HFF arranges $90M refinancing for four phases of Southlake Town Square in Southlake, TX

DALLAS, TX – The Dallas office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.)  has arranged a $90 million refinancing for four phases of Southlake Town Square (centered photo below) , a Class A entertainment and lifestyle center in Southlake, Texas.

The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, Inland Western REIT to secure the seven-year, 6.25% fixed-rate loan through MetLife Real Estate Investments. The refinancing is replacing maturing CMBS loans and a bank loan.

Southlake Town Square consists of a six phase mixed-use development that was completed within the last 10 years.

The refinancing is for four phases, which total 507,500 square feet out of the total 841,029 square feet of the entire Southlake Town Square shopping center.

The master development contains more than 150 tenants including: Harkin’s Theatre, CitiFinancial, Barnes and Noble, The Container Store, Banana Republic, Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Brooks Brothers, and a variety of other well-known national brands and restaurants.

 Southlake Town Square is situated between Texas Highway 114 and Southlake Boulevard close to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Southlake.

“Southlake Town Square is located in one of the most affluent areas in North Texas and enjoys a wide draw due to the unique mix of shopping, dining, entertainment and lodging options.

"The asset is generally regarded as the first and most successful mixed-use town center development in DFW and the State of Texas.

"The asset’s prominence, along with the strong tenant performance and the experience of Inland Western as an owner and manager, made this a very compelling loan opportunity,” said Kevin MacKenzie (lower left photo) , a managing director at HFF involved in the financing.

Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust, Inc. is a self-managed real estate investment trust that acquires, manages and develops a diversified portfolio of real estate, primarily multi-tenant shopping centers across the United States.

 As of December 31, 2009, the portfolio under management totaled in excess of 46 million square feet, consisting of 299 consolidated operating properties. The company also has interests in 11 unconsolidated operating properties and 11 properties under development. For further information, please
see the company website at www.inlandwestern.com.

Contacts:

Kevin C. MacKenzie, HFF Managing Director, (214) 265-0880, kmackenzie@hfflp.com
Kristen M. Murphy, HFF Associate Director, Marketing, (713) 852-3500, krmurphy@hfflp.com

HFF closes $13.7M sale of and arranges financing for BJ’s Wholesale Club in Franklin, MA

BOSTON, MA – The Boston office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced today that it has closed the sale of a 108,510-square-foot BJ’s Wholesale Club in Franklin, Massachusetts and arranged the acquisition financing.

HFF’s Coleman Benedict (top right photo) and Ben Sayles exclusively represented the seller, National Development, and procured the 1031 exchange buyer in the $13.667 million, off-market transaction. HFF senior managing director Fred Wittmann (bottom left photo) subsequently secured a $7.5 million, fixed-rate acquisition loan through Flagship Bank.

The property was constructed in 2000 and BJ’s occupies the facility under the terms of a long-term lease. Located at 100 Corporate Drive in Franklin, the property is situated on 17.53 acres of land located immediately adjacent to Interstate 495 (I-495), which provides regional access via Exit 17 (Route 140).

 In addition to its convenient access, the property is also highly-visible from I-495 (with ADT in excess of 81,500 vehicles). The asset is well poised to cater to the family-friendly towns of Franklin, Hopkinton, Medfield, Foxboro, Medfield and Walpole.

Contacts:
Coleman J. Benedict, HFF Director, (617) 338-0990, cbenedict@hfflp.com
Kristen M. Murphy, HFF Associate Director, Marketing, (713) 852-3500, krmurphy@hfflp.com

HFF arranges $3M refinancing for Glen Creek Park Apartments in Salem, OR

PORTLAND, OR – The Portland office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.)has arranged a $3 million refinancing for Glen Creek Park Apartments, (top left photo)  an 86-unit multi-housing community in Salem, Oregon.

HFF associate director Tom Wilson worked on behalf of the borrower, Glen Creek Park Apts, LLC to secure the 10-year, 5.56% fixed-rate loan through HFF’s correspondent Fannie Mae DUS lender, M&T Realty Capital Corporation.

“The refinance allowed the borrower to secure long-term financing at a favorable fixed-rate in anticipation of a rising interest rate environment,” said Wilson.

Glen Creek Park Apartments is located at 351-359 GlenCreek Road NW approximately 44 miles southwest of downtown Portland via Interstate 5. The property is currently 99% leased

Contacts:

Thomas F. Wilson,  HFF Associate Director, (503) 224-0444, twilson@hfflp.com
Kristen M. Murphy, HFF Associate Director, Marketing, (713) 852-3500, krmurphy@hfflp.com

Rhodes+Brito Architects Appoints Jessica James Chan Business Development Marketing Manager in Orlando

ORLANDO - Rhodes+Brito Architects in Orlando has appointed Jessica James Chan, (top left photo) CPSM as business development marketing manager.

Ruffin Rhodes, (bottom right photo) co-founder and partner at Rhodes+Brito Architects, said Chan has more than 12 years of experience in business development and marketing. She was most recently marketing director at The Jordan Companies in Orlando.

