Hotel Brokers International Revamps Hotel Investor’s Marketplace to Include More Education and Interaction with Lenders and Franchise Companies

KANSAS CITY, MO, April 15, 2008—Hotel Brokers International (HBI), the nation’s largest hotel brokerage organization with more than 30 offices coast to coast, today announced it has totally revamped its U.S. Hotel Investor’s Marketplace program to include more education, as well as greater interaction with lenders and franchise companies.

The first of the new series will be held from 12 noon to 5 p.m. on May 21st at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare (top centered photo) in Chicago.

“We tested the revised format at our East Coast event last fall and received a very positive response,” said H. Brandt Niehaus, (top right photo) CHB, president of HBI and Louisville-based Huff, Niehaus & Associates, Inc. “We attract a group of investors HBI’s Marketplace, who want to review the latest in available real estate and also get a good check on the state of the industry.

"Given the rapid changes that have and continue to occur in the marketplace, we believe these sessions will become even more meaningful. We will showcase 12 properties in formal presentations and have complete information on more than 100 exclusively listed properties.”

Added to the program will be panels of experts on: financing, franchising, ownership and brokerage that will provide insights and trends. Mark Eble, vice president of PKF Consulting, Indianapolis, will provide an overview of national and regional markets. Additional speakers will provide tips on how to operate properties more competitively in a slowing economic environment.

“One of the keys to the success of this program has been the opportunity to meet with all the key parties involved in a transaction,” said Scott Brash, (top left photo) host HBI broker and president of Brash Realty Co., Inc.

“Buyers get a chance to review a wide cross-section of hotels, meet with lenders to determine if the project is financeable and talk to franchisors to get a preliminary understanding about which flags the hotel may qualify for. This can reduce the purchase process by as much as 60 days, and substantially reduce acquisition costs.”

Marketplace offers full- and limited-service hotel acquisition opportunities, panel discussions with the industry’s leading experts, and networking sessions.

The event is sponsored by Carlson Hotels Worldwide, LaQuinta Inn, Choice Hotels International, CIT Small Business Lending and PMC Commercial Trust.
Early registration is $49 through May 9 and $109 thereafter.

HBI also will host Marketplace events later in the year in the Washington, D.C. area on October 8th and at a third location to be announced at a later date. To register, go to http://www.hbihotels.com/marketplace.php.

Hotel Brokers International, with more than 100 hotel brokerage specialists, is the world’s leading hotel sales organization. The organization annually accounts for the greatest market share of mid-market transactions in the United States. In addition to the Hotel Investor’s Marketplace, HBI sponsors the Certified Hotel Broker program and publishes TransActions Recap, the leading source of hotel real estate sales data.

HBI currently has more than 150 properties listed for sale in its proprietary database and access to more than 15,000 hotel investors and owners. In addition to broker services, HBI offers affiliate membership to professionals in allied fields, including franchising, lending, appraisals and investment services.

For more information about HBI’s hotel listings or to become a broker or affiliate member, HBI may be reached at (816) 505-4315 or via the Internet at http://www.hbihotels.com/.

CONTACT:

Melanie Boyer
Account Executive
Daly Gray Public Relations
(703) 435-6293

Glenda Webb

Hotel Brokers International

816 505 4315

National Retail Properties, Inc. Increases Common Dividend by 5.6%

ORLANDO, FL, April 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE: NNN), a real estate investment trust, declared a quarterly dividend of 37.5 cents per share payable May 15, 2008 to common shareholders of record on April 30, 2008.

The dividend represents an annualized rate of $1.50 per share and a 5.6% increase over the prior quarterly dividend of 35.5 cents. National Retail Properties has paid increased annual dividends per share for 18 consecutive years and is one of only 181 publicly traded companies in America that have increased annual dividends paid to shareholders for 18 or more consecutive years.

NNN acquires, owns, invests in, manages and develops properties that are leased primarily to retail tenants under long-term net leases. As of December 31, 2007, NNN owned 908 Investment Properties, with an aggregate leasable area of 10.6 million square feet, located in 44 states. For more information on the Company, visit http://www.nnnreit.com/.

CONTACT:

National Retail Properties, Inc.

Kevin B. Habicht, (top right photo)

Chief Financial Officer of National Retail Properties, Inc.,

+1-407-265-7348

Grubb & Ellis|Commercial Florida Negotiates Sale of Former Gas Station Site in Tampa.

Tampa, FL. – Grubb & EllisCommercial Florida negotiated the sale of a former gas station located at 4756 N. Dale Mabry Highway, in Tampa, FL.

Brent Lindsey, (top left photo) senior vice president in the company’s Investment Group negotiated the transaction on behalf of the seller, Motiva Enterprises, LLC. The property was sold for $710,000 to Park Edge Enterprises Inc.

For more information, contact:
Brent Lindsey, Grubb & EllisCommercial Florida – Tampa 813-830-7885
Larry Lietzman, Grubb & EllisCommercial Florida – Tampa 813-639-1111
Jeff Sweeney, SIOR, Grubb & EllisCommercial Florida – Tampa 813-639-1111

HFF Arranges $61M Financing for Florida Multifamily Portfolio

MIAMI, FL – The Miami office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced today that it arranged $61 million in financing for two Class A multifamily properties in Tampa and Ocala, Florida.

