Penn National Gaming Closes on Toledo Casino Site

Anticipates 2012 Opening for $250 Million Project

WYOMISSING, Pa. & TOLEDO, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Penn National Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) announced today that it completed the purchase of the 44-acre site at 1968 Miami Street that was expressly authorized for casino gaming in the successful November 3 Issue 3 constitutional ballot initiative.

Penn National’s proposed $250 million Hollywood Casino Toledo is expected to open at this location in the second half of 2012.

“Closing on the property moves us a major step closer to making Hollywood Casino Toledo a reality,” said Eric Schippers, senior vice president of Penn National.

 “We’re eager to move forward and excited that this project will bring thousands of construction and permanent jobs to the Toledo area, as well as tens of millions of dollars for the city of Toledo as well as all of the counties and school districts in Northwest Ohio.”

Penn National has designated Kenneth Schultz, Vice President of Design and Construction, to lead its development efforts on the ground in Toledo and the Company announced two new additions to its Toledo team:

Local attorney Richard Mitchell (top right photo) of Mitchell Law LLC, will serve as Penn National’s legal counsel, primarily focusing on employment and real estate matters.

 The Company’s legal team also includes former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Andy Douglas (top left photo)  of Crabbe, Brown & James LLP of Columbus. Mr. Douglas served as Penn National’s legal and political advisor for Northwest Ohio during the Issue 3 campaign, and will continue to serve in that capacity during the development of the casino.

After working closely with the NAACP in Toledo, Penn National has named Jay Black as its diversity consultant for Hollywood Casino Toledo. Mr. Black will assist in developing a comprehensive diversity plan to ensure that the project and the casino’s workforce is inclusive and reflects the diverse nature of the community.

The Miami Street site was purchased by Toledo Gaming Ventures, Inc., an Ohio corporation established by Penn National, from River Road Development, which acquired the property in 2006. River Road used a Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund grant and a matching grant from the city of Toledo to perform environmental remediation on the site.

 In February 2009, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency approved the completed remediation, clearing the way for redevelopment. Penn National Gaming owns and operates gaming and racing facilities with a focus on slot machine entertainment.

The Company presently operates nineteen facilities in fifteen jurisdictions, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario.

In aggregate, Penn National’s operated facilities feature over 26,300 gaming machines, approximately 400 table games, over 2,000 hotel rooms and over 959,000 square feet of gaming floor space.

Contacts
Eric Schipper, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, 610-378-8321 or eric.schippers@pngaming.com
Jaffoni & Collins Incorporated, Joseph N. Jaffoni, Richard Land, 212-835-8500 or penn@jcir.com

NAI Realvest negotiates new long term lease for office space at Herndon Center in Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. -- NAI Realvest recently negotiated a six-year lease agreement for 980 square feet of office space at Herndon Commerce Center, 615-G Herndon Ave. in Orlando.

Michael Heidrich,  (top left photo) principal at NAI Realvest, negotiated the transaction representing the landlord LBJ Properties of Winter Park.


The National Domino Federation USA – an independent non-profit organization for Domino enthusiasts and to promote the sport of Domino in the United States – is the new tenant and was represented by Henry Torres (top right photo)  of Weichert Realtors-Hallmark Properties.

For more information, please contact:


Michael Heidrich, Principal, NAI Realvest 407-875-9989 mheidrich@realvest.com;
Patrick Mahoney President NAI Realvest 407-875-9989 pmahoney@realvest.com;
Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142 Lvershelco@aol.com.


NAI Realvest makes big jump in Central Florida rankings to region’s second largest commercial property firm

ORLANDO, FL. -- NAI Realvest made a big jump in rankings of Central Florida Commercial Property firms recently.

The annual Book of Lists, published by Orlando Business Journal, ranked NAI Realvest as the area’s second largest commercial property firm with 253 lease transactions and 70 sales that totaled $471.6 million.

Last year NAI Realvest ranked as the region’s fourth largest commercial property firm. George Livingston (bottom  right photo)  is chairman of NAI Realvest.  Patrick Mahoney (bottom left photo)  is president.

