Thursday, February 9, 2012

Lincoln Property Company Southeast Hires Management and Engineering Veterans

  


ATLANTA, GA (Feb. 9, 2012) – After winning multiple contracts last fall to manage and lease millions of square feet of metro Atlanta office space, Lincoln Property Company Southeast has announced the hiring of property management and engineering veterans to service the assignments.

In November, Equity Office awarded the company contracts to manage 3.3 million square feet and lease 1.9 million square feet in metro Atlanta. The management assignment covers buildings in Atlanta’s North Fulton and Northeast submarkets, and the leasing assignment is for the North Fulton buildings.

Lincoln has hired Michael Hoffer (top left photo) as senior property manager for the North Fulton portfolio. Hoffer, most recently senior manager of the 55-story, 1.26 million-square-foot Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta for Cousins Properties, will be responsible for the management of 15 office buildings totaling 1.9 million square feet in the submarket.

Pam Padgett (top right photo) has been hired as a senior property manager for the Northeast Atlanta portfolio. Padgett, who began her real estate career at Lincoln and was most recently vice president of property management for Crescent Resources, will oversee the management of 1.4 million square feet of office space concentrated along Sugarloaf Parkway and Crestwood Parkway in Gwinnett County. While at Crescent, she was in charge of a portfolio that included up to 9 million square feet of Class-A office, industrial, retail and mixed-use properties. 

Lincoln also announced the hiring of Jeff Clayton (middle right photo) as director of engineering. Clayton was most recently vice president of engineering and operations for Cassidy Turley and will provide overall technical support for all Lincoln-managed properties in Georgia. Clayton is a Certified Energy Manager, a LEED Green Associate and a LEED AP for Operations and Maintenance.

“We couldn’t be happier about the highly talented and deeply experienced team we have assembled to deliver exceptional service on these new assignments,” said Tony Bartlett (lower left photo) senior vice president at Lincoln.

“Any time you’re growing your business, it’s cause for celebration but the addition of these key individuals is what really excites me.  These new additions to the Lincoln team will allow us to deliver great service to tenants, value for our clients and provide opportunities for growth in the future.”
  
For more information on the Southeast Region of Lincoln Property Company, please visit www.lpcsoutheast.com. To check out the blog, go to http://blog.lpcsoutheast.com.

Contact:
Stephen Ursery
Wilbert News Strategies
404-965-5026

HFF arranges $31.85 million construction loan for development of 196-unit Class A multi-housing community in suburban Seattle, WA



                            
DALLAS, TX – HFF announced today that it has arranged a $31.85 million construction loan for the development of the 196-unit Juanita Village (top left rendering) multi-housing community in Kirkland, Washington.

HFF worked on behalf of M-M Properties and BayNorth to secure the three-year construction loan through Bank of the Ozarks. 

The property is located at 11801 97th Street in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle on the east side of Lake Washington.  Due for completion in 2013, the podium-style luxury apartments will have views of Lake Washington.  Juanita Village will also feature 8,700 square feet of ground-floor retail.

The HFF team representing the borrowers was led by senior managing director John Brownlee (middle left photo) and managing director Tom Wilson (lower right photo). 

M-M Properties is a privately-held real estate investment firm that seeks to provide exceptional risk-adjusted returns to its investors through superior execution of carefully developed strategies. 

 The company or its principals have engaged in real estate investment activities on behalf of investors, partners or for its own account across a portfolio of assets that has included 36 million square feet of office projects and almost 17,000 multi-housing units with a cumulative transaction volume of approximately $8.6 billion.

BayNorth Capital was formed in July 2004 by the principals of the real estate group of Charlesbank Capital Partners. 

The firm includes all of Charlesbank’ s real estate investment staff and makes direct or joint venture real estate investments across the United States. 

 Charlesbank was formerly known as Harvard Private Capital Group, which was spun out of Harvard Management Company in 1998, and included Harvard's real estate and private equity investment businesses. 

Both groups experienced significant growth and in 2004 the two groups mutually decided to focus exclusively on their respective businesses. 

As a result, the real estate group formed BayNorth Capital and the private equity group retained the Charlesbank name. 

