Publicly-traded firms face some obstacles.

Last week showed the pitfalls of being publicly-traded these days.

A New York-based REIT, for example, went public last Thursday only to see its shares drop within hours of the debut. And Grubb & Ellis, the embattled real estate services firm, was delisted from the NYSE one day prior to the REIT's less-than-stellar opening.

NewCastle Investment Corporation became the first New York area firm to go public since early July of last summer. The REIT's shares debuted last Thursday morning at $13, only to fall 4% in early trading. Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns were the lead-managers on the IPO.

NewCastle's parent company is investment and asset management firm Fortress Investment Group.

NewCastle balked at going public earlier this year, when it planned to sell less stock at a higher price. Now the firm hopes to raise about $109 million, floating a third of the company in a sale of 7.5 million shares at $14 to $15 each according to Crain's New York Business. The original plan was to sell 4.4 million shares for $22 to $24 each.

Fortress Investment Group was founded back in 1998 by a group of investors. It now manages over $1.2 billion of private equity for several institutional investors and invests primarily in real estate related assets and companies worldwide.

"This is a very difficult market for a REIT to go public. I don't think you will see a whole lot of other firms follow," said Les Loffman, director of national REIT services at Ernst & Young.

Over the past 12 weeks, Loffman has fielded calls from investors looking into private medical and office REITs. Few of the calls have concerned going public, however.

While NewCastle goes public, one embattled real estate services firm is doing quite the opposite. Grubb & Ellis was de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange last Tuesday. The firm must now resort to over-the-counter trading.

Grubb chairman Michael Kojaian issued a statement to the media last week wherein he claimed that "it no longer makes good business sense to carry the significant expense" of being listed on the NYSE.

"We anticipate that the company will experience significant cost savings as a result of the move," read the statement.

Kojaian's confidence in the firm has not wavered. Just last month he converted a loan to the company into equity. "Kojaian-related entities" now control a 58% voting stake in the firm.

"I have voted with my capital and cannot be any clearer on my position," wrote Kojaian.

In closing the statement, he wrote, "we believe that the market, our clients and our professionals are more concerned with the scope and quality of our services rather than where our stock is traded."

In recent months, Grubb & Ellis' stock price went into a swan dive. Then the firm lost several of its best brokers to rival firms.

"Grubb & Ellis had one of the best corporate infrastructures of any real estate firm. Then they brought in this AOL-type management that really shook up what was a venerable institution," said the broker who asked not to be named.

Grubb CEO Barry Barovick's consulting background is one main reason why the firm has floundered, says the broker.

"He tried to change the business, and it hasn't worked. He fell asleep at the brokerage switch, so to speak, and a lot of people have left," he says.