Monday, July 1, 2013

HFF arranges fixed-rate financing for Trader Joe’s-anchored center in southern New Jersey


Marlton Square, Marlton, NJ

FLORHAM PARK, NJ – HFF announced today that it has arranged fixed-rate financing for Marlton Square, a 78,781-square-foot shopping center anchored by Trader Joe’s in Marlton, New Jersey.

Jim Cadranell
                HFF worked exclusively on behalf of the borrower, Paramount Realty Services, Inc., to secure the fixed-rate loan through Allstate Investments, which will be serviced by HFF. 

  Loan proceeds were used to retire existing debt and for capital costs related to an expansion of Trader Joe’s.  HFF also arranged financing for Charter Oak Marketplace in early June on behalf of Paramount through a life company.

                Completed in 1999, Marlton Square consists of two single-story buildings totaling 74,437 square feet.  Trader Joe’s is expanding its space by 4,344 square feet with an anticipated completion date in the fourth quarter 2013. 

Jon Mikula
Additional tenants at the center include Starbucks, The Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Charming Charlie, Janie & Jack, Chicos, and Bath & Body Works.  Marlton Square is situated on a 10.44-acre site at 300 US Route 73 near the intersection of Route 70 about 10 miles east of Center City Philadelphia.

                The HFF team representing Paramount Realty Services, Inc. was led by managing director Jim Cadranell and senior managing director Jon Mikula.
  
 For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Kristen M. Murphy
Associate Director
HFF | One Post Office Square, Suite 3500 | Boston, MA 02109
Main: 617-338-0990 | Direct: 617-848-1572 | Cell: 617-543-4873 | www.hfflp.com

HFF arranges $120 million financing for Granite Park in suburban Dallas, TX

   
Granite Park complex, Plano, TX


DALLAS, TX – HFF announced today that it has arranged a $120 million in cross-collateralized financing for Granite Park I, II  and III , three Class AA office towers within the mixed-use Granite Park development situated on 90 acres in Plano, Texas.

Trey Morsbach
Working on behalf of Granite Properties, Inc., HFF placed the 10-year, fixed-rate loan with MetLife Real Estate Investors.  Funds from this transaction were used to refinance an existing loan with the lender.

Located at the intersection of the Dallas North Tollway and State Highway 121, Granite Park includes three, 95 percent leased office buildings totaling 873,636 square feet  that were completed in phases between 1999 and 2006 and served as collateral for the loan. 

James M. Curtin
A fourth office building and a 300-room hotel are under construction within Granite Park as of spring 2013.  In addition to the LEED-certified office buildings, the property also includes 45,137 square feet of retail space that is connected to the parking garage of the third building. 

Once completed, the Granite Park development is set to include more than 2.5 million square feet of office space along with the 300-room hotel, retail shops and a variety of restaurants.

The HFF team representing the borrower was led by senior managing director Trey Morsbach, associate director Jim Curtin and real estate analysts Michael Cosby and Michael George.

Granite Properties, Inc. is a diversified real estate investment and management company with offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, and Houston. 

  Since its inception in 1991, Granite has acquired and developed approximately 14 million square feet of real estate and currently owns and manages an extensive portfolio, including nearly nine million square feet of office, industrial and retail properties in several states.

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

Kristen M. Murphy
Associate Director
HFF | One Post Office Square, Suite 3500 | Boston, MA 02109
Main: 617-338-0990 | Direct: 617-848-1572 | Cell: 617-543-4873 | www.hfflp.com

Shooters Waterfront Cafe and Bootlegger Restaurants Under New Ownership


Shooters Waterfront Cafe Beauty Contest
Fort Lauderdale, FL

 FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – (July 1, 2013) Shooters Waterfront Cafe and Bootlegger, landmarks in South Florida’s waterfront dining and entertainment scene, were recently purchased from First Bank by William McIntyre, owner of the renowned Grateful Palate Restaurant and Yacht Provisions on Southeast 17th Street.

The two combined properties total 20,905 square feet and are situated on a 1.032 acre site fronting the east side of the Intracoastal Waterway just south of Oakland Park Boulevard at 3033 NE 32 Avenue, with 340 feet of dockage.

Bootlegger Restaurant, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Realtor Rick Tobchi of RT Realty represented the seller.

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


Bull Realty Chosen to Market Land on Behalf of the City of Lilburn, GA for Downtown Mixed-Use Development

  

Liburn, GA City Hall

ATLANTA, GA (July 1, 2013) – On behalf of the Lilburn (Ga.) Downtown Development Authority, Bull Realty has just announced the availability of a 7.72-acre site for a mixed-use development in the heart of Lilburn’s soon-to-be-relocated city center.

