Monday, May 4, 2015

WOW Resort in Orlando, FL Sells for $11.2 million


WOW Resort, 6101 Sand Lake Road, South Orlando, FL
ORLANDO, FL, May 4, 2015 – Marcus & Millichap (NYSE: MMI), a leading commercial real estate investment services firm with offices throughout the United States and Canada, today announced the sale of the WOW Resort, a 334-room hospitality property located in Orlando, Fla. 

The asset sold for $11,200,000.

Ahmed Kabani, a senior associate and associate director of Marcus & Millichap’s National Hospitality Group in Miami, and J. Dominic Vito, an associate in Washington, D.C., represented the seller, a Boston-based investment fund. Kabani and Vito also procured the buyer, a private investor from the Arabian Peninsula. The transaction closed within one week of the signing of the purchase agreement, and the buyer paid all cash.


Ahmed Kabani
“The property is located within the International Drive area of Orlando, which is in the midst of a billion-dollar development boom that includes the new $200 million entertainment destination I-Drive 360, and the I-Drive NASCAR Indoor Kart Racing complex,” says Kabani. 

“Already in an area close to popular tourist destinations, assets in the vicinity of International Drive are seeing increased interest from investors and an influx of foreign capital.”

“The size of the property and the strength of the market give the new owner many renovation options,” adds Vito, “all of which will be considered.”

“The fact that foreign investment capital won this opportunity further underscores the attractiveness of our industry as an investment vehicle and Marcus & Millichap’s ability to reach foreign capital,” concludes Gregory A. LaBerge, national director of the firm’s National Hospitality Group. 

Located at 6101 Sand Lake Road in Orlando, the property is one mile from the Wet ‘n Wild Orlando water park, three miles from the Universal Studios Florida theme park, and 10 miles from the Walt Disney World Resort entertainment complex. The 334-room exterior corridor hotel has a seasonally heated outdoor pool, a picnic area and a gym/fitness center.

This transaction marks the 46th hotel sold by Marcus & Millichap so far in 2015. The firm has an industry-leading hospitality team in more than 40 markets nationally.

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

Gina Relva
Public Relations Manager

(925) 953-1716

Atlantic | Pacific Companies Expands in Atlanta

  
Mark Briggs
ATLANTA, GA, May 4, 2015 – Miami, Fla.-based Atlantic | Pacific Companies (A|P) is pleased to announce the acquisition of two multifamily communities in Atlanta, Georgia. 

The recently closed deals expand A|P’s regional reach to 12 multifamily communities within three years of opening its Atlanta office.

The investments increase A|P’s holdings in the Atlanta area to almost 3,000 units. A|P currently holds ten other communities in Georgia including four in Atlanta, one in Kennesaw, two in McDonough, one in Norcross, one in Dallas, and one in Duluth.

The two new multifamily acquisitions include:

Legacy Century Center,located at 100 Windmont Drive NE.

Carriage Place is located at 645 Dekalb Industrial Way in Decatur, Georgia.

A|P plans to make select capital improvements within the portfolio including interior upgrades and common area improvements.  Atlantic | Pacific Management (A|P Management), the property leasing & management platform under A|P, will handle all property management responsibilities for all properties.

Mark Briggs, Senior Managing Director at A|P Management remarked “We’re extremely excited to take on these in-town Atlanta properties and expand our reach in Georgia.  

"A|P continues its strategic growth with a dozen multifamily communities now acquired in Atlanta within the past three years.”

For more information about A|P and its array of real estate services including development, property management, affordable housing, and construction, visit www.apmanagement.net  or call
 (800) 918 – 1145.

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

Jessica Wade Pfeffer | Jessica Wade Inc.
 | 305.804.8424

Margie Sernik  | Jessica Wade Inc.

 | 786.200.2516

Mortgage Bankers Association Reports Q1 Commercial & Multifamily Mortgage Originations Up 49 Percent Year-Over-Year


Jamie Woodwell
BOSTON, MA (May 4, 2015) - According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations, first quarter 2015 commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were 49 percent higher than during the same period last year.

