Done Deals: Apr 17, 2008

Thursday, April 17, 2008

ORIX Real Estate Capital Provides $18.5M Loan to NYLO Hotels for New 200-Room Hotel in Irving, TX

CHICAGO, IL (April 17, 2008) – Chicago-based ORIX Real Estate Capital, Inc. has provided $18.5 million in first mortgage financing to Atlanta-based NYLO Hotels LLC for the construction of a 200-room loft lifestyle hotel in Irving, Texas, said David R. Brown, (top right photo) president and chief executive officer of ORIX Real Estate Capital.

Located within the master-planned community of Las Colinas, the hotel is now under construction and slated to open in May 2009.

NYLO Las Colinas, situated at the northwest corner of Royal Lane and Sierra Drive, is approximately 10 minutes from Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport and fifteen minutes from downtown Dallas. The five-acre site is within the thriving Las Colinas commercial area, which contains more than 20 million square feet of office space.

“We saw this as a great opportunity to work with an exciting, new hotel brand,” said Brown. “We believe in both the innovative concept and excellent location for this project. And our longstanding relationship with NYLO principals and respect for their vision and entrepreneurial spirit gave us a high comfort level when considering this loan.”

ORIX Real Estate Capital’s Mike Huffman, (left photo) senior vice president, and Steve Waryas, vice president, arranged the loan.

To date, NYLO has completed a hotel in Plano, Texas, and announced additional projects in Warwick near Providence, Rhode Island; and in Broomfield near Denver, Colorado.

The upscale NYLO Las Colinas will have a 3,000-square-foot ballroom, featuring soaring ceilings and exposed brick walls and connecting to an outdoor courtyard. Overall there will be more than 6,000 square feet of space for meetings, wedding receptions and other special events.

Other amenities will include a fitness center, pool, restaurant and bar,(photo at left) and business center. Each of the hotel’s loft-style guest rooms will have ceilings exceeding 10 feet, custom-designed furnishings, luxury bedding and linens, wireless Internet access, a flat-screen TV and iPod docking station.

Michael Mueller, president and chief development officer of NYLO Hotels LLC, is spearheading the expansion of the NYLO brand. “We received superior support from ORIX in structuring and closing this loan, which helps fac

ilitate the execution of our business plan to expand the NYLO hotel brand,” said Mueller.

Chicago

-based ORIX Real Estate Capital, Inc. provides debt and equity capital for real estate transactions throughout the United States. The company is a subsidiary of Dallas-based ORIX USA, whose parent company is ORIX Corporation, a Tokyo-based integrated financial services company with more than $80 billion in assets and operations in 23 countries.

For more information about ORIX Real Estate Capital’s capabilities, to view recent transactions, and to obtain contact information, visit http://www.orix.com/.

Contact:

Kathy Bell Koster
Koster & Company

1325 North State Parkway

#16-D,

Chicago, IL 60610

PH 312-787-4006

FX 312 787 3717

kathykoster@ameritech.net

Marcus & Millichap Facilitates Sale of Satellite Beach, FL Strip Center for $3.57M

SATELLITE BEACH, FL – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment brokerage firm, has announced the sale of a 32,750-square foot shopping strip (bottom right photo) in Satellite Beach, Fla according to Kirk A. Felici, (top right photo) Regional Manager of the firm’s Miami office.

With A1A frontage and a strong tenant mix, the retail center demanded a sales price of $3,570,000. Investment specialist Ronnie S. Issenberg (top left photo) of the Miami office represented the sellers, Garret Company an

d Trigen Company, and the buyers, Mr. Sunil Khiyani and Skyview Plaza LLC.

“Half the center sat on a ground lease that was negotiated in the transaction. There is a corner of the parking lot which the buyers can either develop or sell off as an out parcel pad. They will also benefit from the opportunity to convert the current gross leases to NNN leases,” says Issenberg. The property, which was renovated in 2002, is located at 202-254 Highway A1A in Satellite Beach, Fla.

