Monday, February 4, 2013

MBA Honors Guy Johnson of Johnson Capital Group with Inaugural “Be A Leader” Award



Guy K. Johnson
 San Diego, CA (Feb. 4, 2013) – The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today presented Guy Johnson, President of Johnson Capital Group, Inc., with its first ever “Be A Leader” award at the Association's 23rd annual Commercial Real Estate Finance(CREF)/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo held in San Diego, CA.

Brian F. Stoffers, CMB, President, CBRE Debt & Equity Finance and Chair of MBA’s Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Board of Governors (COMBOG) presented the award to Johnson in recognition of his commitment to member outreach to the commercial/multifamily real estate finance industry.

 “Guy is a leader in the real estate finance industry and I am pleased to present him with MBA’s first ever Be A Leader Award,” said MBA Chairman Debra W. Still, CMB. “I applaud Guy’s commitment to growing MBA’s membership and strengthening the real estate finance industry.”


 For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Matt Robinson     
(202) 557-2727

Chatham Lodging to Rebrand its Washington, D.C. Hotel to Residence Inn


  
 PALM BEACH, FlL, Feb. 4, 2013—Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE: CLDT), a hotel real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investing in upscale extended-stay hotels and premium-branded select-service hotels, today announced that it will rebrand its 105-room Washington, D.C. hotel to a Residence Inn by Marriott following an upgrade/renovation.

Chatham acquired the hotel in July 2011, as part of a five-hotel portfolio acquisition.

Additionally, the company announced it repaid the approximate $19 million loan balance outstanding on the Washington, D.C. hotel and refinanced three other mortgage loans, extending the company’s debt maturity and enhancing earnings through reduced interest costs. 

 For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:
     
Jerry Daly 
(Media)                                                                                                                                                                         
Gray Public Relations
(703) 435-6293                                                                              
          
Dennis Craven
Chief Financial Officer
 (Company)
(561) 227-1386  

HFF secures $13.5 million acquisition financing for 10-property single-tenant retail portfolio in Four States



Chris Drew
MIAMI, FL – HFF announced today that it has secured $13.5 million in acquisition financing for a 10-property single-tenant retail portfolio located in multiple states.

HFF worked on behalf of A. Duda & Sons, Inc. to place the 10-year, fixed-rate CMBS loan through Prudential Mortgage Capital Company. 

Collectively 100 percent occupied, the portfolio features five Dollar Generals, four Christian Brothers Automotive Centers and one Walgreens.  The properties are located in various cities in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. 

Brandon Chavoya
The HFF team representing the borrower was led by director Chris Drew along with director Brandon Chavoya and director analyst Kim Flores.

A. Duda & Sons, Inc. is a Florida-based company with additional operations in California, Texas, Arizona, Georgia and Michigan.

  A diversified land company, DUDA is engaged in a variety of agricultural and real estate operations.  Assets include agricultural lands and a variety of commercial properties. 
Kimberly Flores

The family-owned and -operated company, headquartered in Oviedo, Florida, is in its fourth generation of family leadership.

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Kristen M. Murphy
Associate Director
HFF | 9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 700 | Houston, TX 77046
tel 713.852.3500 | cel 617.543.4873 | fax 713.527.8725 | www.hfflp.com

HFF arranges $74 million loan for the refinancing of a Class A downtown Denver office property



1400 Wewatta and 1401 Wynkoop
Office Buildings, Denver, CO
DENVER, CO – HFF announced today that it has arranged a $74 million loan for the refinancing of 1400 Wewatta and 1401 Wynkoop, two Class A contiguous office buildings totaling approximately 300,000 square feet in downtown Denver, Colorado.

                HFF worked on behalf of the borrower, Wewatta and Wynkoop PT LLC, a GE Asset Management and Crestone Partners managed entity, to secure a permanent loan through a national life insurance company correspondent lender.

Eric Tupler
1400 Wewatta and 1401 Wynkoop are situated on nearly two acres in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo) located on Cherry Creek at Speer and Wewatta, the gateway to LoDo. 

1400 Wewatta is a nine-story, +202,000-square-foot property with ground floor retail.  1401 Wynkoop is a 10-story, +98,000-square-foot office building with ground floor retail and residential condominiums on the top four floors (the condos are not part of the collateral).

