Shaw Mechanical Services secures contract with Welbro Building Corp. for Haines City, FL park

ORLANDO, FL, Oct. 30, 2008 — Welbro Building Corp. has awarded a $900,000 contract to Orlando, Fla.-based Shaw Mechanical Services LLC for mechanical contracting for new buildings and additions currently under construction in Lake Eva Park, (top right rendering) a 28-acre park being renovated and expanded by Haines City under the Haines City Community Redevelopment Agency in Polk County, Fla.

Shaw Mechanical Services is providing pre-construction services and installation of HVAC systems, including an air-cooled chiller, chilled water air handlers, controls and associated sheet metal work for a new banquet facility, aquatic center, pro shop, band shell, restrooms, maintenance building and an addition to the community center totaling 63,400-square-feet.

The project is scheduled for completion in July 2009.

The park also includes tennis and basketball courts, two playgrounds, a band shell, bike and pedestrian paths, an aquatic park, a fishing pier and boat ramp.

Welbro Building Corp. of Maitland, Fla., is the general contractor. Orlando, Fla.-based Rhodes + Brito Architects is the architect, and BCA-GAS Inc. of Maitland, Fla., is the mechanical engineer.

Shaw Mechanical Services LLC is a Central Florida-based provider of mechanical contracting and service to building owners, property managers, facility managers, plant engineers, general contractors and consumers.

Comprehensive services provided by Shaw Mechanical include retrofits, renovations, preventative maintenance, commissioning and installation of heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, process piping, automatic temperature controls and custom climate applications for existing structures and new construction.

Founded in 2001 by David L. Shaw, (top left photo) the privately-held company employs a staff of seventy from its headquarters in Orlando, Fla.

Contact: Elaine Ingra, PR WORKS!, PH: 407 384-1344,
elainei@pr-works.com and http://www.pr-works.com/

Starmer Ranaldi completes new Lake County fire station

OVIEDO, FL, Oct. 30, 2008 — Starmer Ranaldi Planning and Architecture Inc. has completed Lake Jem Fire Station No. 78 (bottom left photo) located on County Road 448 in Lake Jem, Fla.

(Joe Ranaldi, top right photo, is a principal at Starmer Ranaldi)

Under contract with the Lake County Board of County Commissioners, Starmer Ranaldi utilized its two-story fire station prototype for the architectural and engineering design of the two-apparatus bay, 7,700-square-foot facility.

Sited on 1.75-acres, the facility features masonry bearing walls with a brick veneer and a standing seam metal roof system. Along with two apparatus bays, fitness room, kitchen, dormitory, and administrative space, the new fire station houses a substation for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The fire station was built by Aagaard-McNary Construction Inc. of Orlando, Fla.

Engineering design for this project was provided by the following Central Florida-based firms:

OCI Associates Inc., Altamonte Springs, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering; MITZO Engineering LLC., Orlando, structural engineering; and Klima Weeks Civil Engineering, Altamonte Springs, civil engineering.

Starmer Ranaldi Planning and Architecture Inc. is a consulting design practice dedicated to the design of public-use facilities for municipal and county governments, K through 12 schools, community colleges, universities and institutional buildings. Established in Central Florida in 1997, the firm is headquartered in Oviedo, Fla., and employs a professional and support staff of eighteen.

Please visit http://www.sriarch.com/ for additional information.

Contact: Elaine Ingra, PR WORKS!, PH: 407 384-1344,
elainei@pr-works.com, www.pr-works.com

Housing Market Suffers Biggest Drop Since World War Two

NOVATO, CA Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. new home prices are now down 17%, new home sales have been reduced by 57% and new property listings are down by 27% since the real estate market's historic peak set in March of 2007.

This marks the worst residential real estate bear market in price decline and duration since 1945.

While this is humbling news to millions of homeowners nationwide, not everyone is feeling the pain to the same degree.As can be seen in the table below, the greatest declines in home prices have been felt in the Western states.

The Northeast is actually seeing price increases since earlier this year, but on significantly reduced levels of sales and listings.

In comparing today's housing market to past real estate bear markets, it is interesting to note that while price declines are only slightly worse than the 1969/70 bear market, sales and listings have "dried up" much worse today than 38 years ago.

Fortunately, while the current condition is bad it is not record setting.

Winans International Real Estate Index (New U.S. Homes) Percentage Change Since March 31, 2007:

The worst decline of U.S. new home prices in the last 150-years was the -68% decline from 1929 to 1932."When will this bear market end? Probably not for a while.

Past real estate bear markets ended when the average time it took to sell a new house dropped to 3 1/2 months.

Currently, it is taking over 9 months!" says Ken Winans, (top right photo) author of "Investment Atlas". The Winans International Real Estate Index (WIREI) measures U.S. new home prices from 1830 to present day.

More information on the Winans International Real Estate Index can be found at http://www.winansintl.com/ and http://www.investmentatlas.com/

CONTACT: Liz Boaz, Communications, Assistant of Winans International, Investment Management & Research, +1-415-506-3070, liz@winansintl.com

Post Properties Sells Post Woods® in Atlanta for $52.8M

Developer Announces Hurricane Damage Estimates in Houston

ATLANTA, GA (Business Wire))-- Post Properties, Inc. (NYSE: PPS) has sold its Post Woods® apartment community (top right photo) located in Atlanta, GA for a gross sales price of approximately $52.8 million.

Post Woods® is a 494-unit garden-style apartment community located in the Cumberland/Vinings area of Atlanta that was completed in phases in the 1970’s and early 1980’s.

The buyer is BPG Investment Partnership VIII & VIIIA, L.P., a fully discretionary private equity fund operated by BPG Properties, Ltd.

Post expects to report a gain of approximately $37 million relating to this sale in the fourth quarter of 2008.

In addition, Post announced that it expects to report casualty losses of approximately $2.8 million in the third quarter of 2008 relating to preliminary estimates of the damage it sustained at its Houston, TX properties as a result of Hurricane Ike. The damage related primarily to roofing, windows, exterior siding, interior restoration and landscaping.

CONTACT: Post Properties, Inc., Christopher Papa, 404-846-5028

Oaks Development Group Closes on 2.1 Acres for Medical Office Building in Palm Coast, FL

PALM COAST, FL /PRNewswire/ -- North Carolina-based Oaks Development Group announced closing on the construction loan for 2.1 acres at Pinnacles Park in Palm Coast, FL.

Oaks will develop a planned medical office building on the property. SunTrust Bank in Cary, NC handled the loan closing for the project.

Site work is scheduled to begin by the end of the year. Oaks is developing the 20,000-square-foot building using its unique ownership model that provides tenants with a piece of the ownership pie without requiring upfront equity.

Just over 10,000 square feet is already under contract for a family dental practice, pediatrician and Doctor's Choice Lab.

"We are very pleased that we have achieved this milestone in the project. In the wake of unprecedented market turbulence and uncertainty in lending, this closing demonstrates the strength of the Oaks business model and the fact that real estate projects based on sound economic fundamentals are still financeable," says Charlie Barker, developer and partner in Oaks Development Group's Florida office.

Located in Pinnacles Park right off State Road 100, the Oaks building will sit across from the Florida Hospital Flagler. There is approximately 10,000 square feet still available under the Oaks ownership model for additional healthcare and professional tenants.

CONTACT:

Ann Close of Oaks Development Group, +1-919-460-6779, aclose@oaksdevelopment.net;

or Debi Pfitzenmaier, +1-210-669-6911, debi@pfitzpr.com,

for Oaks Development GroupWeb site: http://www.oaksdevelopment.net/