 BayNorth continues to manage all of the existing Harvard and Charlesbank real estate investments.  In February 2007, BayNorth completed the final closing of its latest fund, BayNorth Realty Fund VII, with $472.5 million in equity commitments from university endowment funds, charitable foundations and family trusts. 

The new fund includes virtually all of the investors in Charlesbank Realty Fund V and BayNorth Realty Fund VI, plus several new investors.  BayNorth Capital has full discretion over all capital committed to its funds.

Since 1903, Bank of the Ozarks has earned respect as one of the nation’s strongest banks.  Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Bank of the Ozarks has earned several awards including the 2010 Community Banker of the Year Award by American Banker and continues to achieve record net income.
  
Contacts:

JOHN S. BROWNLEE                     THOMAS F. WILSON                       
HFF Senior Managing Director       HFF Managing Director                 
(214) 265-0880                                 (503) 224-0444                                   
jbrownlee@hfflp.com                        twilson@hfflp.com

KRISTEN MURPHY
HFF Associate Director, Marketing
(713) 852-3500

HFF closes sale of Miami Heart Institute in Miami Beach, FL



MIAMI, FL – HFF announced today that it has closed the sale of the Miami Heart Institute (top left photo), a nearly 700,000-square-foot medical facility in Miami Beach, Florida.

HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Mount Sinai Medical Center.  Lionheart Capital purchased the facility for an undisclosed price.

The Miami Heart Institute is located at 4701 North Meridian Avenue less than one mile from the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach.  The facility consists of a seven-story hospital building plus two parking garages.  On-site amenities include a waterfront dining facility and a conference center with a 241-seat auditorium.

The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by executive managing director Manny de Zarraga and director Ike Ojala.

Contacts:
                                        
MANUEL DE ZARRAGA                            IKE OJALA                           
HFF Executive Managing Director             HFF Director                            
(305) 448-1333                                            (305) 448-1333                       
mdezarraga@hfflp.com                               iojala@hfflp.com                   

 KRISTEN MURPHY
HFF Associate Director, Marketing
 (713) 852-3500

HFF arranges $33 million acquisition financing for two Class A suburban office buildings in Austin, TX


AUSTIN, TX – HFF announced  that it has arranged acquisition financing totaling $33 million on behalf of Divco West Acquisitions, LLC.  The acquired properties were Prominent Pointe I & II (top left aerial photo), two adjacent Class A office buildings totaling about 261,243 square feet.

HFF placed the fixed-rate loan with a national life insurance company. 

Remodeled in 2007, Prominent Pointe I totals 153,312 square feet.  Prominent Pointe II was constructed in 2008 and has 107,931 square feet.  The property contains multiple 2,000 to 35,000-square-foot suites designed for large users and is located at 8310 Capital of Texas Highway within one mile of the Arboretum development in the 360 Corridor of Austin.  Prominent Pointe I & II has a combined occupancy of 90.6 percent.

The HFF team representing the borrower was led by managing director Doug Opalka (lower  right photo).

Divco West is a privately owned real estate investment firm with offices in San Francisco and Boston.  The company has acquired more than 22 million square feet of commercial space throughout the United States.  Divco West and its affiliates are currently managing over $2 billion of equity.  Divco West’s management team has a 20-year history of structuring creative and complex transactions which has earned the trust of a broad spectrum of leading global government and corporate investors.

Contacts:
                                       
DOUGLAS OPALKA                    KRISTEN MURPHY
HFF Managing Director               HFF Associate Director, Marketing
(512) 532-1900                             (713) 852-3500
dopalka@hfflp.com                       krmurphy@hfflp.com

Brian McGowan Appointed to Georgia Foreign-Trade Zone Board of Directors


 ATLANTA (Feb. 9, 2012) –Brian P. McGowan (top right photo), President and CEO of Invest Atlanta, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Georgia Foreign-Trade Zone.

GFTZ is a private, non-profit organization providing oversight of Foreign-Trade Zone #26 in Atlanta. Foreign-Trade Zone #26 originates at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (middle left photo) and includes several industrial sites in metro Atlanta and manufacturing sites across Georgia.

McGowan’s current term on the board runs through December, and he already has been asked to consider standing for re-election to a full three-year term at that time.