Josh Simo
The properties are connected via a sky bridge and share a 468-space parking garage.  Overall, 1400 Wewatta and 1401 Wynkoop are leased to tenants including Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (World Headquarters), Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, LLC, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Milliman and George K. Baum & Company.

The HFF team representing the borrower was led by Eric Tupler, Josh Simon and Jake Young, all located in the HFF’s Denver office.

 “The ability to have HFF act as our exclusive advisor was invaluable. The process was well organized and allowed us to fully evaluate market options and ultimately achieve the best pricing and terms in the market,” said Bob Flynn, principal of Crestone Partners.


 For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Kristen M. Murphy
Associate Director
HFF | 9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 700 | Houston, TX 77046
tel 713.852.3500 | cel 617.543.4873 | fax 713.527.8725 | www.hfflp.com

Crystal Casino Hotel in Compton, CA Sells for $16.5 Million



Crystal Casino Hotel, Compton City, CA
COMPTON, Calif., Feb. 4, 2013 – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has arranged the sale of the Crystal Casino Hotel, a 250-room full-service hotel and casino in Compton, Calif. The sales price of $16.5 million represents $66,000 per room.

            Gordon Allred, vice president investments and senior director of the firm’s National Hospitality  Group in Ontario, Calif., represented the seller, a regional casino operator. The buyer is an investment group based in China.

            “In an unusual and mutually beneficial arrangement, the seller will lease back the entire ground floor of the hotel and retain operation of the casino, restaurant and bar,” says Allred. “The buyer, meanwhile, should be able to realize substantial upside potential through improved management and renovation of the hotel lobby, the guestrooms and the meeting space.”

Gordon Allred
Located at 123 East Artesia Blvd. in Compton, the nine-story hotel and casino is situated on 15 acres along the Alameda Corridor between Long Beach, Calif. and Los Angeles in the center of Los Angeles County.

            Crystal Casino Hotel is comprised of eight floors with 250 keys above the ground floor. The property includes approximately seven acres of excess commercially zoned vacant land for future development. The hotel business is closed during the renovation while the casino and restaurant remain open.  Reopening of the hotel is scheduled for the summer of 2013.
  
Contact:

Public Relations
(925) 953-1716

On the Mend: Industrial Sector Makes Quiet but Important Strides in 2012



Michael Bull
ATLANTA, GA (Feb. 4, 2013) – Buoyed by a slowly strengthening economy, the U.S. industrial sector experienced noticeable improvement last year and could take another significant step forward in 2013.

 That was the consensus of a panel of experts on the most recent episode of the “Commercial Real Estate Show” radio program, hosted by Michael Bull of Bull Realty. The episode took an enlightening look at the sector, examining vacancy rates, investment sales, and the factors that could help or hinder industrial properties in the months ahead.

Ryan Severino
The national vacancy rate for the warehouse/distribution subsector dropped about 80 basis points in 2012 to end the year at 12.3 percent, said Ryan Severino, senior economist for Reis. Asking and effective rents for the properties both grew approximately 2 percent last year.

 The flex/R&D subsector finished last year with a 13.9 percent vacancy rate, a 120-basis-point decline from 12 months earlier, Severino added. Asking and effective rents both increased by about 1 percent in 2012.

 “Industrial had a pretty good year, all things considered,” Severino said.

Larry Callahan
Looking ahead to 2013, Severino said growing e-commerce sales and an improving home market could increase demand for the warehouses and distribution centers that store and ship related products to consumers.

“On the other hand, a slowing of global trade triggered by European economic woes and any future contraction in the U.S. economy could harm the sector, he added.“ But as long as we’re in a slow, stable growth environment, I think there should be good, if not spectacular, times ahead for the industrial market,” Severino concluded.

 Developer Larry Callahan, CEO of Pattillo Industrial Real Estate, said big-box distribution centers 300,000 square feet or larger areexperiencing the most tenant demand among industrial properties. The industrial sector also has improved enough that significant spec construction could be on the horizon, he added.

Summey Orr
“The rental rates are starting to move up, and [spec development] is starting to make more sense,” Callahan said. “Some is actually happening in the hotter and tighter markets, like some places in Texas and California.”

The market for flex/R&D buildings 300,000 square feet or smaller – the kind of facilities traditionally occupied by small, entrepreneurial firms – is still relatively flaccid, Callahan added.

 Commercial real estate attorney Summey Orr, managing partner of Hartman Simons, said corporations are growing more confident about theirprospects and about adding warehouse and distribution space.