 Following the usual seasonal pattern, first quarter 2015 originations saw a 26 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of 2014. 

The survey results were announced at MBA’s Commercial / Multifamily Servicing and Technology Conference, being held May 3rd through 6th at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, Mass.

“The year-end momentum from 2014 carried into the first quarter of 2015, with year-over-year growth in lending for every major property type,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research.

 “Multifamily lending was a key driver of first quarter originations and the GSEs drove multifamily. The GSEs’ multifamily originations increased by 306 percent compared to Q1 2014, marking their second highest quarter on record, while multifamily originations for other capital sources appear to have remained flat or declined.”

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

Ali Ahmad

(202) 557-2727

Passco Companies Continues Expansion: Deepens Presence in Southeast with Addition of Atlanta-Based Acquisition Expert Colin Gillis


Colin Gillis
 IRVINE, CA. (May 4, 2015) – Passco Companies, LLC is continuing its national expansion, creating an on-the-ground presence in Atlanta, Georgia with the addition of senior real estate professional and area-acquisition expert Colin Gillis as Director of Acquisitions, Southeast.

“We are in a time of smart growth for our firm, and we continue to seek opportunities for strategic expansion,” said Gary Goodman, Senior Vice President Acquisitions for Passco Companies LLC.  “Our ongoing, active investment in the Southeast U.S. makes the addition of an Atlanta-based team member a natural next step for the company.”

Goodman notes that the addition of Gillis to Passco’s acquisition team will equip the firm with an acquisitions specialist that is especially experienced in the nuances of the Southeast region of the country.

“By deepening our local market knowledge even further with the addition of Mr. Gillis, we are poised to continue our success in acquiring core assets that will deliver strong value to our investors,” Goodman said.

In his new role, Gillis will oversee the firm’s Southeast operations, spearheading the identification and acquisition of multifamily product in the region.

Gary Goodman



According to Goodman, Gillis brings more than a decade of extensive acquisition experience to Passco Companies, including sourcing acquisitions, underwriting, due diligence, macro-and micro-level market analysis, property-level performance analysis, investment committee presentations, and broker/investor relations. 

Gillis previously served in acquisition roles for JRK Investors, as well as Atlanta-based The Lane Company. For these companies, he managed the identification and evaluation of all potential acquisitions in the Southeast.

Gillis noted, “Passco Companies has already demonstrated its strength as an investor in the Southeast U.S. and throughout the nation.  I look forward to the opportunity to take part in this firm’s ongoing success.”

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

Corynne Randel / Jenn Quader
Brower, Miller & Cole
(949) 955-7940

PKF Hospitality Research Releases 2015 Edition of Trends in the Hotel Industry


R. Mark Woodworth
 Atlanta, GA,  May 4, 2015 -- Results from the 2015 edition of Trends® in the Hotel Industry, an annual report recently released by PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR), a CBRE Company, reveal that U.S. hotels (on a unit-level same-store sales basis) achieved a 12.3 percent increase in net operating income (NOI) during 2014. 

This marks the fourth consecutive year of profit growth in excess of 10 percent, a trend that is forecast to continue through 2016.  

This six-year period (2011-2016) of continuous double-digit gains on the bottom line will be the longest such streak for the nation’s hotels since PKF began tracking the industry in 1937.

“In 2014, the average hotel in our Trends® sample achieved a bottom-line profit of $17,849 per available room.  

"This is nominally greater than their 2007 pre-recession peaks, but perhaps of greater importance is that hotel profits, in inflation-adjusted terms, will exceed 2007 levels in 2015,” said R. Mark Woodworth, senior managing director of PKF-HR.

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

R. Mark Woodworth                                                
Tel: 404 842 1150, ext. 222                                               
PKF Hospitality Research, a CBRE Company
                                                                           

Chris Daly
  Daly Gray Public Relations
Tel: 703 435 6293