West Miami Hotel Joins Doubletree Brand as Doubletree Miami Mart Airport Hotel & Exhibition Center

Hotel Offers Convenient Access to the Miami International Airport,
Sizzling South Beach and More Than 155,000 Square Feet of Meeting& Exhibit Space

BEVERLY HILLS, CA--The Doubletree brand is proud to announce that the Miami Mart Airport Hotel has joined the Doubletree brand’s portfolio and re-opened as the Doubletree Miami Mart Airport Hotel & Exhibition Center.

The 334-room hotel, which is just three miles from Miami International Airport and 20 minutes from the heart of happening Miami, offers complimentary round-trip shuttle service to the airport for hotel guests (24 hours), a great location near all the hottest Miami attractions, and convenient access to premiere meeting space.

Just steps off the lobby, guests can access the Miami International Merchandise Mart, which includes more than 300 stores and show rooms and 155,900 square feet of meeting and exhibit space. The hotel is managed by Davidson Hotel Company, one of the nation’s largest hotel management companies.

“The Doubletree Miami Mart Airport Hotel is a great addition to the Doubletree brand’s portfolio of nearly 200 hotels worldwide,” said Dave Horton, (top left photo) senior vice president – brand management for Doubletree Hotels.

“The hotel’s convenient location makes it a great destination for both leisure and business travelers staying in Miami. Visitors and residents alike will also surely appreciate the elegant, extensive convention space and two ballrooms available, which make the hotel ideal for events ranging from trades shows to weddings.”

General Manager Matt Lahiff (bottom left photo) says, "We are deeply committed to bringing our guests the quality, service and experience that they have to expect from a Davidson Hotel Company-managed hotel and from the Doubletree brand.


"When a guest chooses to stay with us, they will enjoy top-notch, caring service with the best guest reward programs in the industry, along with the signature Doubletree welcome accompanied by a warm chocalte-chip cookie."


For more information on the Doubletree Miami Mart Airport Hotel, visit the hotel’s website at http://www.doubletreemiamimart.com/, or call l-800-222-TREE in the U.S. and Canada or contact the hotel directly at 1-305-261-3800.

CONTACTS:


Thomas Wingham/Erika White, Doubletree Media Relations, 310-205-4545
thomas.wingham@hilton.com, erika.white@hilton.com

Cecilia Orbegozo, Director, Sales & Marketing, Doubletree Miami Mart Airport Hotel, (305) 261-3800, corbegozo@doubletreemiamimart.com

Cambridge Chairman Believes Borrowers Have Stake in Changes Impacting HUD 232 Healthcare Funding Program

CHICAGO, IL--Now that the dynamic administrative changes that have streamlined the way that HUD processes FHA-insured healthcare loan applications under its Section 232 funding program are effectively in place, the federal agency has begun to focus more thoughtfully on what happens after loans are closed and money changes hands.

“In the past, asset management appeared to be little more than an afterthought. However, now that responsibility for managing the HUD 232 program has shifted to the FHA’s Office of Insured Health Care Facilities (OIHCF), the agency is moving rapidly to change this perception,” funding expert Jeffrey A. Davis (top right photo) observes.

Davis is Chairman of Chicago-based Cambridge Realty Capital Companies, one of the nation’s leading senior housing/healthcare lenders with more than 300 closed transactions totaling more than $2.75 billion since the mid-1990s. Over the past 10 years the company has consistently ranked among the top HUD 232 healthcare lenders in the country.

He points out that FHA has adopted the Toyota Motor Corp.’s highly touted Lean management process to simplify and reduce the time it takes to review and process HUD applications.

The administrative shift to OIHCF created a unified single source for program and policy development and a more consistent and user-friendly platform for borrowers and lenders.

“Now OIHCF is rolling out new criteria and establishing new matrices to better manage and monitor the existing loans on their books. The emphasis is on closely monitoring loan assets so problems are identified earlier or avoided altogether,” he said.

A report issued by the agency notes that the asset management function for the HUD 232 program has historically relied on physical paper files. The emphasis has been geared toward regulatory enforcement rather than loss minimization, and little training, guidance or support was provided to the individual asset manager.

All this changes with a 232 program that offers sophisticated electronic systems for tracking asset management files and monitoring program activities.

Moving forward, Davis believes the situation dramatically improves, as OIHCF utilizes Lean production philosophy and techniques in concert with quality assurance criteria established by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldridge (middle left photo) and enacted into law as the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Improvement Act of 1987.

“The Baldridge criteria created the impetus for a new public-private partnership based on strategic planning and the establishment of viable quality improvement programs to strengthen the nation’s competitive posture and leadership role. OIHCF has made it clear that the criteria for performance excellence envisioned by Baldridge and improved upon by others will be utilized as part of its ongoing efforts to make meaningful improvements in the way assets are managed for the healthcare funding program,“ he said.

