HFF named by American Senior Housing, LC to market for sale luxury independent living facility in suburban DC

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington, D.C. office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) has been named by American Senior Housing, LC to market for sale Sugarland Hill, (top right photo) an 80-unit luxury independent living facility in Herndon, Virginia.

The HFF investment sales team will be led by directors Dave Nachison (top left photo) and Alan Davis.(bottom right photo)

The property is listed for sale without an asking price. American Senior Housing is a Fairfax, Virginia-based professional developer and operator of senior facilities.

“The property has excellent assumable long-term, non-recourse HUD financing with terms that are unavailable in the current environment, providing prospective investors with above market loan proceeds and a below market interest rate,” said Nachison.

Sugarland Hill is situated on a 4.5-acre site at 1100 Dranesville Road in the Herndon area of northern Virginia.

Completed in 2006, the four-story building has one- and two-bedroom units averaging 986 square feet each.

Community amenities include a business center, party lounge with flat screen television, outdoor patio with gas grill, billiards lounge, game room, indoor therapy pool, woodworking shop, arts & crafts room, fitness center, library and putting green. Social activities, nightly catered evening meals and chauffeured transportation are also available to residents.

“Sugarland Hill offers investors outstanding potential for strong equity returns through consistent cash flow and long-term residual value,” added Davis.

CONTACTS:

David R. Nachison, HFF Director, (202) 533-2500, dnachison@hfflp.com

Alan M. Davis, HFF Director, 202) 533-2500, adavis@hfflp.com

Kristen M. Murphy, HFF Associate Director, Marketing, (713) 852-3500, krmurphy@hfflp.com

Orlando Bulk Warehouse Market Plunges

WINTER PARK, FL--Orlando’s bulk warehouse leasing market took a plunge during the fourth quarter of 2008, reports Greg Rebman, SIOR, CCIM (top right photo) vice president, Rebman Properties Inc.

There was 205,428 square feet of negative net absorption for the period in the 136 surveyed buildings, the worst showing since the second quarter of 2003.

There were many downsizings, bankruptcies and other exits from the market following the collapse of financial markets in the third quarter.

The largest leases for the fourth quarter were as follows:

Disney leased 67,000 s.f. at Lincoln International Corporate Park, Building C;
Frito-Lay leased 56,875 s.f. at Center of Commerce, Building 909; and
G & K Services leased 14,957 s.f. at Crownpointe V.

Supply

The vacancy rate rose substantially from 13.76% at end of the third quarter to 16.75% at the end of 2008, the highest vacancy rate since the fourth quarter of 1993.

There were three buildings added to the survey in the period, which exacerbated the otherwise dismal fourth quarter.

The following buildings were added to the survey: Lincoln International Corporate Park, Building A, a 92,616 square foot, rear-load facility; and Building C, a 141,660 square foot, rear-load facility; both in International Corporate Park in East Orlando.

Also added to the survey was the 118,500 square foot, front-load building at 2216 Directors Row in Orlando Central Park.

This building was previously an owner-occupied facility, but was purchased by Liberty Property Trust for lease to industrial tenants.

Rental Rate

The average quoted rental rate for the 136 buildings surveyed is $4.62 psf triple net, down from $4.67 psf at the end of the third quarter.

Construction

Beltway Distribution is nearing completion at the intersection of Lee Vista Boulevard and Highway 417 (The Greenway).

Slated for completion in January 2009, Building #100 is a 141,810 s.f., rear-load building; Building #200 is a 145,540 s.f., rear-load building; and Building #400 is a 378,600 square foot, cross-dock building.

Forecast

Orlando industrial brokers polled for this survey expressed that they expect 2009 to be “challenging.”

The market is expected to get worse before it gets better.

More downsizing, consolidations, bankruptcies and increased space marketed for sublease are expected through 2009.

While net absorption is expected to be only slightly negative, the vacancy rates are expected to continue to increase throughout the year.

