Mortgage Bankers' Commercial/Multifamily Originations Down 46 Percent in 2009

WASHINGTON, DC--- Commercial and multifamily mortgage origination volumes decreased 46 percent in 2009 among repeat reporters, with mortgage bankers reporting $82.3 billion of closed commercial and multifamily loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's 2009 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance: Annual Origination Volume Summation.

Commercial banks and savings institutions were the largest single investor group for commercial and multifamily mortgages - responsible for $19.8 billion, or 24 percent, of the closed loan volume. Multifamily properties were the dominant property type - representing $36.5 billion, or 44 percent of the lending total.

"Relatively few commercial mortgages were made in 2009, as the recession curtailed both the supply of and demand for new mortgage debt," said Jamie Woodwell, (top right photo) MBA's Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research. "As the recession has receded, origination volumes have picked up slightly, but the absolute levels remain low."

Among the key findings are:

· Decreases were seen across most property types and investor groups, and were led by declines in loans intended for:

Credit companies; REITS, mortgage REITs and investment funds; and Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), collateralized debt obligations (CDO) and other asset-backed security (ABS) conduits;
· $15.9 billion of multifamily loans were closed for Fannie Mae, a 32 percent decline from 2008.
· $15.2 billion of multifamily loans were closed for Freddie Mac, a 24 percent decline from 2008.
· $5.8 billion of loans were closed for FHA/Ginnie Mae, a 168 percent increase from 2008.

Loans for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accounted for 85 percent of the total reported multifamily volume in 2009.

· Lending for office properties had the largest percentage decrease in originations by property type, followed closely by retail properties and hotels/motels.

Year-over-year changes are based on the changes in volume among "repeat reporters" that participated in both the 2008 and 2009 surveys.

CONTACT: Carolyn Kemp, (202) 557-2727, ckemp@mortgagebankers.org

Interstate Hotels & Resorts Forms Strategic Alliance with International Hotel Investments Ltd (IHI Ltd)

ARLINGTON, VA—Interstate Hotels & Resorts, the United States’ largest independent hotel management company,  has formed a strategic alliance with IHI Ltd, an affiliate of Harte Holdings, to operate and selectively invest in hotels in Europe. Interstate already manages six hotels for affiliates of Harte Holdings in the U.S. and Europe, four of which are owned by a joint venture between the two organizations.

The new alliance will expand Interstate’s third-party hotel management platform throughout the EU.

“We have been a pioneer in third-party hotel management in Europe, and with 12 hotels under contract there, we have the size and scale to support additional expansion,” said Thomas F. Hewitt (top left  photo), chairman and chief executive officer.

“In the near future, we intend to open a European office to oversee our growing European portfolio, which will be similar in scope and responsibility to our international offices in Moscow, Mexico, and most recently, India.”

Hewitt noted that the strength of Interstate’s international management platform comes from its reliance on local partners with strong ties to the region.

“IHI Ltd is a highly regarded European company, with considerable experience in the industry. With their strong local relationships, cultural expertise and depth of industry knowledge, they will identify suitable assets, source capital, structure transactions and asset manage.

" Our emphasis will be on third-party management opportunities, and, when appropriate, we may co-invest with owners and developers. We already are working on several possible development projects sourced by IHI Ltd that Interstate will manage.”

In December 2009, the Argyll Hotel Group, an affiliate of Harte Holdings, selected Interstate to manage two upscale boutique hotels in downtown London, increasing the number of its Interstate-managed properties to six.

“Our relationship with Interstate has proven mutually rewarding over the years, and we know them to be a strong and capable operator,” said Donal Kelleher, director of IHI Ltd. “This alliance underscores our confidence in their ability to continue to successfully adapt their proven management practices to international markets.”

“We believe this alliance significantly enhances our ability to source additional new contracts and/or development and acquisition opportunities throughout Europe,” said Leslie Ng, Interstate’s chief investment officer.

 “In addition to our self-generated pipeline, we see significant management opportunities arising as top-quality brands like Marriott, Starwood, Hilton and IHG, with whom we have had long and positive relationships, continue to announce plans to step up the pace of their international expansion.”

Contact:

Jerry Daly, Carol McCune, MediaDaly Gray, (703) 435-6293, jerry@dalygray.com
Carrie McIntyre SVP, Treasurer, Interstate Hotels & Resorts, (703) 387-3320, carrie.mcintyre@ihrco.com

Chatham Lodging Trust Announces Exercise of Underwriters’ Overallotment Option to Purchase Additional Shares

PALM BEACH, FL—Chatham Lodging Trust (the Company) announced the full exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option to purchase an additional 1,125,000 of the Company’s common shares of beneficial interest at the initial public offering (IPO) price of $20.00 per share, less the underwriting discount.