For more information contact:

Paul P. Partyka, Managing Partner/Principal NAI Realvest, 407-875-9989, ppartyka@realvest.com
Patrick Mahoney, President, NAI Realvest 407-875-9989, pmahoney@realvest.com;
Beth Payan or Larry Vershel, Larry Vershel Communications 407-644-4142

Emerald Bowl Attracts Record Televised Audience

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) today announced that the eighth annual Emerald Bowl set a new record television rating.

The Emerald Bowl was broadcast nationally on ESPN in prime time on Saturday night and featured a match up between the University of Southern California Trojans and Boston College Eagles, playing for the first time in more than 20 years.

 The television rating of 5.34 was not only the highest in Emerald Bowl history, but also the second highest rated ESPN football bowl game ever watched. This rating translates into over 5.2 million households and over 8 million viewers for the game.

The game also attracted a sellout crowd, the third in the last four years of the Emerald Bowl.

"When the Emerald Bowl was conceived in 2002, we hoped for a unique match up between two teams with national appeal," said Andrew Burke, (middle right photo) Senior Vice President of Marketing for Diamond Foods.

"We were pleased to have USC and Boston College in the game to help us fill the stadium with enthusiastic fans and draw millions of television viewers.

"Emerald Bowl attendees were able to experience both the Emerald® and Pop Secret® brands throughout game day with product sampling, marketing activation inside and outside AT&T Park and in-game contests and advertising.

"In addition, Emerald and Diamond® advertisements, as well as the brand new Pop Secret commercial featuring animated kernels acting out a scene from the Dark Knight, were aired on television throughout the Emerald Bowl and during other ESPN bowl games on Saturday."

The Emerald Bowl is the only NCAA bowl game featuring a match up between the ACC and Pac-10 conferences. This year's closely-contested game ended in a 24-13 victory for The University of Southern California.

Diamond Foods has been the title sponsor of the Emerald Bowl since its inception in 2002. The Emerald snack line features innovative, great tasting snack nut products and is distributed nationally in a variety of retail outlets.

For more details about the Emerald Bowl, visit http://www.emeraldbowl.org/.

Diamond is a leading branded food company specializing in producing, marketing and distributing culinary nuts and snack products under the Diamond, Emerald and Pop Secret brands.

Corporate Web Site: http://www.diamondfoods.com/
Consumer Web Sites: http://www.emeraldnuts.com/,  http://www.diamondnuts.com/,  and http://www.popsecret.com/

Contacts:
Annie Liu, 415-445-7425 (Media), Communications Assistant, aliu@diamondfoods.com
Bob Philipps, 415-445-7426 (Investors), VP, Treasury & Investor Relations, bphilipps@diamondfoods.com

Portland investment firm buys KOIN Center

The 25-year-old KOIN Center has 411,000 square feet of office and retail space, and is one of downtown Portland’s most recognizable buildings. It is home to First American Title Insurance, lucy ctivewear, Willis of Oregon, ECONorthwest and KOIN-TV.


PORTLAND, OR--The KOIN Center -- most of it -- has been sold again, this time to a hometown investment firm with more links to China than Portland.

American Pacific International Capital, Inc., in its first play in the region, has plucked 19 floors of the 30-floor building out of foreclosure.

Terms of the deal, which closed Tuesday, were not revealed. But real estate sources indicate the sale price was between $50 and $60 million. California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, bought the 25-year-old tower in 2007 for $108 million but defaulted this year on a $70 million loan.

"It's essentially the biggest short sale that's occurred in Portland this year," said Gene Grant, (middle right photo) an attorney with Davis Wright Tremaine in Portland who represented the buyer. "The lender did not get everything they were owed, but they got enough."

New York Life Insurance had taken control of the building after suing the building's owner this summer. The insurer claimed CalPERS failed to make its July mortgage payment on the building.

CalPERS had partnered with Commonwealth Partners, a large Los Angeles real estate investment firm, to buy KOIN Center. The entity, FPS KOIN Center, borrowed $70 million from New York Life in August 2007.