Davis said OIHCF acknowledges that the Lean development and asset management effort greatly depends upon responsible participation by lenders. Account executives are being assigned to lenders with responsibility for development pipeline management, quality assurance, and monitoring and asset management for the lenders’ portfolios.

The account executive’s role is not to underwrite loans but to effectively function as the lender’s advocate and as a quality control officer.

“The changes are important to borrowers because, at the end of the day, everyone involved with the HUD 232 process is a stakeholder in its success. Difficulties arise when loans are not actively monitored.

“From the borrower’s perspective, the changes will mean more active submission of operating financial statements and clinical records, and more frequent visits by consultants representing the lender. For lenders, changes involve learning to apply a new discipline as they become much more involved in the loans they create,” he said.

Contact: Evan Washington, Phone: (312) 521-7603, Fax: (312) 357-1611, E-Mail: ew@cambridgecap.com

Industrial Team at Southern Commercial Completes 18,000-SF Lease in Sanford, FL

ORLANDO, FL-- Principals Tom McFadden, (top right photo) SIOR and William “Bo” Bradford, (top left photo) CCIM, SIOR of Southern Commercial Real Estate Advisors completed an 18,000 square foot new lease at 3830 Enterprise Way, Sanford, Florida in the NorthPark Commerce Center.

NorthPark Commerce Center is a Class A industrial distribution development that will contain 450,000 square feet at completion.

The first two buildings, totaling 120,000 square feet, have been completed and are ready for occupancy.

McFadden and Bradford negotiated the five year new lease, representing the Landlord, McDonald Development. The tenant, Goodman Distribution Inc. was represented by Helen Banks and Jim Barton with Mohr Partners, Inc.

Media Contact: Celeste MacKenzie, Southern Commercial Real Estate Advisors, 321-281-8503, 20 N. Orange Avenue, Suite 605, Orlando, FL 32801, cmackenzie@southercommercialre.com

Refinancing is Name of Game in 2009, Says RECI

CHICAGO, IL, Jan. 2, 2009 - The Real Estate Capital Institute's Capital Scoreboard reports:

The last month of the year ended on a dramatic note as the Fed forced key short-term indices into record-low territory.

Meanwhile, the ongoing shortage of real estate capital dampens any meaningful mortgage rate reductions.

Important market highlights and trends for 2009 are as follows:

* Funds Resurfacing: Select life companies are cautiously returning-- one of the bright spots in an otherwise bleak market. These institutions are primarily targeting highly conservative opportunities and lower-leverage acquisitions.

* Refinancing Reigns: Since the market remains illiquid with sellers and buyers quite far apart on bid-ask sale negotiations, refinancing is the only option for generating significant loan volume.

For example, borrowers with five and ten-year loans due this year should expect to see rates at about identical levels to the marketplace on ten-year maturities as compared to 1999. Five-year maturities are about 150 basis points higher than in 2004.

* Absolute Rates: Due to benchmark rate volatility, most lenders avoid pricing mortgage rates over spreads and instead offer absolute rates.

* Volatile Indices: Overall mortgage rates drifted slightly upwards for shorter-term fixed-rate maturities (five years), as lenders demand a premium for locking into this highly desirable term. In contrast,longer-term benchmark rates dropped by about 20 to 50 basis points, while lenders react cautiously to any corresponding mortgage-rate drops.

* Steep Yield Curve: The treasury curve remains steep with short-term yields approaching zero, indicating an extreme desire for safety void of any principal repayment risk.

Shorter-term indices dramatically plunged by about 75 basis points or more, particularly LIBOR which dropped by nearly150 basis points.

* Dominant Players: The Agencies (FNMA and FreddieMac) overwhelmingly dominate the multifamily lending arena, which is the most active property-funding sector.

The Agencies offer below rates starting below 6%for shorter-term maturities and below 5% for floating-rate debt.

Lifeinsurance companies and banks dominate all other income-property sectors with rates relatively unchanged from the previous month -- hovering in the 6%-plus range for five-year term and 7% or more for longer-term loans.

According to Nat Zvislo, Research Director of the Real Estate Capital Institute, "2009 looks to be a year of refinancing and with limited acquisition activity."

Adding, "Distressed deals will be the norm for most new acquisitions and lenders will be overwhelmed with renegotiating overleveraged debt."

ABOUT US: The Real Estate Capital Institute(r) is a volunteer-based research organization that tracks realty rates data for debt and equity yields. The Institute posts daily and historical benchmark rates including treasuries, bank prime and LIBOR.

Furthermore, call the Real Estate Capital RateLine at7RE-CAPITAL (773-227-4825) for hourly rate updates.

The Real Estate Capital Institute(r), 3517 West Arthington Street, Chicago, Illinois USA 60624

Contact: Nat Zvislo, Research Director, Toll Free 800-994-RECI (7324), director@reci.com

http://www.reci.com/