Saturday, May 3, 2008

Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. Arranges $30.6M Loan for Denver Apartment Complex


DENVER, CO– Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation (MMCC) has arranged a $30.6 million non-recourse loan for the acquisition of The Aventine, (top right photo) a 336-unit apartment complex located at 3257 S. Parker Road.

Jake Roberts and Anita Paryani, both senior directors in the firm’s West Los Angeles office, arranged the financing package for The Aventine.

Financing for the property was provided by a bridge lender at a floating interest rate at LIBOR plus 225 basis points. The interest-only loan has an LTV of 71 percent. “The lender provided a commitment to the borrower within two weeks of receiving the signed application for the non-recourse loan,” says Roberts.

Stacey Corso
Public Relations Manager
Marcus & Millichap
2999 Oak Road
Suite 210
Walnut Creek, CA 94597
Office: 925.953.1716
Mobile: 415.672.6460
Fax: 925.953.1710
http://www.marcusmillichap.com/

Press Contact:
Kathy Molitor
Marcus & Millichap Capital Corporation
(925) 953-1704

Great Wolf Resorts Obtains Construction Loan for Great Wolf Lodge at Concord, N.C.

MADISON, WI—Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: WOLF), North America’s leading family of indoor waterpark resorts, has announced that the company has closed on a construction loan of $63.9 million to fund a portion of the total costs of the company’s Great Wolf Lodge Lodge® resort under construction in Concord, NC.

The four-year loan is potentially expandable to a maximum principal amount of up to $79.9 million. The Concord resort is on schedule to open in Spring 2009.
Marshall Financial Group is the lender and administrative agent for the new loan.

As of April 30, 2008, Marshall has obtained firm funding commitments from a group of lenders for approximately $63.9 million for the loan. Marshall and Great Wolf Resorts expect to continue to seek additional commitments to increase the balance of the loan toward the $79.9 million potential maximum amount over the next 90 days.

“Our ability to complete a large construction loan in this challenging credit environment underscores the confidence the financial community has in Great Wolf Resorts and the merits of this project,” commented James A. Calder, Great Wolf Resorts chief financial officer.

“With the combination of this loan, cash on hand and expected cash to be provided from operations, we believe we have the liquidity to complete construction of both our Concord resort and our major expansion at our existing Grapevine resort.

"We will continue to explore opportunities to further increase our liquidity through borrowings on our unlevered or lower-levered assets, while maintaining a prudently leveraged balance sheet.”

“This is Marshall’s fourth loan with Great Wolf Resorts, a valued client of our company,” said Scott Anderson, Marshall’s president and chief executive officer. “We believe our ability to execute this loan in a difficult debt environment is a tribute to the strength of the Great Wolf Lodge brand.”

CONTACTS:

Julie Tullbane
Daly Gray Public Relations
T 703-435-6293
F 703-435-6297
julie@dalygray.com


Jennifer Beranek
Media
608 661 4764

Alex Lombardo
Investors
703 573 9317

RECI Notes Realty Capital Markets Still Dislocated

CHICAGO, IL- The realty capital markets still are dislocated as investors try guessing the direction of interest rates and namely, mortgage spreads, according to the latest analysis by The Real Estate Capital Institute.

While negative news abounds, the markets are actually showing signs of calmness as CMBS AAA securities and overall mortgage spreads continue narrowing.

Key market highlights include:

Rate Movements - During April any savings in mortgage spreads were absorbed by overall benchmark rate increases. Bottom line? Mortgage rates are about 25 basis points higher across the board.

Mortgage Spreads - As previously mentioned, spreads tightened permanent loans, resulting in 10-year mortgage pricing at nearly identical levels versus March. However, many lenders retreated from providing competitive five-year loans by widening spreads as much as 50 basis points, resulting in minimal price savings between these two maturities.

The "E" Word - Lenders demand "equity" in nearly every income-producing funding opportunity. Borrowers seeking maximum leverage are plagued with 65% loan-to-value restrictions and stringent debt service coverage minimums. Alternatively, loan-to-cost and refinancing-of-existing-debt tests are added as extra performance thresholds. In other words, equity requirements override pricing considerations and other underwriting terms.

Actual Cash Flow - Pro forma income projections and other future-value economics are dramatically discounted as funding sources need to see actual cash flow. As such, new construction projects require substantial preleasing (e.g. 60%+) and substantial equity, typically 30% on cost. Lenders are seeking "flight to quality" transactions with established borrowers willing to provide necessary recourse and guarantees.