Daniel Latshaw
The property fronts the corner of Lawrenceville Highway (Highway 29) and the under-construction new Main Street and across the street from Lilburn’s new 24,000-square-foot City Hall and the more-than-20,000-square-foot library.

 “While the chance to develop prime real estate in the heart of a close-in suburb of fast-growing Atlanta is incentive enough for developers, this is an historic opportunity,” said Daniel Latshaw, a Bull Realty partner and the listing broker. “It’s an opportunity for a signature development that is also an integral part of a newly created downtown.”

 The development will benefit from 585 feet of frontage on the new Main Street and approximately 680 feet on Highway 29. The daily traffic count is 38,504 cars on Hwy 29 and 8,000 on main St poised to increase when the new City Center opens.

Commercial business (CB) zoning and the Lawrenceville HighwayCorridor Overlay Zoning District provide ample flexibility for various mixed-use projects consistent with the two-story, $10 million City Hall andlibrary, both of which are scheduled for completion in fall 2014.

 “Having essentially a blank slate at this exceptional location, the developer chosen for the new gateway mixed-use project will benefit from Lilburn’s forward-thinking leadership, thriving economy, small-town charm and top-rated schools,” Latshaw said.

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

Savannah Duncan
The Wilbert Group
O:  404.343.0870
C: 404.901.4433

Miami's Related Group Requires Up To 100% Deposits For New Condos


Brickell CityCentre rendering

Jorge Perez
MIAMI, FL -- In the same month that his development company paid $32 million for a condo site located a block south of the proposed Brickell CityCentre mixed-use complex in Greater Downtown Miami, highrise developer Jorge Perez of the Related Group revealed his Miami-based firm is requiring up to 100 percent buyer deposits for presale units in its proposed condo towers, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

Perez told CNBC's Squawk Box that the Related Group - which reportedly "probably lost about $3 billion in different projects" during the last real estate boom-and-bust cycle - is limiting its risk in this newest South Florida condo boom by collecting deposits that are significantly higher than the standard 20 percent amount required during the last building boom that began in 2003.

"The difference now is that we're much more cautious in how we take deposits," Perez told CNBC. "For all of our condominiums, people that want to buy from us have to pay between 50 percent and 100 percent during the construction period of their purchase so financing really has been done by the purchaser. We are not taking the risk that we took in the previous boom."


Overall in South Florida, developers are proposing at least 140 new towers with more than 18,560 units in the tri-county coastal region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach some as of June 28, 2013, according to the Cranespotters.com Pre-construction Condo Projects Database™ compiled by the licensed Florida brokerage CVR Realty™.

Mary Brickell Village rendering
Perez added another notable step being taken to limit the Related Group's risk this time around is the implementation of a presale condo strategy that specifies the process that is to be followed if buyers once again refuse to purchase their units at the contracted price upon completion of construction.

"If there was something to happen, we do not have to give back that money to the purchaser," Perez told CNBC. "All we have is an obligation to resell their unit for them at market. We have greatly reduced the level of risk."

As the developer risk has been limited so has the pool of prospective buyers - with a heavy concentration on foreign investors.

1100 Millecento Residences rendering
"Right now, the demand is extremely strong...from both Latin America and Europe," Perez said, "And starting again from the Northeastern United States as the economy in the U.S. rebounds."

In anticipation of the stronger demand, a Related Group-controlled entity paid $32 million - an average of  $533 per square foot - for a nearly 1.4-acre-vacant site located at 850 S. Miami Ave. between the Shops At Mary Brickell Village and the proposed Brickell CityCentre complex in Greater Downtown Miami, according to the Miami Daily Business Review.

Premier Towers rendering
The development site - originally proposed to be the Premiere Towers complex during the last condo boom - was purchased at the heart of the real estate crash for $9 million, or $150 per square foot, in December 2008, according to the press report.

The Premiere Towers site has a 2013 assessed land value of $12 million, or $200 per square foot, according to the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser.

The Related Group has not yet determined what it plans to do with the Premiere Towers site, according to the press report. 

Overall, the Related Group is already proposing at least 13 South Florida condo towers - including six projects with nearly 1,400 units that are already under construction - with more than 2,300 units in projects, including the proposed One Ocean and Marea in the South Beach market; the SLS Hotel & Residences and an unnamed project on the former Element condo site in Greater Downtown Miami; and the ICON Palm Beach north of Downtown West Palm Beach, according to the Cranespotters.com Pre-construction Condo Projects Database™.


Additionally, the Related Group is currently constructing the 1100 Millecento Residences, ICON Bay, and MyBrickell projects in Greater Downtown Miami; the Baltus House in the Morningside area of Miami; and the Apogee Beach and Beachwalk towers in the Hollywood / Hallandale Beach market in Southeast Broward County, according to Cranespotters.com.