CONTACT:

Ashley Steele

Marketing Coordinator

Marcus & Millichap

5900 N. Andrews Avenue, Suite 100

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309

Direct Tel: (954) 245-3516

Cell: (215) 828-9585

Fax: (954) 245-3410

Colliers Int. Finds U.S. Office Market Falters in Q1, as Sluggish Leasing Activity and Rising Vacancies Create Uncertainty for the Rest of 2008

(27th floor condo for sale at 633 Third Ave., New York, NY)

BOSTON, April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States office market kicked off 2008 on a lackluster note, with the Q1 vacancy rate increasing by 35 basis points to clock in at 12.77 percent, according to a report by Colliers International, a leading global real estate services firm.

(Photo at top right is Ross Moore, senior vice president and director of market and economic research at Colliers International.)

This marks the second consecutive quarter of increased vacancies on a national level, Colliers said. While CBD vacancies generally held steady, suburban vacancies leapt 54 basis points in Q1, to 13.80 percent.

Indeed, while 22 of the CBDs surveyed recorded a decrease in vacancy in the January through March period, 29 recorded a spike. As for the suburbs, 39 markets s

aw an increase in office vacancy while 14 witnessed a decline. (The 1.1 million-sf Leo Burnett office building in Chicago is at left)

Nationally, Class A vacancy rates increased from 11.28 percent to 11.76 percent, while B and C class vacancy rates jumped 25 basis points to 13.64 percent.

Absorption, or the change in occupied space, swung to the negative during the first quarter, measuring negative 3.0 million square feet (msf) -- a significant drop-off from the previous quarter's absorption of 9.8 msf. Further, Q1 absorption measured well below that of the year-ago period, when occupied space increased by 12.5 msf.

Alongside this negative first quarter absorption, another 17.8 msf was added to the office market, with an additional 119.4 msf under construction. While construction activity was expected to fall, office developments in the pipeline actually increased by 10.6 msf.

As for rents, downtown Class A lease rates increased 2.6 percent over the previous quarter, while the suburbs registered no change. From the year-ago quarter, downtown lease rates have increased 15.3 percent and suburban rents have increased 9.2 percent. Class A downtown rents now average $49.84 per square foot (psf) and $31.08 psf (unweighted). For suburban office space, the national average rent now comes in at $28.84 and $26.83 (unweighted).

For suburban office space, the national average rent now comes in at $28.84 and $26.83 (unweighted)."Despite the abundance of bad news experienced by the financial markets in the first q

uarter, the office real estate market now finds itself engaged in a battle of expectations," remarked Ross Moore, (top right photo) senior vice president and director of market and economic research at Colliers International.

(The Barrington Plaza office and apartment building in Los Angeles is at left)

"Tenants see a faltering economy and as a result expect lower rents, while landlords feel confident with occupancy rates still near historic highs, giving them the leverage to push rents higher."While we had marked down our Q1 projections, this quarter's office absorption numbers were considerably below the latest revisions. This suggests the first half of 2008 will be relatively quiet for the lion's share of U.S. cities," concluded Moore.

CONTACT:

Kristin Sadlon,

of Porter Novelli for Colliers International,

+1-212-601-8192,

Kristin.sadlon@porternovelli.com

Carlson Hotels Worldwide Adds 11 Properties to its Global Portfolio

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Carlson Hotels Worldwide has added 11 locations to its global portfolio during March 2008.

(Jay Witzel, president/CEO, Carlson Hotels Worldwide, right top photo. Kurt Ritter, president, /CEO, the Rezidor Hotel Group, left top photo)

The new hotels include one Regent hotel and six Country Inn & Suites By CarlsonSM hotels in the United States; three Radisson properties, with two in South America and one in Canada; and one Radisson SAS resort in the Ukraine. Carlson’s global lodging portfolio totals 986 hotels with 148,759 rooms in 71 countries. Carlson hotel brands also include Park Plaza® Hotels & Resorts and Park Inn®.