“As a member of the board, [McGowan] will be a foreign-trade zone ambassador, helping to spread the word on the benefits of foreign-trade zones and GFTZ in particular, to potential users, operators, government officials and the general community GFTZ board Chairman Jose Gonzalez (middle right photo) wrote in a letter welcoming McGowan to the board.

McGowan joins a board of directors that includes some of the other top economic development officials and consultants in Georgia.

International commerce is becoming an increasingly important focus at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta and for Invest Atlanta. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (lower left photo), who also serves as chairman of Invest Atlanta, has made a priority of increasing the international airport cargo business at the airport.

“It is quite an honor to be appointed to the board,” McGowan said. “GFTZ is great for Atlanta and our state as we continue to work to increase foreign direct investment. The Georgia Foreign-Trade Zone stimulates economic growth and assists in the creation of jobs.”

 Invest Atlanta (formerly Atlanta Development Authority) is the official economic development authority for the City of Atlanta. Its purpose is to increase opportunity and prosperity for the people of Atlanta by strengthening its economy and global competitiveness. 

Chaired by the Mayor of Atlanta, and governed by a nine-member board of directors, Invest Atlanta’s programs and initiatives focus on developing and fostering public/private partnerships to create jobs, grow the economy, revitalize neighborhoods, attract investment, spur innovation, and encourage entrepreneurship.

To achieve these goals, Invest Atlanta leverages the benefits of bond financing, revolving loan funds, housing financing, tax increment financing (TIF), and tax credits.

 For more information on how Invest Atlanta can provide solutions for you or your business, contact us at: 404-880-4100, or visit us at: www.InvestAtlanta.com.

 To get the latest updates, follow us on Twitter@InvestAtlanta, and Like us on Facebook.

 Contact:  ehagin@wnspr.com

Essex Realty Group Brokers Sale Of Multi-Residential Offering in Chicago, IL




  
CHICAGO, IL – Feb. 9, 2012 - Essex Realty Group, Inc. is pleased to announce the sale of 1740 W. North Shore (top centered photo), a renovated 41 unit courtyard apartment building located in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. 

It is conveniently located within walking distance to the Rogers Park Metra Train stop, the Clark Street Bus Route and the Dominick’s on Ridge Avenue.

 The offering consists of 17 one bedrooms, 2 one bedroom handicap accessible garden units, 16 two bedrooms, 5 three bedroom duplexes w/separate heat and 1 four bedroom duplex w/separate heat.

 Jim Darrow and Jordan Gottlieb (top right photo) of Essex represented the seller in the transaction.  Doug Imber and Kate Varde (lower left photo) also of Essex, represented the purchaser.  The price was approximately $2,915,000.

 Essex Realty Group, Inc. specializes in the sale of investment real estate throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.

Contact:

Douglas S. Imber
Essex Realty Group, Inc.
773.305.4902

Essex Realty Group, Inc.
2211 N. Elston Avenue, Suite 302
Chicago, Illinois 60614
773.305.4900

Lincoln Property Company Southeast Bolsters Leasing Team with New Hire, Promotion



Hunter Henritze (left) and Michael Howell


ATLANTA, GA -- After winning multiple contracts last fall to manage and lease millions of square feet of metro Atlanta office space, Lincoln Property Company Southeast has announced the hiring of an established veteran and the promotion of one of its brightest young talents to service the assignments.

In November, Equity Office awarded the company contracts to manage 3.3 million square feet and lease 1.9 million square feet in metro Atlanta. The management assignment covers buildings in Atlanta’s North Fulton and Northeast submarkets, and the leasing assignment is for the North Fulton portfolio.

The company has hired Michael Howell as vice president, office, to handle the leasing of the North Fulton buildings. Howell, who joins Lincoln from Resource Real Estate Partners, where he was a landlord rep, also will focus on growing the company’s third-party-agency leasing business. He has completed more than 300 commercial real estate transactions totaling more than $100 million.

 Howell will team with Hunter Henritze (top right photo), who was promoted to vice president.  Henritze has been a rising star within Lincoln, having served in multiple strategic roles including acquisitions, dispositions, valuations and leasing during his six years with the company. 