The tower boasts 411,000 square feet of office and retail space and one of downtown's most recognizable buildings. It is home to First American Title Insurance, lucy activewear, Willis of Oregon, ECONorthwest and KOIN-TV. Its top 11 stories of the building are condominiums and were not included in either sale.

Another Portland real estate investment firm, Capstone Partners, considered making a play for the building. But Jeffrey Sackett, (middle left photo) a principal with Capstone, said it could not make the deal pencil out at its asking price.

"We were led to believe by the brokers they had a couple offers north of $50 million that seemed solid," Sackett said. "We didn't feel comfortable...for a lot of reasons. It's a very difficult investment market environment at this point. There's a great deal of leasing risk. There's just very, very low demand for Class A office space."

Still, Sackett said, the deal for what he called a "trophy asset" bodes well for the region's beleaguered commercial property market.

"Any trade is a good thing because it starts to establish value," he said.

APIC, with offices in Portland's World Trade Center, is little known in Portland real estate circles but active in China. It started a palm oil production factory in Chaozhou, China earlier this year and resurrected a soybean oil plant from bankruptcy in Shantou.

Earlier this year, former U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao (bottom left photo)  helped APIC break ground on a development partnership in Shantou to build 92,000 square meters of hotel rooms, condos and retail space called Ocean Panorama.

AIPC president Wilson Chen did not return a call seeking comment.

Grant, who has worked on deals involving KOIN Center since its construction, said he hoped the purchase injects some life into commercial real estate, where owners have seen building values dive below the amount they owe lenders.

"What's happening in commercial real estate is really exactly what's happened in residential real estate," Grant said. "It's just a delayed reaction. We're just now starting to see the commercial short sales."

Maury L. Carter & Associates Brokers $20M Cash Land Sale in Volusia County, FL

ORLANDO, FL--Maury L. Carter & Associates, Inc. ended 2009 with a bang by brokering a $20,066,605.19 cash sale to St. Johns River Water Management District on December 29th.

Daryl M. Carter, (top right photo)  Trustee of Carter-Maytown Road Land Trust was the Seller of the 3,321± acre parcel located on the east side of SR 415 in Volusia County, Florida. The Seller was represented by Daryl M. Carter of Maury L. Carter & Associates, Inc.

Despite the poor economy, Maury L. Carter & Associates, Inc. has closed $41 million in transactions in 2009

Contact: 
Joan M. Fisher, Maury L. Carter & Associates, Inc., 3333 S. Orange Avenue, Suite 200, Orlando, FL 32806-8500, (407) 581-6207 direct, (407) 422-3144 office, (407) 422-3155 fax, jfisher@maurycarter.com

Marcus & Millichap Sells $10.2M Multifamily Property in Salem, OR

SALEM, OR – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has brokered the sale of Orchard Park, (top left photo) a 224-unit, 210,752-square foot Section 42 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) property in Salem.

The sales price of $10,292,000 represents $45,946 per unit and $49 per square foot.

The Tax Credit Group of Marcus & Millichap (TCG) represented the seller and the buyer. The Tax Credit Group is led by Robert L. Sheppard, (top right photo)  a senior vice president investments, along with Armand W. Tiberio (middle right photo)  and Spencer H. Hurst, (bottom right photo) vice presidents investments.

Matthew Williams, an investment specialist in the firm’s Portland office, also provided representation.

“Orchard Park’s intrinsic value and strong operations, combined with the submarket’s solid fundamentals, made it an attractive investment,” says Tiberio.

Located at 4100 Kacey Circle Northeast in Salem directly off Interstate 5, the property is near major employers and neighborhood services.

Orchard Park was constructed in 1993 under the Section 42 LIHTC program and has extended use restrictions in place until December 31, 2023. The property features 64 one-bedroom/one-bath units, 96 two-bedroom/two bath units and 64 three-bedroom/two-bath apartments.

Press Contact: Stacey Corso, Communications Department, (925) 953-1716