Yields - Now more than ever, investors expect to be paid for risk. Although exceptions apply, overall capitalization rates and return-on-cost yields have widened by at least 50 basis points or more.

As for mezzanine and other higher-risk funding vehicles, double-digit yields are the norm.

John Oharenko, a member of the Real Estate Capital Institute's Editorial Advisory Group, remarks, "Without question, the most profitable and illiquid component of the real estate capital stack is mezzanine debt. In many cases, developers and property owners find it more attractive to lend mezzanine funds as opposed to directly purchasing properties."

He adds,"This phenomenon is short-term as more liquidity will return to the marketplace in the near future."

The Real Estate Capital Institute(r) is a volunteer-based research organization that tracks realty rates data for debt and equity yields. The Institute posts daily and historical benchmark rates including treasuries, bank prime and LIBOR.

Call the Real Estate Capital RateLine at
7RE-CAPITAL (773-227-4825) for hourly rate updates.

The Real Estate Capital Institute(r)
3517 West Arthington Street, Chicago, Illinois USA 60624

Contact: Nat Zvislo, Research Director, Toll Free 800-994-RECI (7324) director@reci.com

Crescent Resources Negotiates Lease for 29,550SF of Office Space at Primera in Lake Mary, FL

(Aerial photo of Primera development, off Interstate 4 and Lake Mary Boulevard, Lake Mary, FL, 20 miles north of Downtown Orlando)


LAKE MARY, FL – Crescent Resources has negotiated a lease transaction for 29,550 square feet of office space at 255 Primera Blvd., in Primera Five, (photo at right) located off I-4 and Lake Mary Blvd. in Lake Mary.

Ida W. Rood,(top left photo) CCIM vice president of leasing for Crescent Resources in Florida, negotiated the lease agreement representing the landlord ACPDLF, LLC., based in Boca Raton.

Broker Jim Garvey of CLW Real Estate Services Group, participated in the transaction representing the tenant, Paychex Time and Attendance, Inc. of Rochester, NY, a division of Paychex, Inc., who previously occupied 17,100 square feet in the building.

For more information, please contact:

Ida W. Rood, CCIM, Crescent Resources LLC, 407-472-3383, iwrood@crescent-resources.com
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, LV Communications, Inc., 407-644-4142, (Fax 644-4410)

Crescent Resources is a joint venture between Duke Energy and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund. Crescent’s formation in 1969 to its position today as a real estate force in the Southeast and Southwest remains a dominant development and land management company comprised of dedicated people with uncompromising integrity. More information about Crescent Resources is available on the Internet at http://www.crescent-resources.com/

Countrywide Financial Corp. Rating Lowered To 'BB+/B'; On CreditWatch Developing

NEW YORK, NY--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered its ratings on Countrywide Financial Corp. and Countrywide Home Loans Inc. to 'BB+/B' from 'BBB+/A-2'.

We also lowered our rating on Countrywide Bank fsb to 'BBB/A-2' from 'A-/A-2'. Countrywide is headquartered at Calabasas, CA.
The rating actions were due to the disclosure in Bank of America Corp.'s (BAC) May 1 Form S-4/A filing relating to the terms of the merger between BAC and Countrywide and a new reference regarding the treatment of Countrywide's indebtedness.

All of our ratings on Countrywide are now on CreditWatch Developing, a revision from CreditWatch Positive (where they were placed Jan. 11, 2008) due to the new level of uncertainty as to the ultimate legal status of Countrywide's creditors after the merger.

As recently as April 30, 2008, we issued a CreditWatch update on Countrywide indicating that our sensing a change in the status of this merger agreement would result our downgrading Countrywide several notches.

The filing indicates that it is now possible that BAC would not support some of Countrywide's debt, including the approximately $17 billion of medium-term notes, $4 billion of convertible debt, $2.2 billion junior subordinated debt, and $1 billion of subordinated debt currently outstanding.

There is also language in the filing indicating that Countrywide will be merged with and into a merger subsidiary that will remain wholly owned by BAC, and assurances from BAC to Countrywide's common shareholders that they will receive common dividends.

Until this filing it was our understanding that BAC would acquire all of Countrywide as stated in the January 2008 merger agreement. This new filing raises the possibility that this assumption is no longer true.

Media Contact:
Jeff Sexton
(212) 438-1280
jeff_sexton@standardandpoors.com
Analyst Contacts:
Victoria Wagner, New York (1) 212-438-7406
Daniel E Teclaw, New York (1) 212-438-8716
John K Bartko, C.P.A., New York (1) 212-438-7368