to cumulative preferred dividends of $7.5 million per annum, which dividends will be reduced in January 2013 to the greater of (i) 2.5% of CT Legacy REIT’s assets, and (ii) $1.0 million per annum.

CT Legacy REIT

In connection with the restructuring, we transferred substantially all of our directly held interest earning assets to CT Legacy REIT. The transferred assets included: (i) all of the loans and securities which serve as collateral for the legacy repurchase obligations, except for certain subordinate interests in CT CDOs I and II, (ii) our subordinate interests in CT CDO III, and (iii) 100% of our previously unencumbered loans and securities, which we collectively refer to as our Legacy Assets.

CT Legacy REIT, which is expected to be taxed as a REIT in 2011, is beneficially owned 52% by us, 24% by an affiliate of Five Mile, and 24% by the former lenders under our senior credit facility. In addition, the former holders of our junior subordinated notes received class B common stock, a subordinate class of common stock of CT Legacy REIT, which is described below. Capital Trust, Inc. will manage CT Legacy REIT and the Legacy Assets as a liquidating portfolio.

Subsequent to the March 31, 2011 restructuring, the CT Legacy REIT portfolio received repayments of $269.6 million, including full loan satisfactions of $266.4 million and partial repayments of $3.2 million, which repayments represented approximately 54% of the initial net book value of the CT Legacy REIT portfolio.

Mezzanine Loan

CT Legacy REIT entered into an $83.0 million mezzanine loan (which was subsequently reduced to $65.3 million, including deferred interest, as of December 31, 2011) that carries a 15.0% per annum interest rate, of which 7.0% per annum may be deferred, and that matures on March 31, 2016. The mezzanine loan is not recourse to Capital Trust, Inc. except for certain limited non-recourse, “bad boy” carve outs. Proceeds from the mezzanine loan were used to (i) extinguish the senior credit facility, (ii) extinguish the junior subordinated notes, (iii) provide for cash paydowns of the repurchase obligations, (iv) pay transaction expenses, and (v) establish liquidity reserves at CT Legacy REIT.

The mezzanine loan is collateralized by 100% of the equity interests in a subsidiary of CT Legacy REIT, which in-turn owns all of our Legacy Assets, subject in part to the repurchase obligations. Five Mile has consent rights with respect to material actions on the Legacy Assets such as material modifications, sales, and/or the pursuit of certain remedies with regard to the Legacy Assets. The mezzanine loan also contains covenants that (i) prohibit CT Legacy REIT from paying common stock cash dividends until the mezzanine loan has been repaid, (ii) prohibit us from selling or otherwise transferring our equity interests in CT Legacy REIT, and (iii) require the continued employment of certain key employees.

During the second quarter of 2011, $20.0 million of the mezzanine loan was repaid using proceeds from the satisfaction of former repurchase facility collateral assets. As further described below, during the second quarter of 2011, the Morgan Stanley and Citigroup repurchase obligations were terminated and the remaining collateral thereunder was released.

In addition, as discussed above, an affiliate of Five Mile acquired a 24% equity interest in the common stock of CT Legacy REIT in conjunction with the making of the mezzanine loan.

Repurchase Obligations

Our $339.6 million of legacy repurchase obligations (which were subsequently reduced to $58.5 million as of December 31, 2011) with JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup were assumed by wholly-owned subsidiaries of CT Legacy REIT, and the recourse to Capital Trust, Inc. was eliminated. In addition, the facilities were amended with the following terms:

Each of the repurchase lenders received cash paydowns equal to 10% of their then outstanding balances, in the aggregate $33.9 million.

Except for certain key man provisions, all restrictive covenants governing the operations of Capital Trust, Inc. were eliminated, including covenants restricting employee compensation, dividend payments, and new balance sheet investments.

Net interest margin sweep and periodic amortization provisions were eliminated.

All forms of margin call or similar requirements under the facilities were eliminated.

Maturity dates were extended to December 15, 2014 in the case of JPMorgan, January 31, 2013 in the case of Morgan Stanley, and March 31, 2013 in the case of Citigroup, subject in all three cases to periodic required repayment thresholds.

Interest rates were increased to LIBOR + 2.50% per annum in the cases of JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, and LIBOR + 1.50% per annum in the case of Citigroup, subject in all three cases to periodic rate increases over the term of each respective facility.

Subsequent to the March 31, 2011 restructuring, $246.3 million of the legacy repurchase obligations were repaid, including the full repayment and termination of the Morgan Stanley and Citigroup facilities and a release of the remaining collateral thereunder, as well as a $115.1 million repayment of the JPMorgan facility.

Senior Credit Facility

Our $98.1 million senior credit facility was fully satisfied and all collateral for the senior credit facility was released in exchange for (i) a cash payment of $22.9 million, (ii) a 24% equity interest in the common stock of CT Legacy REIT, and (iii) $2.8 million of secured notes, as further discussed below.

Junior Subordinated Notes

Our $143.8 million of junior subordinated notes were fully satisfied in exchange for (i) a cash payment of $4.6 million, (ii) 100% of the subordinate class B common stock of CT Legacy REIT, as further described below, and (iii) $5.0 million of secured notes, as further discussed below. The subordinate class B common stock is a subordinate class that entitles its holders to receive approximately 25% of the dividends that would otherwise be payable to us on certain of our equity interest in the common stock of CT Legacy REIT, after aggregate cash distributions of $50.0 million have been paid to all other classes of common stock.

In April 2011, we purchased 118,651 shares of class B common stock of CT Legacy REIT for an average price of $1.20 per share.

Secured Notes

In conjunction with our March 2011 restructuring and the corresponding satisfaction of our senior credit facility and junior subordinated notes, wholly-owned subsidiaries issued secured notes to these former creditors, which secured notes are non-recourse to us. The secured notes had an aggregate initial face balance of $7.8 million and are secured by 93.5% of our equity interests in the class A-1 and class A-2 common stock of CT Legacy REIT, which represents 48.3% of the total outstanding class A-1 and class A-2 common stock of CT Legacy REIT. The secured notes mature on March 31, 2016 and bear interest at a rate of 8.2% per annum, which interest may be deferred until maturity. All dividends we receive from our equity interests in the common stock of CT Legacy REIT which serve as collateral under the secured notes must be used to pay, or prepay, interest and principal due thereunder, and only after the notes’ full satisfaction will we receive any cash flow from the common equity interests in CT Legacy REIT that serve as collateral for the notes. Any prepayment, or partial prepayment, of the remaining secured notes will incur a prepayment premium resulting in a total payment of principal and interest under the secured notes of $11.1 million.

In April 2011, we purchased $405,000 of the secured notes at par.

Management Incentive Awards Plan

Upon completion of our March 2011 restructuring, we granted senior level employees incentive awards issued under our long term incentive plan that participate in amounts earned from our retained equity interest in CT Legacy REIT. The awards provide payments to certain senior level employees equal to as much as 6.75% of the total recovery (subject to certain caps) of our Legacy Assets, net of CT Legacy REIT’s obligations, when and if distributed to us as dividends.