Grubb & Ellis Closes Largest Single Asset Office Transaction in Sacramento County in 2009

SAN FRANCISCO, CA– Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm, today announced that on behalf of an institutional joint venture, the company facilitated the sale of 10000 Goethe Road in Sacramento and 1650 Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda to a private investor.

While the actual sale price of the assets was not disclosed, the Sacramento sale is believed to be the largest single office building sale in Sacramento County in 2009.

Edward Suharski, (bottom right photo) executive vice president, and Steven Golubchik and Seth McKinnon, vice presidents, all members of Grubb & Ellis’ Institutional Capital Markets group, represented the joint venture in the transaction. The buyer represented itself.

“In the midst of the recession, our team worked closely with the seller to facilitate the sale of these buildings in a relatively short period, showing that there are still buyers in the market for quality product,” Suharski said. “We received interest from both private capital and institutional investors, but ultimately a private buyer was selected due to their offering structure and their quick close.”

Golubchik added, “Although some institutions are sitting on the sidelines, private capital investors see this current market cycle as one of the best opportunities to buy and have begun to snatch up recent offerings on an all cash basis and with very quick closings. There remains strong investor confidence in the stability and resilience of the Sacramento marketplace.”

Located within the master-planned South Bradshaw Business Center, 10000 Goethe Road is a two-story, 126,000-square-foot Class A office building that is 100 percent leased to the State of California on a long-term basis. The property was completed in 1997.

Offering approximately 64,000 square feet of space, 1650 Harbor Bay Parkway is a two-story R&D/office building that was completed in 2001. The property is accessible via the newly constructed Ron Cowan Parkway on Interstate 880, linking it with Oakland, San Francisco and the Silicon Valley. It was 89 percent occupied at the time of sale.

Contact: Julia McCartney, Phone: 714.975.2230, Email: julia.mccartney@grubb-ellis.com

Pizzuti Solutions Completes $450,000 Milwaukee Avenue Extension to Border $30 Million Dunedin Gateway in Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Pizzuti Solutions, LLC, a division of The Pizzuti Companies of Columbus, Ohio and Orlando, recently completed a $450,000 extension of Milwaukee Avenue between Main Street and Skinner Boulevard across from Mease Dunedin Hospital (top right photo) in downtown Dunedin.

Pizzuti Vice President Tom Harmer, (bottom left photo)  who manages Pizzuti Solutions, the division that focuses on the firm’s public-private programs, said the road construction project was part of the infrastructure improvements that helps to set the stage for a major $30 million redevelopment of the 4.1-acre Dunedin Gateway, a downtown parcel bordered by Milwaukee Avenue, Skinner Boulevard (S.R. 580), and Main Street.

The first phase of the planned retail and office development will include ground-floor shopping and Class A medical office space, Harmer said.

Pizzuti Solutions is also overseeing the design and construction of $1 million in streetscape improvements on Main Street between Skinner Boulevard and Milwaukee Avenue, Harmer said.

Those improvements include relocating the utilities underground, reducing lanes from four to two, providing angled street parking, installation of brick pavers and crosswalks, landscaping and decorative street lighting. Funding for the road and streetscape projects is supported by a State grant for economic development, with completion expected early next year.

For more information contact:
Tom Harmer, Vice President, The Pizzuti Companies; 407-841-0000; tharmer@pizzuti.com
Bob Monds, Director of Marketing and Communications, The Pizzuti Companies; 614-280-4058; bmonds@pizzuti.com
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications; 407-644-4142; lvershelco@aol.com

The Real Estate Capital Scoreboard(r) - November 2009

CHICAGO, IL, Nov. 2, 2009 - The recovering stock market is gradually translating to more favorable conditions in the realty capital markets.

While the capital markets are relatively dormant as lenders seek to shore up the balance sheets, select life companies, banks and private funding sources continue conservatively funding transactions.

Furthermore, Mortgage REITs have reentered the market, seeking higher leverage loans, but at larger rate premiums. Greater competition from this sector will continue pressuring other lenders to offer better pricing.

Regardless of pricing, project quality and sponsorship remain tantamount as lenders stay defensive. As such, current pricing trends include the following:

* During the past month, benchmark treasury yields moved nearly a quarter percent higher, yet rates remained steady as many lenders continue using rate floors for permanent loans.

* Floating rate debt remained unchanged as prime bank customers pay floating-rate pricing starting at about 4.5%.

* While new transactions are still rare, refinancings and restructuring of loans remains in the forefront of real estate capital markets. Appraisers and investors are using band-of-investment calculations for sizing values and loans absent of any relevant market comparable data.

Given current debt pricing, capitalization rates under such models typical start at 7% for multifamily properties and 8.5% for commercial assets. Multifamily agency pricing favors securitized loans vs. balance sheet debt as the agencies CMBS markets slowly recover.

* Opportunity investors armed with significant equity capital aggressively hunt for bargain price distressed assets with pricing of 20% or more on an overall return basis using five-years or less time horizon.

* Commercial and industrial tenants with specialized space needs and multifamily projects using FHA funds, such as 221(d)(4), are the only sources of new construction demand. Return-on-cost yields start at 8% for

"definable" credit-worthy tenants; otherwise double-digit figures are more representative of current development risk pricing.

Aaron Gruen, (bottom left photo) an Advisory Board Member of the Real Estate Capital Institute notes, "The Great Recession has permanently altered consumer, investment, and governmental behavior. Both public and private sector interests which influence land use and economic development need to reset their models and practices to work out projects and plans affected by the Great Recession and to respond to the opportunities the economic recovery will present."


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

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