Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Chatham Lodging Trust Announces Senior Secured Credit Facility


PALM BEACH, FL, Aug. 10, 2010—Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE: CLDT), a hotel real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on upscale extended-stay hotels and premium- branded select-service hotels, today announced that it has signed a commitment letter with a group of lenders for an $85 million senior secured credit facility.

Barclays Capital and Regions Capital Markets are the joint lead arrangers for the revolving credit facility, with Barclays Bank PLC serving as the administrative agent and Regions Bank acting as the syndication agent.

Other banks providing commitments for the credit facility include Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, UBS Investment Bank and US Bank National Association.

The revolving credit facility matures in three years and includes an accordion feature that would allow the company to increase the size of the facility to $110 million.

Borrowings will bear interest at a rate determined by a leverage-based pricing grid and will initially be set at LIBOR plus 325 basis points, subject to a LIBOR floor of 1.25%.

“We appreciate the support of these banks, and we expect to close on the credit facility during the third quarter subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions,” said Julio Morales, Chatham’s chief financial officer. “This secured line of credit will help us continue to execute our growth strategy, including the pursuit and funding of further hotel acquisitions.”

Chatham Lodging Trust is a self-advised REIT that was organized to invest in upscale extended-stay hotels and premium-branded, select-service hotels.

The company currently owns eight hotels with an aggregate of 1,057 rooms/suites in seven states and has an additional four hotels under contract to purchase. Additional information about Chatham may be found at www.chathamlodgingtrust.com.

Contact:

Jeff Fisher (Company) Chief Executive Officer (top right photo), (561) 227-1309
Jerry Daly or Carol McCune, Daly Gray (Media), (703) 435-6293

HFF arranges $43.5M refinancing for Rosslyn Metro Center in Arlington, VA


WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington, D.C. office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced today that it has arranged a $43.5 million refinancing for Rosslyn Metro Center, a 407,364-square-foot, mixed-use building in Arlington, Virginia.

Working exclusively on behalf of The Clover Companies, a development and management firm founded in 1979, HFF senior managing directors Bill Asbill (top right photo)  and Bob Donhauser (top left photo)  and managing director Cary Abod (middle right photo)  placed the 10-year, fixed-rate loan with Prudential Mortgage Capital Company.

Rosslyn Metro Center has 22 stories of retail and office space that is 89% leased, including about 176,000 square feet (43%) leased to the GSA.

The property is located at 1700 North Moore Street on top of the Rosslyn Metro Station and approximately three miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. in Arlington.

Contacts:

William S. Asbill, HFF Senior Managing Director, (202) 533-2500, wasbill@hfflp.com
Kristen M. Murphy, HFF Associate Director, Marketing, (713) 852 3500, krmurphy@hfflp.com

Mercantile Capital Corporation Finances U.S. Small Business Development Projects Totaling More Than $500M


ALTMONTE SPRINGS - As U.S. Senators debate a House bill that would provide up to $30 billion in loan guarantees to American small businesses, a Florida-based lender that specializes in funding small business expansion and development projects is toasting a major benchmark: More than a half-billion dollars in loans closed on projects underway or completed in 36 states and Puerto Rico.

Mercantile Capital Corporation, headquartered in Altamonte Springs, specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loans that help small business owners acquire or develop their own facilities.

Christopher G. Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said the goal is job creation.

“America’s small businesses provide more than half of all American jobs, yet this sector of the economy has been burdened the most by the economic downturn,” Hurn said.

Mercantile Capital Corp. has closed 292 small business loans from May of 2003 through June 30, 2010, financing projects valued at $511,056,640 in total project costs, Hurn said.

More information, Contact:
Chris Hurn, CEO Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040;
Robin Lashley, Mercantile Capital Corporation, 407-786-5040;
Larry Vershel, Larry Vershel Communications 407-644-4142

T.D. Wood Brokers $13.9M in New Florida Retail Loans


ORLANDO, FL, aug. 10, 2010— Thomas D. Wood and Company, a Strategic Alliance Mortgage LLC member, secured financing in the amount of $13,970,000 for Golden Eagle Village Publix, Walgreens Pharmacy, and Coral Commons and Carmel Center.


Doug Rozzell, (top right photo) Company Principal, secured $9,197,000 in financing for the Golden Eagle Village Publix on July 26, 2010, through Thomas D. Wood and Company’s relationship with a national bank.

The construction/mini-perm loan has an interest rate of 30-day LIBOR plus 300 basis points, with a floor of 4%. The loan is interest-only during the 24 month construction period, followed by a 36 month mini permanent mortgage with principal and interest payments calculated using a 25 year amortization.

The loan-to-value is 58%, and loan-to-cost is 72%. The grocery-anchored retail center will contain 63,950 square feet, with three outparcels. The Golden Eagle Village Publix will be built on Highway 27 in Clermont, Florida.

Steve Wood,  (middle left photo) Company Chief Operating Officer, secured $4,000,000 in financing for Walgreens Pharmacy on July 13, 2010, through Thomas D. Wood and Company’s correspondent relationship with Symetra Financial.

The fixed-rate loan has a term of 10 years, with a rate reset for 10 years, based on a 25-year amortization and an interest rate of 6.75%. The loan-to-value is 65%. The 14,820 free-standing pharmacy was built in 2008, and is located at 1541 S. Ridgewood Avenue, Daytona Beach, Florida.