“We’re thrilled to have opened our first Regent property in the U.S. this year, offering visitors to south Florida the chance to experience unmatched service and luxury,” said Jay Witzel, (photo top right) president and CEO of Carlson Hotels Worldwide.

“With multiple openings this month, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson continues to be a mid-price brand of choice for developers across North America and we’re pleased by the continuing expansion of Radisson in the Americas and Europe. Our strong development over the past year has put us in position to open our landmark 1,000th hotel in 2008.”

Regent Hotels & ResortsWith the new Regent Bal Harbour, (photo at left) Regent Hotels & Resorts has opened the first hotel in Florida’s exclusive Bal Harbour Village in more than 50 years. The hotel, located on the northeastern end of Bal Harbour Village, is bordered by Baker's Haulover Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean, with nearly 750 feet of pristine beachfront.

Additional openings worldwide in 2008 will include The Regent Boston at Battery Wharf, which will feature a destination waterfront restaurant from Michelin rated chef Guy Martin (June 2008); and The Regent Maldives, a 861,500-square-foot island resort in the Indian Ocean (October 2008).

Country Inns & Suites By Carlson

With the addition of six Country Inn & Suites By Carlson locations, the brand currently consists of 444 hotels and 35,557 guestrooms. All of the new properties are located in the U.S., and include:

*The 61-room Country Inn & Suites By Carlson in Wytheville, Va.
*The 74-room Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Peoria North in Peoria, Ill., owned by Petersen Companies, LLC.
*The Country Inn & Suites By Carlson in Athens, Ga., with 81 guestrooms. *The 81-room Country Inn & Suites By Carlson in Orangeburg, S.C. owned by C & S Hotels, LLC.
*The 119-room Country Inn & Suites By Carlson in Natchez, Miss. owned by Broadway Hospitality, LLC.
*The Country Inn & Suites By Carlson in Cordele, Ga., with 107 guestrooms, owned by Perimeter Partners CIS, LLC.

Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts

Located along the picturesque banks of the Black Sea, the four-star Radisson SAS Hotel, Alushta (photo at right) is the perfect embodiment of classic, elegant style. Built in 1913, the hotel is renowned as one of Alushta's finest architectural monuments and merges its historic charms with modern-day conveniences. Throughout the decades, the hotel has played an important historical role serving as a hospital for soldiers in World Wars I & II, home to Alushta's first museum and was a popular sanatorium thanks to its open verandas and seaside location.

Radisson Hotels & Resorts

Located in Miraflores, Lima's premier corporate and nightlife district, the 105-room Radisson Decapolis Hotel Miraflores is Lima's newest upscale hotel.

Another new opening in Lima, Peru, the Radisson Hotel San Isidro, features 38 rooms and suites in the heart of Lima's business and shopping district. The hotel is only 7 miles from Jorge Chavez International Airport, and is close to a variety of public transportation options including buses, minibuses and taxi service.

The 90-room Radisson Hecla Resort on Hecla Island in Manitoba is Radisson’s newest property in Canada. Set on Hecla Island in beautiful Lake Winnipeg, this 90-room facility offers a variety of services.

With the addition of four new Radisson properties, Radisson’s global portfolio currently includes 400 hotels with 87,911 guestrooms.

For more information about all of Carlson Hotels Worldwide brands, visit online at http://www.carlsonhotels.com/.

Carlson Hotels Worldwide is one of the major operating groups of Carlson Companies, a global leader in providing corporate solutions and consumer services in the marketing, travel and hospitality industries. Carlson corporate headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Rezidor Hotel Group is one of the fastest growing hotel companies in the world. The group features a portfolio of 334 hotels in operation and under development with more than 68,100 rooms in 51 countries.

Rezidor operates the brands Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts, Regent International Hotels, Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites in Europe, Middle East and Africa, along with the goldpoints plusSM loyalty program for frequent hotel guests. The Rezidor Hotel Group is based in Brussels, Belgium.

For more information on Rezidor, visit http://www.rezidor.com/.

CONTACTS:

Joan Cronson