Chan earned her bachelor’s degree in Health-Business Management from the University of Central Florida
.

Rhodes+Brito Architects, which opened in Orlando in 1996, currently employs a staff of 17, including seven registered architects.

The firm served as lead architect for the Florida A&M University College of Law facility in downtown Orlando.

For more information,  contact:
Ruffin Rhodes, Rhodes+Brito Architects, 407-648-7288 ruffin@rbarchitects.com;
Maximiano Brito, Rhodes+Brito Architects, 407-648-7288 max@rbarchitects.com;
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications 407-644-4142 (fax: 4410)

Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty Expands Southwest Orlando Market Coverage

 ORLANDO - Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty has expanded its focus on the southwest Orlando market.

Roger Soderstrom, (top right photo) founder and owner of Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty, said Southwest Orlando Performance Director Diane Travis has opened an office in Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty’s World Marketing Center in the south tower penthouse of The Plaza located on Orange Ave. at Church St. in downtown Orlando.

In addition, Travis has opened a new southwest area branch office in Bay Hill on Apopka Vineland Rd.

“This move greatly expands our market coverage in Orlando,” Soderstrom explained.

For more information contact:
Roger Soderstrom, Founder/Owner Stirling Sotheby’s International Realty 407-581-7890;
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications 407-644-4142

NAI Realvest Arranges First North American Operation for Global Leader in Crowns Industry – Pelliconi Group

ORLANDO, FL. – NAI Realvest, a leading commercial real estate services provider in the central Florida area announced the, Industrial Team of Robert Blackwell (top right photo) SIOR, principal in the firm, Sean DuPree (lower right photo) CCIM and Jim Murr (bottom left photo)  recently negotiated the lease of 86,000 square feet of industrial space for Pelliconi Group’s first location in North America.

 Pelliconi Group is a worldwide leader in the production of plastic and metal caps, crowns and closures for the bottling industry. Rick Leighton, (middle left photo)  senior vice president of Corporate Services for NAI Global, assisted in the transaction.

Pelliconi Group’s decision to locate in Orlando will result in 24 new jobs, and the facility’s location at 2501 Principal Row in Orlando Central Park in south Orlando will serve as a manufacturing base for crowns that will be shipped to two nearby bottlers.

After evaluating other potential locations, Pelliconi eventually chose Orlando for several key reasons, according to Blackwell.

“Orlando provides a central location for Pelliconi to distribute to their clients’ bottling facilities, the international airport makes it easy for Pelliconi management to reach their U.S. based facility and the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission provided the expertise, services and resources that were critical to an international firm locating a new facility in the U.S,” Blackwell said.

“My relationship with Pelliconi Group started a few years ago, and working closely with their team and members across the NAI Global network, we were able to identify a site that met their industrial needs and positioned them closely to their customers’ bottling locations,” said Leighton.

The Pelliconi Group, based in Bologna, Italy, has three production plants in Bologna and Chieti, Italy, as well as in Cairo, Egypt. Foreign subsidiaries in France, the UK and Germany, and a worldwide network of sales and distribution has allowed them to become the world’s largest producer and exporter of crown corks. The new Florida facility will help introduce the Pelliconi Group’s products and services across North America.

NAI Global manages a network of 325 offices and 5,000 professionals in 55 countries across the globe. NAI specializes in representing large corporations with multi-market real estate requirements and was recently rated the best performing network in the 2009 Watkins Research Group survey of corporate real estate executives.

NAI Realvest is located at 2200 Lucien Way, Suite 350, in Maitland, Florida. For more information visit http://www.nairealvest.com/.

For more information about this press release, contact
Robert Blackwell, SIOR, NAI Realvest 407-875-9989, rblackwell@realvest.com;
Patrick Mahoney, President NAI Realvest 407-875-9989, pmahoney@realvest.com;
Larry Vershel Communications 407-644-4142, lvershelco@aol.com.

Foreclosure Filings Sink 21% In South Florida In 1st Quarter 2010

MIAMI, FL--Foreclosure filings in South Florida slipped by 21 percent to less than 20,000 actions initiated the tricounty region in the first quarter of 2010 on a year-over-year basis compared to more than 25,000 filings during the same period in 2009, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

The quarterly drop was exacerbated by a 20 percent decrease in foreclosure filings in March 2010 following a 19 percent drop in February and a seven percent drop in January, according to the report.

All three South Florida counties experienced a decrease in foreclosure filings - also known as a Lis Pendens or a Notice of Default - between January and March of 2010 with actions tumbling by 33 percent Miami-Dade County, 22 percent in Palm Beach County, and 12 percent in Broward County, according to the report based on the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™.

