Thursday, July 16, 2009

Grubb & Ellis Represents West Coast University in

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA – Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm, represented Costa Mesa-based West Coast University, a provider of nursing and health care administration educational programs, in the sublease of a 98,000-square-foot office building in North Hollywood for a new location.

Terms of the 10-year lease were not disclosed. The school will occupy the entire building, which once housed a JCPenney store.
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West Coast University is slated to occupy the building, which is located at 12215 Victory Blvd., on Aug. 31. It is an expansion for the school, which has locations in Anaheim and Ontario.
The school was the second private, post-secondary institution in California to offer an associate degree in nursing and in 2008 became the first to offer a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

Sean O’Leary, vice president, and Maury Gentile, executive vice president, both in Grubb & Ellis’ Los Angeles South Bay office and members of Grubb & Ellis’ Tenant Advisory Group, represented West Coast University in the transaction.

Contact: Erin Mays, 312.698.6735, erin.mays@grubb-ellis.com

CB Richard Ellis Tapped for RaceTrac Petroleum Sale-Leaseback Program

ORLANDO, FL– RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. continues its aggressive growth plans by launching a sale-leaseback program on a select portion of its retail fueling station/convenience store portfolio. RaceTrac has engaged CBRE as its exclusive capital markets advisor for this initiative.

In 2008, RaceTrac generated in excess of $7.5 Billion in annual revenues through the operation of over 530 retail gasoline convenience stores in 12 southeastern states.

RaceTrac has been steadily growing since its inception 75 years ago and is currently ranked as the 56th largest privately held US company by Forbes based on annual revenues.
RaceTrac intends to reinvest the sale-leaseback proceeds in its retail development pipeline and to take advantage of current buying opportunities. Ownership of a RaceTrac store is an opportunity that has never been made available to the public in the company's long operating history.
RaceTrac has a reputation of buying, holding and operating Class A convenience stores all while delivering the best products at the most competitive prices.

James Mitchell and Sean McConnell of CB Richard Ellis's Global Corporate Services unit will be lead points of contact for the portfolio offering. Commenting on the new relationship, James Mitchell notes, "CBRE's national platform matched well with RaceTrac's desire for global reach and strong capital market relationships; we are excited to be taking a package of such well-located assets to market."

The initial offering of 16-stores in AR, FL, GA, MS, TN & TX is expected to generate in excess of $42,000,000. Assets will be available in bulk or on an individual basis.
McConnell notes, "The RaceTrac sale-leaseback investment couples newly-constructed retail product and single tenant net leases secured by a high credit regional fuel marketing brand. Given the current turbulent climate, we are very bullish on the opportunity to steward such a stable retail investment opportunity to market." RaceTrac is known industry-wide for its commitment to excellence from store operations to its passion for buying and developing the "right real estate".

RaceTrac is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Prospective investors are invited to contact CBRE via James Mitchell or Sean McConnell at 407-404-5000.

C&W negotiates deal for Helmet Shop location in Lake Underhill Business Center

ORLANDO, FL – July 16, 2009– Cushman & Wakefield announced a new 2,000 sf retail lease in Lake Underhill Business Center in East Orlando. Betsy Owens and Mindy Boehm negotiated a 63-month term for The Helmet Shop, Inc of Daytona Beach to open their first Orlando location at 11602 Lake Underhill Road, near East Orlando Harley-Davison.

Contact: Brook Hines,Tel: 407-541-4401, brook.hines@cushwake.com
www.cushwake.com

Marriott International Reports Second Quarter Results


BETHESDA, MD, July 16, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Marriott International, Inc. ("Marriott") (NYSE:MAR) today reported second quarter 2009 adjusted income from continuing operations attributable to Marriott of $84 million, a 56 percent decline over the year-ago quarter, and adjusted diluted earnings per share ("EPS") from continuing operations attributable to Marriott shareholders of $0.23, down 55 percent.

The company's EPS guidance for the 2009 second quarter, disclosed on April 23, 2009, totaled $0.20 to $0.23.

The reported income from continuing operations attributable to Marriott was $37 million in the second quarter of 2009 compared to reported income from continuing operations attributable to Marriott of $153 million in the year-ago quarter.

J.W. Marriott, Jr. (top right photo), chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said, "In the midst of a continued difficult environment for the travel and tourism industry, our company retains its focus on driving revenue, reducing costs and strengthening the balance sheet.

"In the second quarter, we delivered impressive house profit margins as a result of ongoing cost controls and operational improvements, despite a significant decline in revenue per available room.

"Our efficient delivery of high quality products and services continues to get solid reviews from owners and franchisees as we manage through the difficult economy. Our 110,000-room global hotel development pipeline demonstrates owners' and franchisees' ongoing confidence in our brands and management expertise.

"Across the enterprise our lodging brands continue to show significant REVPAR premiums as our teams launch quick-to-market and focused revenue generation initiatives.

"Our timeshare business rolled out a successful 25th Anniversary stimulus promotion in the second quarter, which significantly improved timeshare contract sales compared to first quarter levels, while significant cost reductions helped the bottom line.

"We expect timeshare to deliver positive cash flow in 2009."Most importantly, both customer and associate satisfaction levels remain high in both our lodging and timeshare businesses. As a result, we remain confident in the long term prospects for our company."

For a complete copy of the company's news release and financials, please contact:

Tom Marder of Marriott International, Inc., +1-301-380-2553,