HFF closes $89.5M sale of Pittsburgh’s Cranberry Woods Office Park and arranges financing for buyer

PITTSBURGH, PA – The Pittsburgh office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced today that it has closed the sale of and arranged financing for Cranberry Woods Office Park,(bottom right photo)  a four-building office complex in northern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

HFF executive managing directors Gerard Sansosti and John Pelusi (top left photo) and managing director Nick Matt (top right photo)  led the investment sales team exclusively on behalf of the seller, Kennedy Associates Real Estate Counsel, on behalf of the Multi-Employer Property Trust.

Other members of the marketing team included senior managing director Glenn Whitmore (HFF New York) (middle right photo) and managing director Jaime Fink (HFF Chicago) (bottom left  photo) 


An affiliate of McKnight Development Corporation, owned by the Pittsburgh-based Rudolph Family, purchased Cranberry Woods for $89.5 million.

In addition, HFF worked on behalf of the buyer to arrange the $48 million first mortgage through a co-lending relationship between First Commonwealth Bank and First Merit Bank. The loan was structured as a five-year, 6.35% fixed-rate financing. A mezzanine loan provided by the seller was also part of the transaction.

Completed between 1999 and 2007, Cranberry Woods Office Park totals 452,913 square feet within four, four-story buildings. All of the properties are fully leased and key tenants include Cellco (a subsidiary of Verizon), McKesson, Westinghouse (a subsidiary of Toshiba) and Network Appliance, Inc.

The buildings are located at 500, 600, 700 and 800 Cranberry Woods at the confluence of Interstates 79 and 76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) and Routes 19 and 228 in Cranberry Township approximately 20 miles north of Pittsburgh.

“Cranberry Woods is considered the premier Class A office complex in the Pittsburgh MSA therefore it’s no surprise that it was the largest office sale transaction in western Pennsylvania thus far in 2009,” said Sansosti.

Kennedy Associates Real Estate Counsel, LP, a full-service registered real estate investment advisor, brings over 30 years of entrepreneurial real estate investment expertise to a select number of public, corporate and Taft-Hartley retirement systems, as well as major university endowments. Kennedy has invested in and managed $13 billion in development, redevelopment, and existing properties.

The Rudolph family, together with their partner Chuck Perlow, own McKnight Realty Partners, a leading real estate investment and development company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.


McKnight, through its affiliates, own several million square feet of prime property in the northeastern United States.

Contacts:

Gerard T. Sansosti, HFF Executive Managing Director, (412) 281-8714, gsansosti@hfflp.com      

Nicholas P. Matt, HFF Managing Director,  (412) 281-8714, nmatt@hfflp.com         

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

HFF arranges $32.2M financing for Austin, TX luxury multi-housing high-rise

HOUSTON, TX – The Houston office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced today that it has arranged $32.2 million in financing for AMLI on 2nd, (bottom left photo) a 19-story, 231-unit, Class A+ multi-housing development with approximately 41,000 square feet of ground floor retail in downtown Austin, Texas.

 

HFF executive managing director Scott Galloway and director Matt Kafka (top right photo) worked on behalf of AMLI Residential Properties to secure the seven-year, adjustable-rate loan through Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation).



AMLI Residential Properties, a national firm focused on the development, acquisition and management of luxury apartment communities, currently owns and operates 21,000 units.

Located at 421 West 3rd Street, AMLI on 2nd is situated within the “vibrant” 2nd Street retail district within walking distance of numerous area attractions including restaurants and entertainment venues and the Lady Bird Lake hike and bike trail.

The property was built in 2007, and offers one- and two-bedroom units with views of the downtown skyline, Westlake Hills and Lady Bird Lake. Community amenities include a fitness center, sky deck with pool and barbeque grills, business center, resident lounge and garage parking for both residential and retail tenants.

“AMLI on 2nd is truly a first-class development with tremendous views of the entire city and a fantastic amenity package. The property is well-positioned to take advantage of its live, work, play location in the rapidly growing Austin CBD,” said Kafka.

Contacts:

Matthew Kafka, HFF Director, (713) 852-3500, mkafka@hfflp.com

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

Arbor Closes $18.1M Fannie Mae DUS® Loan for 2025 Seward Apts. in Bronx, NY

Uniondale, NY (Sept.  9, 2009) - Arbor Commercial Funding, LLC (“Arbor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC, announced the recent funding of a $18,100,000 loan under the Fannie Mae DUS® Loan product line for the 154-unit apartment complex known as 2025 Seward in Bronx, NY.

The 10-year loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule and carries a note rate of 5.90 percent.