HFF senior managing director Paul Stasaitis (top right photo) and director Terri Echarte (top left photo) worked exclusively on behalf of Brookfield Real Estate Opportunity Group to secure the refinancing of existing debt.

Brookfield Real Estate Opportunity Group was established by Brookfield Asset Management, a global asset management company with approximately $90 billion in assets under management worldwide and co-listed on the NYSE and Toronto Stock Exchange (BAM).

The portfolio includes Vista Grande at Tampa Palms,(top centered photo) a 378-unit community completed in 2002, and Deerwood Village,(photo at left) a 328-unit community completed in 2007. Both communities benefit from extensive community and unit amenity packages including fully-appointed clubhouses, swimming pools, vaulted ceilings and fireplaces.

Located at 17220 Heart of Palms Drive, Vista Grande at Tampa Palms is close to Interstate 75 in northern Tampa. Deerwood Village is located at 1850 Southeast 18th Avenue in Ocala.
“These two properties present tremendous upside potential as both are at the top of their respective submarkets in terms of asset quality and location,” said Stasaitis.

Contacts:

G. Paul Stasaitis

HFF Senior Managing Director

305 448 1333

pstasaitis@hfflp.com

Terri K. Echarte

HFF Director

305 448 1333

techarte@hfflp.com

Laurie Fish McDowell

HFF Associate Director, Marketing

617 338 0990

lmcdowell@hfflp.com

Foreclosure Activity Increases 5% in March, According to RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report

(Red indicates highest foreclosure rates in March 2008)

Foreclosure Activity Up 57 Percent From March 2007

IRVINE, CA– April 15, 2008 – RealtyTrac® (http://www.realtytrac.com/gateway_co.asp?accnt=137300), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its March 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 234,685 properties nationwide during the month, a 5 percent increase from the previous month and a 57 percent increase from March 2007.

(Downtown Cleveland skyline photo at left)
The report also shows one in every 538 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month. For a state-by-state statistical analysis, please contact Tammy Chan, 415 402 0230 or e-mail at tammy@atomicpr.com.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1 million properties from nearly 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

“The March numbers show that overall foreclosure activity so far this year continues to run nearly 60 percent above the levels we saw last year,” said James J. Saccacio, (top right photo) chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

“On a year-over-year basis, default notices were up nearly 57 percent and bank repossessions were up nearly 129 percent, but auction notices were up only 32 percent, indicating that more defaulting homeowners are simply walking away and deeding their properties back to the foreclosing lender. This deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure process allows the lender to take possession of a property without putting it up for public foreclosure auction.”

Nevada, California, Florida post top state foreclosure rates

One in every 139 Nevada households received a foreclosure filing during March, 3.9 times the national average and the highest state foreclosure rate for the 15th consecutive month. Foreclosure filings were reported on a total of 7,659 properties during the month, up 24 percent from the previous month and up nearly 62 percent from March 2007. (Savannah skyline photo at left)

Foreclosure rates in California and Florida ranked second and third highest respectively among the states for the fourth straight month. One in every 204 California households received a foreclosure filing in March — 2.6 times the national average — and one in every 282 Florida households received a foreclosure filing during the month — 1.9 times the national average. (Miami night skyline photo at left)

Despite a nearly 5 percent monthly dip in foreclosure activity, Arizona posted the nation’s fourth highest state foreclosure rate for the third straight month, with one in every 283 households receiving a foreclosure filing in March. Foreclosure filings were reported on 9,199 properties during the month, up nearly 106 percent from March 2007.

Colorado foreclosure activity decreased 8 percent from the previous month and 1 percent from March 2007, but the state’s foreclosure rate continued to rank fifth highest among the states. Foreclosure filings were reported on 6,180 Colorado properties during the month — one in every 339 total households. (Arizone skyline photo at right, taken by Larry N. Bolch, just east of Laughlin, Nevada)

Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 were Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts and Maryland.

California, Florida, Ohio report highest foreclosure totals
Foreclosure filings were reported on 64,711 California properties in March, the most of any state for the 15th consecutive month. California foreclosure activity increased nearly 21 percent from the previous month and almost 106 percent from March 2007. (Los Angeles skyline photo at left)

Florida posted the nation’s second highest total, with foreclosure filings reported on 30,254 properties in March. The state’s foreclosure activity decreased nearly 7 percent from the previous month but was still up almost 112 percent from March 2007.

Ohio and Georgia both registered month-to-month and year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity, and foreclosure filings were reported on more than 11,000 properties in both states. Ohio’s total of 11,273 was the nation’s third highest, and one in every 448 Ohio households received a foreclosure filing during the month — ranking its foreclosure rate No. 7 among the states.

Georgia’s total of 11,047 was the nation’s fourth highest, and one in every 351 Georgia households received a foreclosure filing during the month — ranking its foreclosure rate No. 6 among the states. (Las Vegas, NV night skyline photo at left)

Foreclosure filings were reported on a total of 10,700 Texas properties in March, a nearly 13 percent decrease from the previous month and a 16 percent decrease from March 2007, and the state’s total dropped to fifth highest among the states.

Other states in the top 10 for total properties with filings were Michigan, Arizona, Illinois, Nevada and Colorado.(Denver skyline photo at right)

CONTACT:

Tammy Chan
Atomic PR
415-402-0230
tammy@atomicpr.com