Jeff Schnupp, (middle right photo) Company Vice President, secured $2,500,000 in financing for Coral Commons and Carmel Center on July 23, 2010, through Thomas D. Wood and Company’s relationship with The Standard Life Insurance Company.

The fixed-rate loan has a term of five years, based on a 25-year amortization, and an interest rate of 6.25%. The loan-to-value is 58%. Coral Commons is a 31,000 square-foot retail/office, built in 1992 and 2004, and located at 103 Del Prado North Boulevard, Cape Coral, Florida.

Carmel Center is a 8,400 square-foot retail/office, built in 1979, and located at 457 NE Jensen Beach Boulevard, Jensen Beach, Florida.

For further information, please contact:

Doug Rozzell (407) 937-0470 drozzell@tdwood.com
Steve Wood (305) 447-7836 swood@tdwood.com
Jeff Schnupp (407) 937-0470 jschnupp@tdwood.com
Jessica Kinnee (407) 937-0470 jkinnee@tdwood.com

New Downtown Fort Lauderdale Condos Sell At 2003 Prices


More than 95 percent of the 5,100 new condos created in Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach since 2003 have been sold as of June 2010, generating sales of nearly $2.3 billion, according to a new Condo Vultures® White Paper™.

Unsold new condo inventory in Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach decreased to just five percent in the first half of 2010 as buyers purchased 36 new condo units at an average price of $267 per square foot.

This year's average price ranks as the second lowest amount paid since 2003, and represents a 46 percent discount off of the 2007 peak pricing of $499 per square foot, according to the report based on the soon-to-be-published Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Fort Lauderdale™.

"Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach is in one of the most enviable positions of any major South Florida submarket as less than 300 new condo units remain unsold from the boom years," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

"To the south in Greater Downtown Miami, developers and lenders are battling to sell off 5,000 new condo units. To the north in Downtown West Palm Beach, there are nearly 1,000 unsold new units on the market."

Contact: Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures®,  800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com.

Cambridge Realty Capital Provides $4.08M Lean Mortgage Loan to Refinance Arroyo Grande, CA Assisted Living Property


CHICAGO, IL--Cambridge Realty Capital Companies reports closing a $4.08 million FHA-insured HUD Lean loan to refinance Wyndham Residence, a 58-unit assisted living property in Arroyo Grande, Calif.

Cambridge Chairman Jeffrey A. Davis (middle right photo)  said the fully-amortized, 34-year term loan was arranged for the borrower, a California limited liability company, by National Originations Manager Hymie Barber (middle left photo)  in the company’s West Coast office.


Underwriting was by Cambridge Realty Capital Ltd. of Illinois, the Cambridge business unit that specializes in HUD Lean financing. The interest rate was not disclosed.

Davis said the lender used HUD’s Section 232 pursuant to Section 223(f) funding program for borrowers refinancing earlier HUD loans.
Cambridge is the creator of The Signature Experience™, a four-step process designed to transform the traditional lender/borrower relationship and identify “ideal” capital solutions for worthy projects. The company has a national origination office in Los Angeles, and numerous correspondent and brokerage relationships nationwide.

Cambridge publishes the bi-monthly e-PULSE!(R) electronic newsletter, which delivers company news and feature stories via e-mail to corporate friends and clients.

Additional information is available on the Cambridge website, http://www.cambridgecap.com/,
 and Cambridge can be reached at (312) 357-1601 or via e-mail to info@cambridgecap.com.

Contact: Evan Washington, Phone: (312) 521-7603, Fax: (312) 357-1611
E-Mail: ew@cambridgecap.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/CambridgeCap

Grubb & Ellis Reports Improved Second Quarter 2010 Results


SANTA ANA, Calif. (Aug. 10, 2010) – Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm, today reported second quarter 2010 revenue of $140.7 million, an increase of 11 percent, compared with revenue of $126.8 million for the second quarter of 2009.

For the first six months of 2010, the company reported revenue of $273.2 million, an approximate 10 percent increase over revenue of $249.0 million for the comparable period of 2009.

The company reported a net loss attributable to Grubb & Ellis Company on a GAAP basis of $17.5 million, or $0.31 per common share, for the second quarter of 2010, compared with a net loss of $32.8 million, or $0.52 per common share, for the second quarter of 2009.

For the first six months of 2010, the company reported a net loss attributable to Grubb & Ellis Company of $41.2 million, or $0.73 per common share, compared with a net loss of $74.3 million, or $1.17 per common share, in the first six months of 2009.

“Grubb & Ellis continued to make meaningful progress toward our financial goals and strategic initiatives in the second quarter as reflected by the 43 percent improvement in adjusted EBITDA,” said Thomas P. D’Arcy,(top right photo) president and chief executive officer of Grubb & Ellis.

 “Our Transaction Services business generated robust revenue growth again this quarter, a reflection of our recruiting success and the continued recovery of the market.

"This performance offset slower than expected growth in our Investment Management business. However, I am confident in the direction of the Investment Management business, especially in light of our newest selling agreement with LPL Financial.”
For a complete copy of the company's news release and financials, please contact Janice McDill, Phone: 312.698.6707, Email: janice.mcdill@grubb-ellis.com