Monday, July 21, 2008

First Global Real Estate Business Social Networking Site: GPDLink.com

BEVERLY HILLS, CA, /PRNewswire/ -- Global Property Database (GPD), An IRETO Company, has launched GPDLink.com (http://www.gpdlink.com/), an online


deal-making and capital-raising business social network for the real estate industry.

This new online platform will allow developers, owners and investors from around the globe a place to network and do business.

Unlike LinkedIn and other business social networks, GPDLink will be 100% focused on real estate. Membership to GPDLink is a free service. Members can also use the online deal-making exchange and connection systems of GPDDeal.com (http://www.gpddeal.com/), the sister site to GPDLink.com (http://www.gpdlink.com/).

"The goal is to bring all the professionals around the globe together," said Bryan Shaffer, IRETO Chairman. "In addition to deal-making and capital-raising services, we will have a strong labor-finding and company / services database. Washington has been slow to act on US real estate problems -- putting tons of skilled labor into the market. So, we are adding tools that will permit firms to find and hire that labor on either a temporary or permanent basis."
CONTACT: Kamia Taylor of IRETO, +1-310-285-1770, kamia.taylor@ireto.comWeb site: http://www.ireto.org/
http://www.gpdlink.com/
http://www.gpddeal.com/

Marcus & Millichap Relocates Melbourne Office to Prime Vero Beach, FL location


VERO BEACH, FL– Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has moved its Melbourne office to a new location in Vero Beach, according to Harvey E. Green, (top left photo) the firm’s president and chief executive officer.

The new address is 1701 Highway A1A, Suite 214, Vero Beach, FL, 32963. The new phone number is (772) 453-2400. The new fax number is (772) 453-2010.

Gene A. Berman, (top right photo) group managing director of the firm’s Florida offices and regional manager of the Fort Lauderdale office, will also serve as the regional manager of the Vero Beach office.

Along with the new Vero Beach office, Marcus & Millichap has five other offices in Florida: Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
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With more than 1,300 investment professionals in offices nationwide, Encino, Calif.-based Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services is the largest commercial real estate brokerage in the nation focusing exclusively on real estate investments.

In 2007, the firm closed $20.7 billion in transactions. Founded in 1971, the firm has perfected a powerful system for marketing properties that combines product specialization; local market expertise; the industry’s most comprehensive research and analysis capabilities; state-of-the-art technology; and established relationships with the largest pool of qualified investors nationally.
http://www.marcusmillichap.com/


Press Contact: Stacey Corso, Communications Department, (925) 953-1716, scorso@marcusmillichap.com

NAI Realvest Negotiates $2.85M Sale Price for 42 Residential Acres in Windermere, FL

ORLANDO, FL-- NAI Realvest has negotiated the $2,850,000 sale price for 42 acres of residential land at 13340 Reams Rd. in Windermere.

NAI Realvest Principals Matt Cichocki, Kevin O’Connor and Steve Ruoff negotiated the transaction representing the buyer, Timberlock Partners LP, based in Orlando.

The Seller was Centex Homes, a Nevada general partnership. The buyer intends to develop the property for apartments.

For more information, contact:
Matt Cichocki or Kevin O’Connor, NAI Realvest, 407-875-9989
mcichocki@realvest.com; koconnor@realvest.com;
Janice Paiano, Marketing Director NAI Realvest 407-875-9989 jpaiano@realvest.com
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, LV Communications, 407-644-4142 lvershelco@aol.com

HFF places $21M first mortgage for Thornberry Woods Apartments in Naperville, IL



HARTFORD, CT – The Hartford office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) has placed a $21 million first mortgage loan for Thornberry Woods Apartments,(above centered photo) a 280-unit, Class A multifamily community in Naperville, Illinois.

HFF senior managing director Dana Brome (top left) and director Susan Larkin (top right) worked exclusively on behalf of a single-asset entity for a fund advised by the U.S. real estate business of UBS Global Asset Management.
The team secured the five-year, 4.79% fixed-rate loan through Hartford Investment Management Company. The loan will also be serviced by HFF.
Thornberry Woods Apartments is located on 21.43 acres at 7501 Gladstone Drive south of Interstate 80 in Naperville, a western suburb of Chicago.
Completed in 2002, the property has 14 residential buildings with one- and two-bedroom units averaging 929 square feet each. Community amenities include a fitness center, swimming pool, business center, clubhouse and 85 private garages.

“Thornberry Woods is located in Naperville, a top tier Chicago apartment market that was ranked by Money Magazine in 2006 as second in the ‘Top 100 best places to live in America’,” said Brome.

HFF (NYSE: HF) operates out of 18 offices nationwide and is a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services to the U.S. commercial real estate industry. HFF offers clients a fully integrated national capital markets platform including debt placement, investment sales, structured finance, private equity, note sales and note sale advisory services and commercial loan servicing.

CONTACTS:
Dana E. Brome, HFF Senior Managing Director, 860 275 6199, dbrome@hfflp.com

Laurie Fish McDowell, HFF Associate Director, Marketing, 617 338 0990, lmcdowell@hfflp.com

Global Sources to Buy Additional Shenzhen Office Space to Accommodate Expansion

US$34.7 Million Invested in 6,364.5 Square Meters Grade-A Office Space Locatedin the Heart of Shenzhen's Central Business District


HONG KONG, July 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Global Sources (NASDAQ:GSOL) has entered into contracts to purchase additional office space in Shenzhen's Central Business District, (middle photo) which will be leased to the Company's sales representatives, as part of their China expansion.

The total purchase price for the 6,364.5 square meters (gross) space, which consists of 3 floors in the Shenzhen International Chamber of Commerce Tower, is RMB 238 million (approximately US$34.7 million), and the completion of the property purchase is expected to occur in September 2008.

Global Sources' Chairman and CEO, Merle A. Hinrichs, (top right photo) said: "Shenzhen not only remains one of China's key manufacturing and export centers, it is an ideal location to recruit the best sales and trade talent in the industry."This brings our total office space in the city to over 15,000 square meters, which will accommodate our China sales representatives' plans to build a team of nearly 600 sales executives in Shenzhen."This represents our
further commitment to the Greater China market. We also believe that Shenzhen real estate in this location will appreciate in value over time."The new office space purchase expands the company's portfolio of real estate holdings in China, which includes its existing 9,000 square meters of office space in the Shenzhen International Chamber of Commerce Tower, bought for approximately US$19 million in 2004.

Global Sources is a leading business-to-business media company and a primary facilitator of trade with Greater China. The core business is facilitating trade from Greater China to the world, using a wide range of English-language media. The other business segments facilitate trade from the world to Greater China, and trade within China, using Chinese-language media.

Global Sources has been facilitating global trade for 37 years. Global Sources' network covers more than 69 cities worldwide. In mainland China, Global Sources has over 2,100 team members in more than 44 locations, and a community of over 1 million registered online users and magazine readers for Chinese-language media.

CONTACTS:

Press contact in Asia: Camellia So, +852-2555-5021,cso@globalsources.com;

Press contact in U.S.: James W.W. Strachan of GlobalSources, +1-480-664-8309, strachan@globalsources.com;

Investor contact inAsia: IR Department of Global Sources, +852-2555-4777, investor@globalsources.com;

Investor Contact in U.S.: Kirsten Chapman ofLippert-Heilshorn & Associates, Inc., +1-415-433-3777, investor@globalsources.com