Thursday, March 12, 2009

Arbor Closes 3 Fannie Mae Loans Totaling Over $6M

Knoxville, TN Portfolio Receives $3,680,000; Odessa, TN Property Obtains $1,484,500.

UNIONDALE, NY--) Arbor Commercial Funding, LLC (“Arbor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC, announced the recent funding of two (2) loans totaling $5,164,500 under the Fannie Mae DUS® product line. These loans include:

Knoxville Portfolio, Knoxville, TN – This is a refinance for properties known as Morningside Hills Apartments and Magnolia Apartments totaling 154 units in the amount of $3,680,000 under the Fannie Mae DUS® product line. The 10-year loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule and carries a note rate of 6.51 percent.

Cielo Vista Townhouse, Odessa, TX – This is an acquisition of a 56-unit complex in the amount of $1,484,500 under the Fannie Mae DUS® Small Loan product line.
The 10-year loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule and carries a note rate of 6.64 percent.

The loans were originated by Stephen York, (top right photo) Director, in Arbor’s full-service Uniondale, NY lending office.

“Arbor was pleased to deliver competitive financing terms to the Sponsors of both of these transactions,” said York.

Tally Ho Apartments in Sioux Falls, SD Receives $1,528,700 Loan

UNIONDALE, NY --- Arbor Commercial Funding, LLC (“Arbor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC, announced the recent funding of a $1,528,700 loan under the Fannie Mae DUS® product line to refinance the 78-unit property known as Tally Ho Apartments (bottom left photo) in Sioux Falls, SD.

The 10-year loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule and carries a note rate of 6.87 percent.

The loans were originated by Stephen York, Director, in Arbor’s full-service Uniondale, NY lending office.
“Arbor was pleased to deliver competitive terms that included a sizeable cash out,” said York. “We look forward to future opportunities with this client.”

Contact: Ingrid Principe, P: 516.506.4298. F: 516.542.2555. http://www.arbor.com/

Marcus & Millichap Lists DaVinci Court Apts. in Davis, CA for $13.5M


DAVIS, CA – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has retained the exclusive listing for DaVinci Court Apartments, (top right photo) a 51-unit apartment community in Davis.

The listing price of $13.5 million represents $218 per square foot.

Peter Flis, first vice president investments and a director of the firm’s National Multi Housing Group in Sacramento, is representing the seller, a local partnership that developed the property.
“Davis is one of the best rental markets in the country,” says Flis.
“The high demand created by growing enrollment at the campus of the University of California, Davis, coupled with the high barriers to entry, along with a city government that values restrictions on growth, has resulted in a long history of low vacancies and steady rent increases.”

This property is the newest apartment complex in Davis. Built in 2005, the asset is situated on 2.49 acres at 1666 DaVinci Court within walking distance of the university campus.
DaVinci Court’s unit mix is optimal for the Davis market.

More than 60 percent of the complex has four-bedroom floor plans and 85 percent of the apartments feature two or more bedrooms. All of the units contain washer and dryer connections.

The property has an assumable loan fixed at 5.28 percent.
Press Contact: Stacey Corso, Communications Department, (925) 953-1716

Wyndham Hotel Group Appoints Electronic Distribution Expert

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (Mar. 12, 2009) – Wyndham Hotel Group, the world’s largest lodging company with more than 7,000 hotels, today announced the appointment of lodging industry veteran Linda Kent (top left photo) as senior vice president of electronic distribution.

An expert in the areas of global distribution systems, reservations and account management, Kent will be responsible for global revenue generation through third party distribution channels and the strategic direction and development of the company’s branded Web sites, which serve more than 90 million guests annually.

Prior to joining the Hotel Group, Kent served eight years with Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide in White Plains, N.Y., as vice president of electronic distribution, overseeing contributions to overall revenue through multiple distribution channels.

Under her leadership, the company achieved $2.4 billion in annual gross room revenue, mainly driven from high-profile relationships with major consortia customers and agencies, and spearheaded the launch of its first ever global travel agent educational program.

“Linda will be instrumental in helping to ensure a consistent and customer friendly experience across all of Wyndham Hotel Group’s electronic distribution channels, strengthening the global performance of both the company and its brands,” said Ross Hosking, Wyndham Hotel Group executive vice president of global sales.