 “Towards the end of 2012, you were seeing [corporate real estate managers] going to their bosses and saying, ‘Hey, we’ve been bursting at the seams for two and three years,’” Orr said. “‘It’s time to get more space.’”

 “I think we’re going to see more of that in 2013 and certainly more of that in 2014,” Orr added.

 The entire episode on theU.S. industrial market is available for download at www.CREshow.com.

 The next “Commercial Real Estate Show” will be available Feb. 7 and will examine the U.S. multifamily market.

 For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Stephen Ursery
The Wilbert Group
Office: (404) 965-5026
Cell: (404) 405-2354


HFF closes $29 million sale of grocery-anchored shopping center in Woodcliff Lake, NJ



500 Chestnut Ridge Road Shopping Center
Woodcliff Lake, NJ
FLORHAM PARK, NJ - HFF announced today that it has closed the sale of 500 Chestnut Ridge Road, a 70,000-square-foot grocery-anchored retail center in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, AAG Management, Inc.  A private entity purchased the asset for $29 million or $414 per square foot. 

500 Chestnut Ridge Road is located in Bergen County in close proximity to the Garden State Parkway.  Renovated in 2011, the 100 percent leased center is anchored by A&P Supermarket.  Other tenants include Luxury Nail & Spa, A+ Cleaners, Wine & Liquors and Marco Polo’s.

Jose Cruz
The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by senior managing directors Jose Cruz and Andrew Scandalios, managing directors Kevin O’Hearn and Jeffrey Julien and associate director Michael Oliver.

“The opportunity to acquire a fully-leased grocery-anchored shopping center in a densely populated suburban location within one of the top 50 retail markets in the United States made this property particularly attractive to investors,” commented Cruz.

Andrew Scandalios
New York City-based AAG Management, Inc. has more than 50 years of experience in commercial, residential and retail ownership and management. 

The company currently owns and manages more than 700 residential apartments, 100 retail stores, 500,000 square feet of office space, 1.5 million square feet of triple net-leased retail and 1.5 million square feet of triple net-leased industrial properties located in 13 states from New York to Alaska
  
 For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Kristen M. Murphy
Associate Director
HFF | 9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 700 | Houston, TX 77046
tel 713.852.3500 | cel 617.543.4873 | fax 713.527.8725 | www.hfflp.com

21 Percent Drop In Volume of Commercial and Multifamily Mortgages Maturing This Year



   San Diego, CA (Feb. 4, 2013) – $119.5 billion, eight percent of the outstanding balance, of commercial and multifamily mortgages held by non-bank lenders and investors will mature in 2013, a 21 percent decline from the $150.6 billion that matured in 2012, according to today’s release of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) 2012 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Survey of Loan Maturity Volumes.


 The loan maturities vary significantly by investor group. Just 5 percent ($16.0 billion) of the outstanding balance of multifamily and health care mortgages held or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and Ginnie Mae will mature in 2013.

Life insurance companies will see 7 percent ($21.9 billion) of their outstanding mortgage balances mature in 2013. Among loans held in CMBS, 7 percent ($43.4 billion) will come due in 2013. Twenty-one percent ($38.1 billion) of commercial mortgages held by credit companies and other investors will mature in 2013.

 For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Matt Robinson
202-557-2727

Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Originations Up 49 Percent in Q4, Up 24 Percent for Year


San Diego, CA (Feb.  4, 2013)– Commercial and multifamily mortgage originations increased 49 percent between the third and the fourth quarters of 2012, and were also up 49 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations.


 MBA’s commercial/multifamily mortgage bankers originations index shows originations for the full year 2012 were 24 percent higher than in 2011.

  “During the fourth quarter, commercial and multifamily mortgage borrowing and lending hit the highest level since 2007,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research.  “Low interest rates are prompting borrowers to finance, and improving property markets are helping more deals underwrite successfully.  The relative strength of commercial and multifamily mortgages as investments continues to fuel lenders’ appetites.”
  
For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Matt Robinson
202-557-2727

MBA Forecasts $254 Billion of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Originations in 2013, Up 11% From 2012


  
Jamie Woodwell
 San Diego, CA (Feb.4, 2013)– In its second annual forecast of the commercial/multifamily real estate finance markets, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) projects originations of commercial and multifamily mortgages will grow to $254 billion in 2013, an increase of 11 percent from 2012 volumes, and continue to rise to $289 billion in 2015. Originations of multifamily mortgages are forecast at $100 billion in 2013.

 Commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding is expected to grow in 2013, ending the year above $2.4 trillion, more than two percent higher than at the end of 2012. By the end of 2015, mortgage debt outstanding is forecast to exceed $2.5 trillion. MBA previewed its forecast of the commercial/multifamily real estate finance markets today at its Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Housing Convention in San Diego.

“2012 was a strong year for the commercial and multifamily mortgage markets, and 2013 is shaping up to continue the growth,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research.

 “Despite a 21 percent decline in the volume of commercial and multifamily mortgages maturing this year, we expect origination volumes and the amount of mortgage debt outstanding will both increase.

“Our forecast anticipates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA, as well as life insurance companies, will all continue to have strong appetites for making loans, and – coupled with growth in originations for CMBS – the total market will continue to expand.”

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Matt Robinson
202-557-2727

Trepp January Loss Analysis: Liquidation Volume Edges Lower while Severity Inches Upward






NEW YORK, NY, Feb. 4, 2013 -- Overall resolution volume dropped slightly in January according to Trepp, but loans resolved with losses greater than 2% ticked up along with loss severity. January average loss severity ended up at 44.39%, 733 basis points higher than December’s 37.06%.

January liquidations came in at $1.15 billion relative to the 12-month moving average of $1.36 billion.

The 158 loan liquidations resulted in $512.3 million in losses, translating to an average loss severity of 44.39%, above the 12-month moving average of 40.52%.

Since January 2010, servicers have been liquidating at an average rate of $1.17 billion per month.

The loan workout pipeline handled less total balance but more loans, as the number of CMBS conduit loans liquidated in January was 158, more than the 12-month average of 139. The average size of liquidated loans in January was $7.31 million, well below December’s $11.14 million and the 12-month average of $9.73 million.

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Eric R. Gerard
Senior Vice President
Great Ink Communications
27 Union Square West, Suite 205
New York, NY 10001
(212) 741-2977

Low Interest Rates Still Driving Realty Investments and Profits


Jeanne Peck
Chicago, IL Feb. 4, 2013 - Low interest rates continue driving realty investments and profits on both Wall Street and Main Street. Investors flock to this sector enhanced by record REIT profits and the tightest supply of U.S. existing for-sale homes inventory not seen for over a decade.  Benchmark yield changes and improving loan volume estimates for 2013 are the other major realty finance market news stories this month:

Benchmark Yields:  Treasury rates creeped up by the end of the month, with
the ten-year note hitting the 2%-mark, the highest since March.  Mounting
rate uncertainty plagues that markets as lawmakers struggle agree on the
U.S. debt ceiling.  Many analysts believe that rates may reach up to 2.25%
by yearend.

Loan Volume estimates:  Wall Street, agencies and life companies are bullish for 2013.  As B-piece investors return, conduits expect to regain market share.  CMBS lenders target about $65 billion in new production - about a third increase in volume from the previous year.   Agencies nearly doubled their funding volumes in 2012 to about $60 billion, but few believe such performance levels are sustainable because of heightened competition from other sources.  Life companies will keep their slice of the debt investment pie, hoping to top last year's $45 billion threshold.  Lastly, banks now
have cleaner and leaner balance sheets.  Banks traditionally account for about half of all funding volume.  In particular, regional banks will reemerge as the "wild card" players looking to expand market share.

Pricing Differentials: Despite select lenders raising spreads, fierce competition drives very attractive spread negating any really meaningful pricing increase.  If anything, the pricing arrows point down.  For ten-year debt, the best pricing spreads start at 160 bp for 55% LTV or less leverage. Add an additional 15 bps to move up to 65% LTV and another 15 bps to reach full leverage at 75% to 80%.  The difference between five and ten-year term loans equates to 25 to 40 bp higher spreads, but the treasury notes are nearly 100 bp lower.  The net result of five vs. ten-year terms translates to at least a half point lower rates.

Ms. Jeanne Peck of the Real Estate Capital Institute, emphasizes "The mix of a recovering real estate market with an oversupply of capital leads to an exciting path of capital creativity.  We expect that more new ideas and programs will emerge throughout the year."

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. 

 Furthermore, call the Real Estate Capital RateLine at
7RE-CAPITAL (773-227-4825) for hourly rate updates.
  
Contact:

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