CONTACT:

Lynn G. Bailey, Office Manager, Rebman Properties, Inc., 1014 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park, FL 32789 USA. Tel: 407.875.800. Fax: 407.875.8004.

lynn@rebmanproperties.com http://www.rebmanproperties.com/

Home Price Declines Continue as the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Indices Set New Record Annual Declines

NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 27, 2009 – Data through November 2008, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, shows continued broad based declines in the prices of existing single family homes across the United States, with 11 of the 20 metro areas showing record rates of annual decline, and 14 reporting declines in excess of 10% versus November 2007.

The (top left) chart depicts the annual returns of the 10-City Composite and the 20-City Composite Home Price Indices.

Following the lead of the 11 metro areas described above, the 10-City Composite matched last month’s record decline of 19.1% and the 20-City Composites set a new record, down 18.2%.

"The freefall in residential real estate continued through November 2008," says David M. Blitzer, (top right photo) Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s.

"Since August 2006, the 10-City and 20-City Composites have declined every month – a total of 28 consecutive months. Every region was down in excess of 1% for the November/October period, with eight of the regions recording record monthly declines.

Phoenix and Las Vegas were the worst performers for the month at -3.4% and -3.3%, respectively, and also have the lowest returns over the one-year period, returning -32.9% and -31.6% respectively. Overall, more than half of the metro areas had record annual declines."

The (middle right) chart above shows the index levels for the 10-City Composite and 20-City Composite Home Price Indices.

It is another illustration of the magnitude of the decline in home prices over the past two years.

As of November 2008, average home prices are at similar levels to what they were in the first quarter of 2004. From their peak in mid-2006, the 10-City Composite is down 26.6% and the 20-City Composite is down 25.1%.

Monthly data also continues to show a housing market in decline. All 20 metro areas, and the two composites, posted their third consecutive monthly decline.

In addition, eight of the MSAs posted their largest monthly decline on record – Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Portland and Seattle.

Although in decline over the past few years, some of these regions have out-performed on a relative basis, when compared to the national average. It is clear, however, that the decline in home prices is affecting all regions regardless of geography or employment opportunities.

Dallas and Denver faired the best in November, in terms of relative year-over-year returns. While in negative territory, their declines remained in low single digits of -3.3% and -4.3%, respectively.

It should be noted, Charlotte reported its third consecutive largest monthly decline on record, down 1.9%. Denver and Cleveland were the best reporting markets for the month returning -1.1% and -1.2%, respectively. On a relatively positive note, eight of the 20 metro areas recorded better annual returns compared to last month.

The (bottom left) table below summarizes the results for November 2008.

These indices are generated and published under agreements between Standard & Poor’s and Fiserv, Inc.

For more informatio, contact:

David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee,
Standard & Poor’s, 212 438 3907, david_blitzer@standardandpoors.com

David Guarino, Communications, Standard & Poor’s, 1 212 438 1471,
dave_guarino@standardandpoors.com

New Construction Down but Office, Industrial Vacancy Still Expected to Rise

SANTA ANA, CA, Jan.27, 2009--Bob Bach, (top right photo) senior vice president and chief economist, Grubb & Ellis Co., says in his regular report today, "the disciplined addition of new space over the past several years should help the commercial real estate industry deal with the recession.

"As a percentage of the existing inventory, neither the office nor industrial construction pipelines reached their previous peaks leading up to the recessions in 2001 and 1990-91.

"Nevertheless, new space deliveries in 2009 and 2010 will cause leasing market fundamentals to soften even before negative absorption is factored into the equation.

The 80 million square feet of office space under construction will push the office vacancy rate from 14.8 percent at year-end 2008 to 16.5 percent.

For industrial space, the 72 million square feet under way will push the industrial vacancy rate from 8.8 percent at year-end 2008 to 9.3 percent.

Tenant downsizings are expected to generate significant negative absorption, which will raise vacancy rates above these levels before a market recovery can begin.

For more information or to speak with Bob Bach, please contact Janice McDill at 312.698.6707.