Some six years after the South Florida real estate crash began in 2007, one new condo tower has already been completed in the tricounty region and 24 other highrises - Aventura's Bellini At Williams Island; Greater Downtown Miami's 1100 Millecento Residences, Brickell Citycentre (two towers), BrickellHouse, Habitat II, ICON Bay, and MyBrickell projects; Hallandale Beach's Beachwalk; 

My Brickell condo rendering
Hollywood's Apogee Beach and Costa Hollywood (two towers); Key Biscayne's Oceana (two towers); Miami's Baltus House in the Morningside area and Grove At Grand Bay (two towers) in the Coconut Grove are ; Miami Beach's Faena House Saxony and Residences At Miami Beach Edition; 

Palm Beach County's 4001 North Ocean project; and Sunny Isles Beach's Chateau Beach, Mansions At Acqualina, Porsche Design Tower, and Regalia - are under construction as the post-crash development era gains momentum, according to a CondoVultures.com report.

The push for new condo construction comes as the boom-era unit inventory is dwindling in South Florida.

Fueled by investors primarily from overseas, about 2,130 new condo units remain unsold from a supply of nearly 49,000 units created since 2003 in South Florida’s seven largest coastal markets of Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Hollywood / Hallandale Beach, Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach, Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach, and Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island as of March 31, 2013, according to a new CondoVultures.com report.

Baltus House rendering
The total number of unsold new condos does not include any of the more than 8,000 units that were purchased in bulk transactions by investment groups that plan to one day resell the units at a premium, according to the Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database™.

A number of the newly proposed condo units are not expected to be completed until 2014 when the unsold developer inventory from South Florida's last real estate boom and bust is projected to be sold.


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

Condo Vultures® LLC
225 Midtown Building
 225 NE 34th St.,
Suite 209B,
Downtown Miami, Florida, 33137.
800-750-0517.


Loews Hotels & Resorts Embarks On A Social Media Road Trip


Loews Boston Back Bay Hotel
  
 NEW YORK, NY (July 1, 2013) –Loews Hotels & Resorts launches a Social Media campaign by sending Director of Social Media, Piper Stevens, on a cross-country road trip. 

Piper Stevens
 Piper will be visiting all 19 properties, chronicling her experiences on the newly introduced Wish You Were Here blog (www.loewshotelsblog.com), while showcasing each property and the city’s culture, activities and attractions. 

The blog is designed to share and engage with followers across all social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  Wish You Were Here also is featured on the Loews website (www.loewshotels.com) and on Loews Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/loewshotels).

 “It is important for me to step out from behind my desk and really experience how our guests are engaging with Loews destinations firsthand,” explains Piper. 

“As we continue to build our social media presence, we want to develop programs that truly resonate with our audience and travelers everywhere.”

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

 Jerry Daly, Chris Daly
 (703) 435-6293


The Carlyle Group and The Dow Hotel Company Acquire Hilton Orrington/Evanston in Evanston, IL

  
Hilton Orrington Hotel, 1710 Orrington Ave.,
Evanston, IL
  
EVANSTON, IL and SEATTLE, WA, July 1, 2013—The Dow Hotel Company, LLC (DHC) , a hotel ownership, investment and management company, today announced that it has acquired in a joint venture with The Carlyle Group’s (NASDAQ: CG) Carlyle Realty Partners VI, the 269-room, Four Diamond-rated Hilton Orrington hotel in Evanston, Ill.

Murray L. Dow
 It is the third property acquired by DHC and its investment partners in the past nine months.  DHC will operate the hotel.

The hotel will undertake an approximate $6 million renovation/upgrade over the next 12 months.  The improvements will focus primarily on guest rooms, corridors, upscale lounge and coffee concept, meeting and other public space.

The property completed a total transformation in 2004 and further upgraded from an independent property to the Hilton brand in 2010.  Additional enhancements are designed to provide guests and local residents with an unparalleled North Shore lodging experience.

Located at 1710 Orrington Ave., the Hilton Orrington features a 12,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, International Association of Conference Centers (IACC)-certified center.  The hotel also offers an additional 20,000 square feet of ballroom and other meeting space capable of serving up to 550 guests. The property includes a 173-space parking garage, business center and retail shoppes.

“Our first step will be to reach out to establish close ties with the Evanston community, Northwestern University and our other neighbors,” said Murray Dow, president of The Dow Hotel Company.  “We will build on the hotel’s reputation as the North Shore’s preferred gathering place and will implement a dramatic enhancement to the food and beverage experience.”