Howell and Henritze have hit the ground running. Recent completed transactions include Volkswagen-Audi’s lease of 16,500 square feet in Northwinds II in Alpharetta (Kerry Davidson and Bennett Gottlieb of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant), TechTarget’s renewal of a 7,300-square-foot lease in Northwinds I and United Industries’ renewal of a 7,000-square-foot lease in Northwinds III (top centered photo).

“Hunter Henritze has done outstanding work for us since joining Lincoln in 2006 and his promotion is well deserved and representative of his tremendous value to our company,” said Tony Bartlett (lower left photo), Senior Vice President at Lincoln.  “Michael Howell is a leasing star and brings experience, energy and a track record of success we desire to build upon.”

Contact:  Stephen Ursery, sursery@wnspr.com

Bourbon Orleans Hotel Announces Completion of Multimillion Dollar Renovation




   
NEW ORLEANS, LA –Feb.  9, 2012 - The Bourbon Orleans Hotel (above centered photo) has announced the completion of a multimillion dollar renovation affecting all of the hotel’s 218 luxury guestrooms and 28 distinctive balcony suites. The renovation began in August, restoring the iconic French Quarter hotel’s accommodations to the top of the market offerings.

The guestroom upgrades include a new plush bedding package from SEALY®, new carpeting, wall colors and coverings, interior plantation shutters and furnishings.

The strikingly refurbished bathrooms, now with extra counter space, boast sleek black granite surfaces, and large black tile and glass enclosed shower areas. Other in-room amenities include complimentary wireless internet, hard wired internet, in-room coffee and bottled water service;  42” flat screen televisions; and ergonomic Herman Miller® designed desk chairs.

The room renovation completes major property upgrades including repainting of all exterior balconies and window frames, and the addition of an enlarged, glass-fronted fitness center on the hotel’s second floor. Free to guests, the fitness center includes a wide variety of the most modern graduated resistance equipment made by Life Fitness, a leading manufacturer of fitness equipment, as well as free weights exercise mats and mirrors.

 “The substantial improvements to guest rooms and bathrooms have continued the upgrade of this iconic New Orleans luxury hotel that was begun several years ago. We’re pleased to be able to count this and the other hotels of the New Orleans Hotel Collection among the finest offerings in the city,”   said Mr. Joe Jaeger, managing partner of the ownership group.


Contacts:

Mark Wilson
General Manager
504 523 2222

Patrick Daly
Account Supervisor
Daly Gray, Inc.
Office:  (703) 435-6293
Cell:  (703) 300-8289

Turner Construction Co., Sahara Prime City Ltd. and Acropolis Capital Group Establish Partnership to Serve the Construction Market in India

  
MUMBAI, India, Feb. 9, 2012  /PRNewswire/ -- Sahara Prime City Limited, one of India's leading real estate developers, Turner Construction Company, a leading general builder in the United States and Acropolis Capital Group, a financial investment firm, are proud to announce the formation of Sahara Turner.

Sahara Turner will lead the development and construction of multiple townships across India with an approximate value of $2.5 billion over the next five years. The partnership will be managed by Turner.

The formation of this company underscores Sahara Prime's commitment to the delivery of affordable housing at a high standard of quality and on a timely basis.

The company will provide integrated construction services and lead in the development of townships.  Over time the company will serve clients in other markets such as infrastructure, healthcare and hospitality.

"We are extremely excited with the partnership we have established with Sahara Prime City and look forward to making a significant contribution to the construction market in one of the world's fastest growing economies," said Nicholas Billotti (middle left  photo), President and CEO of Turner's International division.

Speaking at the launch of Sahara Turner Construction Limited, 'Saharasri' Subrata Roy Sahara (top right photo) Managing Worker & Chairman, Sahara India Pariwar, said, "It gives me great pleasure to announce the launch of Sahara Turner Construction Limited.

“ This joint venture is the coming together of people who believe in providing the best available international quality and technology to India. I am sure that this venture will offer the most effective solutions and services to the Indian real estate and infrastructure sector."

Mr. Anant Jain, Managing Partner, Acropolis Capital Group, also commented, "This association is of great significance, and will help in making the Indian infrastructure and Housing projects more effective in cost, time and quality."

Contact:  Elizabeth Straus, 212-229-6283