The Foreclosure Database™ is updated every business day with the latest foreclosure filings initiated with the clerks of court in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

"The federal government programs coupled with the pure financial feasibility of working with troubled borrowers to keep them in their homes is translating into lenders filing fewer foreclosure actions in South Florida," said Peter Zalewski, (middle right photo) a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC. "Lenders now know that a foreclosure action will take 18 months and at least $100,000 to complete in South Florida, which is three times longer and twice as expensive as back in 2007 when the crisis first began.

Once the bank owns a troubled property, the residence usually sells for about the same amount as a comparable short sale, which can be completed in a fraction of the time.

"Bankers are smart people so it is no surprise to see a change in strategy and the drop in foreclosure filings given the pure economics of the situation."

Contact:  Peter Zalewski,  800-750-0517,  peter@condovultures.com    

Wyndham Hotel Group CEO Honored for Industry Contributions

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (April 6, 2010) – Eric Danziger, (top right photo)  president and CEO of Wyndham Hotel Group, part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies (NYSE: WYN), has been recognized by the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association International with the award for Lifetime Contribution in the Hospitality Industry.

The award celebrates the many contributions Danziger has made to the business over the course of his 30-year career, including the creation of Doubletree’s now famous chocolate chip cookie and the expansion of the early Starwood Hotels and Resorts portfolio, which during his three-year tenure as the company’s president and CEO, grew from 20 hotels to nearly 600.

Most recently, Danziger has continued Wyndham Hotel Group’s evolution to a true global hospitality company, placing a renewed focus on operational excellence and strategic global growth and appointing seasoned hoteliers to the company’s key leadership roles.

“I have always had an unwavering passion for the hotel business,” said Danziger. “I truly believe in the power of hospitality and travel and I look forward to the new heights to which we will take this great industry in the future.”

Danziger is the recipient of the 1999 Peace Award of the American Friends of Tel Aviv University and the 2005 Northern California Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for Real Estate and Hospitality.

CONTACT: Christine Da Silva, +1 (973) 753-6590, christine.dasilva@wyndhamworldwide.com

Barcelona Hotel Group, Dow Hotel Company Enter Agreement to Acquire Hotels

PHOENIX, AZ---Barcelona Hotel Group, a financial investment group, and Dow Hotel Company, LLC (DHC), a hotel ownership, investment and management company  announced that they have signed a letter of intent to acquire and operate hotels.

Under terms of the agreement, Dow will become a Strategic Alliance Member (SAM) and co-invest with affiliates of Barcelona to acquire first-class, full-service hotels over the next 12-18 months.

Barcelona REIT One (BR-1), a private real estate investment trust, or an affiliate of BR-1, will acquire and own the properties.

The closed-end fund, managed by Barcelona, expects to acquire up to $450 million in hotel assets. BR-1 is the first in a planned series of Barcelona-administered hotel investment funds.

As a SAM, Dow will invest in BR-1, along with institutional investors. Dow will be responsible for sourcing acquisition candidates and will operate as a third-party manager for all properties it presents and that are acquired.

Also as part of the agreement, Murray Dow, (top right photo)  president, Dow Hotel Company, has been named to the Board of Directors of Barcelona Hotel Group.

“We believe that the next several years will create exceptional opportunities to acquire hotels, reposition them and take advantage of an economic upswing,” said Richard Harkin, president of Barcelona Hotel Group.

“The industry is in the worst downturn in operating results in more than a generation. Hotel values have declined and hundreds of properties are in default.

"While there are other acquisition funds formed or forming, we believe that co-investing with a proven, well-regarded independent management company like Dow will more closely align the owner and operator and allow us to take greater advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead in the hotel industry.”
 
 Barcelona Hotel Group Contact:  Dick Harkins, Phone: 480-951-4135, harkins@barcelonahotelgroup.com
Dow Hotel Company Contact:  Jerry Daly, Chris Daly Dick Harkins, Phone: (703) 435-6293
jerry@dalygray.com

Concord Hospitality Ranks Among Top 20 Management Companies in Industry Survey

RALEIGH-DURHAM, NC—Concord Hospitality Enterprises, one of the nation’s top-ranked hotel developer/owner/operators, today announced that it now ranks among the industry’s top 20 third-party management companies, according to the latest survey conducted by Hotel & Motel Management.

In a space of 12 months, the company moved up in the rankings from 40th in 2008 to 17th in 2009 of 104 U.S. management companies listed. Concord currently owns and/or operates a total of 70 hotels, eight of which are in the greater Pittsburgh area, with two more under construction and several in the pipeline.

“We more than doubled the size of our portfolio of owned and managed hotels during the past five years, our fastest rate of growth in our 24-year history,” said Mark G. Laport (top right photo) , president and CEO of Concord.

“A significant part of that growth occurred in the Pittsburgh area, where we are about to open our ninth hotel—a 110-room SpringHill Suites in Bakery Square.” (lower left photo)

The adaptive reuse and new construction project in downtown Pittsburgh is part of a mixed-use development being built in a former Nabisco cookie plant.

Contact: Chris Daly, Senior Vice President, Daly Gray Public Relations, ph: 703-435-6293, Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/dalygray