“Her leadership and experience with global hotel companies will prove to be an asset to the company, our customers and our team.”

Kent received her bachelor’s degree in French from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., where she graduated Magna cum Laude. She currently serves as vice president of the Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association’s board of directors and is a member of the National Business Travel Association Hotel Committee and Open Travel Alliance Hotel Working Group.

Contact: Rob Myers, Communications Coordinator, (973) 753-6590
rob.myers@wyndhamworldwide.com

Interstate Hotels & Resorts Receives Notice of Suspension of Trading from NYSE

ARLINGTON, VA—Interstate Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: IHR, to be traded over the counter under the ticker symbol IHRI), a leading hotel real estate investor and the nation’s largest independent hotel management company, has received notice from the New York Stock Exchange (trading floor, middle left photo) that its common stock, under the ticker symbol IHR, will be suspended from trading prior to the market opening on March 12, 2009.

According to the March 5, 2009 notice from the NYSE, the suspension is occurring because Interstate did not meet the continued listing standard requiring maintenance of a minimum $15 million market capitalization over a consecutive 30 trading day period.

The company had previously announced on December 2, 2008, that it had failed to maintain the continued listing standard which requires a $1.00 minimum average closing price over a consecutive 30 trading day period.

While the $1.00 minimum average requirement allows for a company to have a six-month cure period, there is no such period available for a failure to meet the minimum market capitalization requirement.

The company will seek an appeal of the delisting determination as permitted by the NYSE though there are only limited solutions available.

The company has not yet been notified as to the timing of the appeal process. Until the appeal is heard, Interstate will remain listed, but will not trade, on the NYSE.

The company’s senior secured credit facility agreement requires that the company be listed on the NYSE.

KPMG LLP, the company’s external auditor, has notified the Audit Committee and management that since Interstate’s potential delisting from the NYSE creates a credit facility covenant issue, which, if not resolved, could result in acceleration of the credit facility debt, its auditor report on the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2008 will include an explanatory paragraph related to the uncertainty of the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The company’s credit facility also includes a covenant requiring an audit opinion without exception.

The company is in active discussions with its credit facility lenders to receive a waiver through June 30, 2009, related to the covenant requiring listing on the NYSE as well as the covenant dealing with audit opinions.

While there can be no assurances that the company can obtain the waiver, a waiver of these covenants only requires a 51 percent vote by the credit facility lenders.

Thomas F. Hewitt, (top right photo) the company’s chief executive officer, stated that, “Interstate is working quickly to resolve these technical defaults by the end of March so that it can focus its attention on an extension of the credit facility, which the company is working to obtain prior to June 30, 2009.”

Bruce A. Riggins, chief financial officer of the company, noted that, “These technical issues relating to our credit facility do not impact the individual mortgage notes on our three wholly owned hotels.”

As notification from the NYSE was received only very recently, the company is continuing to evaluate the disclosures to be included in management’s discussion and analysis and the consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto to be included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The company intends to file for a 15-day extension to allow it to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than March 31, 2009.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts has ownership interests in 57 hotels and resorts, including seven wholly owned assets. Together with these properties, the company and its affiliates manage a total of 225 hospitality properties with more than 46,000 rooms in 37 states, the District of Columbia, Russia, Mexico, Belgium, Canada and Ireland.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts also has contracts to manage 16 to be built hospitality properties with approximately 4,000 rooms.

For more information about Interstate Hotels & Resorts, visit the company’s Web site: http://www.ihrco.com/.

Contact: Bruce Riggins, Chief Financial Officer, (703) 387-3344

Brown Mackie College Leases 51,000 SF at One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL

CORAL GABLES, FL– CREC (Continental Real Estate Companies), one of Florida’s largest full-service commercial real estate companies, announced that Brown Mackie College has signed a 10-year lease for 51,000 square feet at One Herald Plaza, (top right photo) The Miami Herald headquarters building.

“This is one of the biggest office leases in downtown Miami in the past year,” said Steven D. Hurwitz, (bottom left photo) CREC shareholder and senior vice president, “and a clear win-win for both parties.”

