Shuttered Ft. Lauderdale Beachside Hotel Sold

TAMPA, FL – The Plasencia Group, Inc. (TPG) announced that it has served as advisor to the Blackstone Group on the sale of the Ft. Lauderdale Beachside Hotel (top right photo) in Fort Lauderdale. The purchaser was Weston, Florida-based InSite Group. Terms of the transaction, which was completed on September 16, were not disclosed.

“This will prove to be an excellent investment for the new owners,” noted Dennis Reed, TPG’s southeast regional senior vice president who managed the transaction.

“The Florida hotel market is poised to reap the benefits of a recovering economy as leisure travelers begin returning to the state. Pent-up demand within the leisure segment of the industry will help pull Florida out of the economic downturn. This hotel’s excellent location will place it on the frontline during that recovery.”

The 240-key property is located at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and A1A facing the beach. The hotel, which has been shuttered since the first quarter of 2008, had been a Holiday Inn before becoming an independent. No future plans for the hotel were disclosed.

Contacts:
Karen Brand, 203.202.4549 Cell, kbrand@TPGhotels.com
Dennis Reed, TPG, 813.932.1234 x.102

Grubb & Ellis New York Hires Three Cushman & Wakefield Investment Veterans

SANTA ANA, CA – Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm, announced the appointment of three former top middle-market specialists from Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets division. The newly hired team includes Jon Epstein, Charles Kingsley and Yoav Oelsner.

“While other real estate firms are downsizing, Grubb & Ellis is recruiting and attracting top talent,” said David Arena, president of Grubb & Ellis New York. “Our investment sales capabilities are strong because of institutional quality expertise and execution within the middle market size range – properties trading at or under $100 million. Jon, Charles and Yoav will play a huge role in taking our business to the next level.”

Grubb &; Ellis has significantly expanded its Capital Markets platform in recent months. Since January, the company has added 29 experienced investment sales professionals throughout the country.

Epstein, Kingsley and Oelsner all join Grubb & Ellis’ Private Capital Markets Group as Executive Vice President.

Over the past six years, the team’s total sale volume has exceeded $2.2 billion. Epstein, Kingsley and Oelsner’s high-profile transactions have included the Plaza Hotel (top right photo), 530 Broadway, 225 Fifth Avenue (bottom left photo) , 90 West Street and 610 Lexington Ave.

Since the beginning of 2000, other institutional investment sales brokerage firms have focused on larger trophy deals, leaving a void in the middle-market deal segment. This opened the door for high-quality, professional brokerage representation. The Epstein/Kingsley/Oelsner team recognized this void and focused its efforts on building a sophisticated middle markets practice.

According to Epstein, Grubb & Ellis’ diverse market range will allow the team to focus on a broader range of transactions. “By coming to Grubb & Ellis, we are joining an expanding platform that will allow us to better serve our clients. We can focus on institutional properties as well as private capital transactions going forward,” Epstein said. “It truly is a win-win situation all around.”

Contacts:
Arielle Herzfeld, 212.326.4745, arielle.herzfeld@grubb-ellis.com
 Peter Moore, 212.792.8494, peter@sourcecommunications.net

Fitch Places 28 Tranches in 8 REIT TruPS CDOs on Rating Watch Negative

NEW YORK, NY-- Fitch Ratings has placed 28 classes in eight collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) backed primarily by trust preferred securities (TruPS) and subordinated debt issued by real estate investment trusts (REITs), homebuilders, and specialty finance companies (collectively REIT TruPS CDOs) on Rating Watch Negative.

Fitch's rating actions are the result of a combination of deterioration of principal and interest coverage for some transactions and negative portfolio credit migration in other transactions.

Principal coverage has deteriorated primarily through defaults while debt exchanges and defaults were responsible for interest coverage deterioration.

Three of the eight REIT TruPS CDOs placed on Rating Watch are currently failing senior overcollateralization (OC) or interest coverage (IC) tests.