 

The loan was originated by Alexander Kaushansky (top right photo) , Director in Arbor’s full-service office in New York, NY office “The borrower received competitive terms through Arbor’s Fannie Mae DUS® program,” said Kaushansky. “We were able to deliver on all of the client’s requests and look forward to continuing this partnership for future transactions.”

Contact:  Ingrid Principe, P: 516.506.4298, F: 516.542.2555, http://www.arbor.com/
Follow us on Twitter @ arbor1

Ramada Strikes First Management Agreements for Three Hotels in Thailand

HONG KONG (Sept. 9, 2009) – Wyndham Hotel Group, the world’s largest hotel company with approximately 7,000 hotels and 11 brands, today announced the signing of the company’s first management agreements in Bangkok, Thailand.

Currently under development, the properties include the 188-room Ramada Encore Soi 10 – Bangkok, (middle right photo) owned by Nai Chan Estate Co. Ltd., the 98-room Ramada Hotel & Suites Soi 12 – Bangkok, (top left photo) owned by Sookjai Condominium Co. Ltd. and the 150-room Ramada Bangkok Sukhumvit, (bottom left photo) owned by Asset Lifestyle Co. Ltd.

“Bangkok is the center of economic development and the most prosperous part of Thailand, making it an ideal destination for the growth of the global Ramada brand,” said Tom Monahan, Wyndham Hotel Group executive vice president of international development.

“These new hotels will further the brand’s reach and clearly position Ramada as a strong, vibrant and leading brand in the country.”

While the three properties are the company’s first managed hotels in Thailand, Wyndham Hotel Group has a managed portfolio of 27 Wyndham Hotels and Resorts properties around the globe, including the 162-room Wyndham Grand London Chelsea Harbour in London; the 600-room Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort and Spa in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico and the recently opened 588-room Wyndham Xiamen in Xiamen, China.

Located in the Sukhumvit area, a thriving commercial and entertainment hub in Bangkok, the Ramada Encore Soi 10 – Bangkok property will be an 8-floor, new-build hotel featuring a fitness center and swimming pool as well as a meeting room with accommodations for 40 people.

The property is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2010. The 11-story Ramada Hotel & Suites Soi 12 - Bangkok hotel is located at Soi 12 Sukhumvit Road.

Amenities will include a full-service restaurant, rooftop bar, lobby lounge, fitness center and swimming pool.

The hotel is expected to open in the first quarter of 2010.The 37-story Ramada Bangkok Sukhumvit is located at the junction between Sukhumvit Road and Soi 23, 30 meters from the Asok BTS sky train station.

CONTACT: Christine Da Silva, 973-753 6590, christine.dasilva@wyndhamworldwide.com

Annaly Capital Management and Its FIDAC and RCap Securities Units Expand Management Team

NEW YORK, NY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2009-- Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) today announced the addition of several new members to its management team over the last several months.

They are involved in a range of activities at Annaly and its wholly-owned subsidiaries RCap Securities, Inc., a broker-dealer, and Fixed Income Discount Advisory Company, a registered investment advisor.

“Annaly continues to grow the scope of its asset management and broker dealer activities,” said Michael A.J. Farrell, (top right photo) Chairman, CEO and President of Annaly, “and I am pleased that we are able to add such capable professionals to help drive that growth."

The new personnel include:

Kevin Keyes, Managing Director—Capital Markets. Mr. Keyes has 19 years of experience in the capital markets, most recently as head of global real estate, technology and clean energy capital markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Robert Karner, Executive Vice President and Head of Investments for CreXus Investment Corp. Mr. Karner has over 25 years of experience in commercial real estate finance, most recently as co-head of Morgan Stanley’s domestic CMBS syndication desk.

Jeff Conti, Executive Vice President and Head of Underwriting for CreXus Investment Corp. Mr. Conti has over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate finance, most notably as a managing director in the fixed income and real estate group of TIAA-CREF, where he was a regional head of commercial mortgage originations.

Laura Zwak DeMare, Executive Vice President. Ms. DeMare has 18 years of experience in financial markets, most recently as head of global marketing for distressed structured products at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Mary Rooney, Executive Vice President. Ms. Rooney has 20 years of experience as a financial markets strategist, research analyst and economist, most recently as the head of global credit strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Anthony Green, Deputy General Counsel. Mr. Green was a partner at the law firm K&L Gates LLP in Washington, D.C.

John Frost, Vice President. Mr. Frost has over 25 years of experience in fixed income and equity lending activities. He has managed trading operations, trading positions and client relationships for these activities, most recently at Morgan Stanley.

Mike Iannetta, Vice President. Mr. Iannetta’s career spans over 20 years of experience in securities lending activities, predominantly at Morgan Stanley.

Contact: Annaly Capital Management, Inc., Investor Relations, 1-888-8Annaly,