Hurwitz and Douglas Okun, senior leasing associate, represented the Miami Herald and its parent company, McClatchy Newspapers, while Cushman & Wakefield’s Alan Kleber represented the tenant. The total value of the lease was not disclosed.

Hurwitz noted that another 30,000 square feet is available for lease on the Herald building’s sixth-floor, which includes panoramic views of Biscayne Bay. Other amenities that were important to Brown Mackie College were redundant power, 24-hour air conditioning and on-site parking.

Oklahoma-based Brown Mackie College operates a nationwide system of schools with 21 locations in 10 different states around the country.
Contact: Lisa Rosario, LRosario@crec.com

Foreclosure Activity Increases 6% in February, RealtyTrac Reports

Third Highest Monthly Total in Report’s History;
Up 30 Percent From February 2008 Despite Foreclosure Moratoria


IRVINE, CA – Mar. 12, 2009 – RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its February 2009 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 290,631 U.S. properties during the month, an increase of nearly 6 percent from the previous month and an increase of nearly 30 percent from February 2008.


The report also shows one in every 440 U.S. housing units received a
foreclosure filing in February.


“The increase in foreclosure activity from January to February is somewhat surprising, given
that many of the foreclosure prevention efforts and moratoria in place in January were
extended through most of February as well,” said James J. Saccacio, (top right photo) chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.


“There were some notable exceptions to this: a 45-day voluntary moratorium in
Florida expired at the end of January, and foreclosure activity there was up 14 percent from
the previous month; and many New York foreclosure proceedings delayed by a new law for an
extra 90 days appear to have hit the system in February, when the state’s foreclosure activity
increased 23 percent from the previous month.”


Nevada, Arizona, California post top state foreclosure rates


With one in every 70 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in February, Nevada continued
to document the nation’s top state foreclosure rate. Foreclosure filings were reported on
15,783 Nevada properties during the month, a 9 percent increase from the previous month
and a 156 percent increase from February 2008.


Arizona posted the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate in February, with one in
every 147 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, and California posted
the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 165 housing units receiving
a foreclosure filing.

Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the nation’s 10 highest were Florida, Idaho,
Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, Oregon and Ohio.


California, Florida, Arizona post highest foreclosure totals


Foreclosure filings were reported on 80,775 California properties in February, the most of any
state and a 5 percent increase from the previous month. The state’s foreclosure activity
increased 51 percent from February 2008, with auction sale notices increasing nearly 179
percent — the most of any category on a year-over-year basis.


Florida foreclosure activity increased nearly 14 percent from the previous month and 43
percent from February 2008 — thanks in large part to a nearly 158 percent year-over-year
increase in auction sale notices and a 128 percent year-over-year increase in bank
repossessions. With 46,391 properties receiving a foreclosure filing, the state posted the
nation’s second highest state total in February.


Arizona posted the third highest state total in February, with 18,119 properties receiving a
foreclosure filing during the month — a 23 percent increase from the previous month and an
88 percent increase from February 2008.


Nevada, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Georgia and Virginia also reported foreclosure totals
that were among the nation’s 10 highest.


Sunbelt cities post top metro foreclosure rates


One in every 60 Las Vegas housing units received a foreclosure filing in February, giving the
city the nation’s highest foreclosure rate among metro areas with a population of at least
200,000. The city’s foreclosure rate was more than seven times higher than the national
average.

Another Nevada metro area posted a foreclosure rate in the top 10: Reno-Sparks
ranked No. 8, with one in every 108 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.


The Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., metro area documented the second highest foreclosure rate
in February, with one in every 65 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.


Six California cities registered foreclosure rates among the top 10: Stockton at No. 3 (one in
67 housing units), Modesto at No. 4 (one in 68), Merced at No. 5 (one in 74), Riverside-San
Bernardino at No. 6 (one in 80), Bakersfield at No. 7 (one in 85), and Vallejo-Fairfield at No.
10 (one in 111).


With one in every 110 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, the Phoenix metro area
posted the ninth highest foreclosure rate in February.

Contact: Tammy Chan Atomic PR, Direct: 212-699-3646, Mobile: 408-802-8682
tammy@atomicpr.com