Negative credit migration has resulted from rating downgrades, defaults and deferrals. For the eight CDOs with notes placed on Rating Watch, on average 9.8% of their portfolios has been downgraded since January 2009.

Between January and July 2009, Fitch has observed 22 unique issuers restructure or exchange their debt across these eight Fitch-rated REIT TruPS CDOs. On average, nearly 17.3% of the portfolios have undergone an exchange, which have resulted in an average increase in portfolio notional of $4.1 million. At the same time, the weighted average coupon (WAC) for these portfolios decreased from an average of 6.5% to 4.9% while the weighted average spreads (WAS) decreased from an average of 2.5% to 2.3%.

Issuers that participated in the exchanges have shadow ratings centered in the 'CCC' category. Resolution of the current Rating Watch Negative status will consider the potential implications of observed defaults, expectations for further debt exchanges undertaken by the asset manager and additional ratings downgrades.

For a complete list of Fitch's actions, please contact:

Johann Juan +1-312-368-3339, Derek Miller +1-312-368-2076,

Chicago; or Kevin Kendra +1-212-908-0670, New York.

Media Relations: Sandro Scenga, New York, Tel: +1 212-908-0278, Email: sandro.scenga@fitchratings.com
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Post Properties Announces Quarterly Dividends

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Post Properties, Inc. (NYSE: PPS), an Atlanta-based real estate investment trust, today announced quarterly dividends on its common stock of $0.20 per share for the third quarter of 2009. The dividend is payable on October 15, 2009 to all common stock shareholders of record as of September 30, 2009.

(David P. Stockert, top right photo, is CEO of Post Properties Inc.)

Post also announced regular quarterly dividends for its 8.5 percent Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock and its 7 5/8 percent Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock.

On its 8.5 percent Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Post declared a regular quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share for the third quarter. The dividend is payable on September 30, 2009 to all Series A preferred stock shareholders of record as of September 15, 2009.

On its 7 5/8 percent Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Post declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.47656 per share for the third quarter. The dividend is payable on September 30, 2009 to all Series B preferred stock shareholders of record as of September 15, 2009.

Contact:  Dave Stockert, 404-846-5000

Marcus & Millichap Sells 25-Unit Apartment Building in St. Petersburg, FL

ST. PETERSBURG, FL, September 18, 2009 – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has announced the sale of Northbay Villa Apartments, (top left photo)  a 25-unit apartment property located in St. Petersburg, Fla., according to Bryn D. Merrey, Regional Manager of the firm’s Tampa office. The asset commanded a sales price of $730,000.

Michael P. Regan (bottom  right photo)  and Matt Reichenthal (bottom left photo) , investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a limited liability company. The buyer, a limited liability company, was also secured and represented by Michael Regan and Matt Reichenthal.

Northbay Villa Apartments is located at 1023 Locust Street Northeast. “At a time when velocity in the market is off, the Marcus & Millichap platform showed its prowess by generating multiple offers and ultimately choosing a qualified buyer who closed the deal within 60 days,” states Regan.

Press Contact:  Bryn D. Merrey, Regional Manager, Tampa, (813) 387-4700

NAI Realvest Negotiates sale of 22.70 acre development site in Groveland, FL

ORLANDO, Fla. – NAI Realvest recently negotiated the sale of a 22.70-acre commercial development site on U.S. Highway 27 in Groveland in south Lake County.

Associate Jeff Ettinger (top right photo)  brokered the transaction representing the buyer, Edward Meixsell. Robert J. Hester IV, Trustee, based in DeLeon Springs is the seller.

The buyer plans a future commercial development on the site fronting US 27.

For more information, contact:

Jeff Ettinger, NAI Realvest, 407-875-9989 jettinger@realvest.com
Patrick Mahoney, President NAI Realvest 407-875-9989 pmahoney@realvest.com
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, LV Communications, 407-644-4142