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

 Jerry Daly, Chris Daly
 (703) 435-6293


Small and Mid-Size Hotel Brands Embrace Expedia Traveler Preference Program

  


BELLEVUE, WA -- The Expedia® group, the world’s largest online travel company, announced that it has signed more than 40 small and mid-sized brands, representing more than 1,500 hotels, to the Expedia® Traveler Preference™ (ETP) program.

Melissa Maher
These brands from across the US, EMEA and the Caribbean will offer Expedia customers a choice of whether to pay for a room up front (called “Expedia Collect”) or at the time of the stay (called “Hotel Collect”).

 Recent data from 2,400 participating hotels in Europe showed that hotels received an improvement of more than five percentage points travel demand growth for those bookings where payment choice was enabled.

 “The data shows that the ETP program is driving more demand for participating hotels,” said Melissa Maher, senior vice president of the Global Partner Group at Expedia.  “We’ve been getting a lot of nice feedback from our partners who have rolled it out.”

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

Chris Daly
President
Daly Gray, Inc.
Ph: 703-435-6293
Cell: 703-864-5553


OliverMcMillan Secures $167 million Construction Loan for Buckhead Atlanta


Buckhead Atlanta rendering, Atlanta, GA

ATLANTA, GA (July 1, 2013) – San Diego-based developer OliverMcMillan has secured a $167 million syndicated construction loan, led by PNC Capital Markets, LLC, to finance construction on Buckhead Atlanta, the luxury retail, residential and office development located in the heart of Atlanta’s upscale Buckhead neighborhood.

Morgan Dene Oliver
The loan will cover the full construction of the six-block, 8-acre complex. Five lenders are involved, including PNC Bank, N.A., CIT Finance LLC, Compass Bank, Regions Bank, and SunTrust Banks.

 “We are so pleased to continue to move forward with great momentum,” said Morgan Dene Oliver, chief executive officer of OliverMcMillan. “We’re extremely thankful to all of the talented individuals who have helped us to get to this point in realizing our vision for this world-class mixed-use project.”

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

Rachel Tobin                         
Jackson Spalding                                
404-724-2501 work
404-276-5930 cell                                              


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Honesty and Transparency the Key to Loan Workouts Noted on Atlanta’s Commercial Real Estate Show


Michael Bull
ATLANTA, GA (July 1, 2013) – A borrower burdened with a troubled commercial real estate loan needs to be upfront with his lender about his problems and be aggressive about finding a solution.

That was the advice of a panel of loan-workout experts on the most recent episode of the “Commercial Real Estate Show,” hosted by Michael Bull of Bull Realty.

The episode features interviews conducted by Bull at the Information Management Network’s Special Asset Executive Conference on Real Estate Workouts, held in June in Atlanta. In addition to loan workouts, the episode covered such topics as short sales, note sales and foreclosures.

Wendell Burks
“The best workouts I’ve seen are the ones where the borrower takes an active interest in a solution and where the borrower comes to the bank first and says, ‘I’m in trouble, and this is why I’m in trouble,” said Robert Brookes, president of Home Federal Bank in Hollywood, Fla.

Bull’s other guests agreed. “Lenders will be more likely to work with you as a partner if you’re honest with them and lay your cards out on the table,” said Alan Tantleff, senior managing director of New York-based FTI Consulting.

 “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with lenders who don’t trust the borrower. Then it becomes personal, and they want to go after the guy.”

Robert Brookes
Distressed borrowers also should take advantage of the robust private-equity sector, guests noted.

 “The best thing borrowers can do is go find private-equity partners who can help them stabilize their properties or give them the capital they need to go negotiate with their banks in order to get back control of their assets,” said Wendell Burks, senior vice president of special assets for Regions Bank. “There is so much equity out there.”

On the other side of the table, lenders must be realistic about troubled borrowers, guests said. “I think with the volume [of distressed assets] that banks have had, they have had to look at the [workout] process differently,” said Phillip Mays, chief legal officer at Glass Ratner in Atlanta.

Phillip Mays

“If banks want to actually work through the deals and maximize their recovery, a lot of times that involves really opening their eyes to what the borrowers’ and the guarantors’ capabilities are.”

Borrowers with CMBS loans set to mature in the near future may be able to finance their payoffs, said Grant Rogers, CEO of New York-based Talmage. 

“Most of these deals will perform until maturity and then, because they’re ’07-vintage deals, they’re underwater,” he said. “They’re way over-levered, and when the borrower comes to maturity, they can’t repay us … In fact, borrowers are finding that there is a financing market, and we’re getting repaid at par, and it’s a happy ending for everyone.” 

Grant Rogers
The entire IMN Special Assets and Workout Conference episode is available for download at www.CREshow.com. The next “Commercial Real Estate Show” will be available on July 3 and will feature important commercial real estate associations.

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

Stephen Ursery
The Wilbert Group
404.405.2354