The overallotment option was exercised in connection with the Company’s IPO of 7,500,000 common shares, which priced on April 15, 2010.

Total proceeds from the IPO, including the overallotment option, are $160.4 million after deducting the full amount of the underwriting discount, including that portion of the underwriting discount that the underwriters have agreed to defer until the Company has used a specified portion of the offering proceeds to acquire hotel properties. The purchase of the shares pursuant to the IPO, including the shares purchased pursuant to the exercise of the overallotment option, is expected to close on April 21, 2010.

The Company will contribute the net proceeds of the offering to its operating partnership, which will use $73.5 million of the net proceeds to purchase six Homewood Suites by Hilton® hotels. The Company’s operating partnership will use the remaining net proceeds to invest in hotel properties in accordance with the Company’s investment strategy and for general business purposes.

Barclays Capital and FBR Capital Markets are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering. Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc. and Stifel Nicolaus are acting as senior co-managers and Credit Agricole CIB and JMP Securities are acting as co-managers.

A copy of the prospectus can be obtained by contacting Barclays Capital, c/o Broadridge, Integrated Distribution Services, 1155 Long Island Ave., Edgewood, N.Y. 11717, telephone (888) 603-5847 or by e-mail at barclaysprospectus@broadridge.com, or FBR Capital Markets, Prospectus Department, 1001 18th Street, North, Arlington, Va. 22209 or by e-mail at prospectuses@fbr.com.

The prospectus may also be obtained by contacting any of the other underwriters listed above.

Contact:  (Media) Jerry Daly, Carol McCune, Daly Gray Public Relations, (703) 435-6293


Chatham Lodging Trust Acquires Six Hotels from RLJ Development for $73.5 Million

PALM BEACH, Fla., April 26, 2010—Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE: CLDT ) today announced that it has acquired in an all-cash transaction six Homewood Suites by Hilton® hotels from RLJ Development, LLC for $73.5 million, or approximately $90,406 per suite.

The six hotels are the first properties to be acquired by Chatham since it completed its initial public offering on April 21, 2010. The hotels will continue to be managed by Hilton Worldwide.

“These hotels are typical of the type of properties we seek to acquire—upscale extended-stay hotels and premium-branded select-service properties that are located in major markets with high barriers to entry near strong demand generators for both business and leisure guests,” said Jeffrey H. Fisher, Chatham chief executive officer.

“We intend to invest approximately $11 million over the next two years at these hotels to upgrade guest rooms and common areas to enhance the guest experience and to meet brand requirements.”

The six hotels are:
· Homewood Suites by Hilton® Boston – (bottom right photo) Billerica/Bedford/Burlington; Billerica, Mass.; 147 suites.
· Homewood Suites by Hilton® Hartford – Farmington; Farmington, Conn.; 121 suites. (bottom left photo)
· Homewood Suites by Hilton® Minneapolis – Mall of America; Bloomington, Minn., 144 suites.
 Homewood Suites by Hilton® Dallas – Market Center; Dallas, Texas; 137 suites.
· Homewood Suites by Hilton® Orlando – Maitland; Maitland, Fla.; 143 suites.
· Homewood Suites by Hilton®Nashville – Brentwood; Brentwood, Tenn.; 121 suites.

Contact:
 (Media), Jerry Daly, Carol McCune, Daly Gray Public Relations, jerry@dalygray.com, (703) 435-6293
Peter Willis,  (Acquisitions), Chief Investment Officer, pwillis@cl-trust.com, (561) 227-1387

Javier Socorro Promoted to Assistant Vice President at TD Wood & Co.

MIAMI, FL— Javier Socorro was promoted to Assistant Vice President of Thomas D. Wood and Company on April 19, 2010. As Assistant Vice President, Javier is responsible for the underwriting and origination of commercial real estate loans using a variety of lending sources including Life Insurance Companies, Banks, Credit Unions, private money and large institutional sources.


Javier joined our team in June 2006 as a mortgage analyst, where he assisted in the underwriting, market research and financial analysis process. Prior to joining Thomas D. Wood and Company, he served as an assistant to the Project Manager at Terra Group in Miami, Florida.

Javier is a graduate of Duke University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and History, and was a four-year starter on the baseball team.

Javier’s experience in loan underwriting and origination make him well suited for his new role as Assistant Vice President of Thomas D. Wood and Company—Miami, possessing the depth and expertise to provide seamless transactions.

For further information, please contact:
Javier Socorro (305) 447-4855 jsocorro@tdwood.com
Jessica Kinnee (407) 937-0470 jkinnee@tdwood.com