Colliers International Completes $11.42M Sale of a 208,493-SF Industrial Property in Simi Valley, CA

SIMI VALLEY,  CA (Aug.  16, 2010) – Colliers International, the second largest real estate services organization globally, has completed the sale of 208,493-square-foot industrial property at 2900-2950 Madera Rd. (bottom left photo)  in Simi Valley, Calif., to Kingsbridge International, Inc., an importer / wholesaler of housewares and giftwares.

The transaction is valued at $11.42 million.

The two-building property is comprised of a 135,683-square-foot distribution building and a 72,810-square-foot office building. Kingsbridge will be relocating to this location from their Chatsworth, Calif. headquarters, and will occupy the distribution building.

“Kingsbridge was attracted to this property because the quality of the real estate and the price point were incredibly attractive. Our client will operate its business from the 135,683-square-foot distribution building and will lease the office building back to the seller, Bank of America,” said John DeGrinis, (top right photo) SIOR, executive vice president, who represented the buyer in the transaction, along with Patrick DuRoss, (bottom right photo)  senior associate, and Jeff Abraham (top left photo), associate, all of TEAM DeGRINIS based in Colliers International’s Encino, Calif., office.

Abraham added, “Once Kingsbridge saw that the functionality, image, size and location of the distribution building were all exceptional for its use, they became very excited about this opportunity as an investment in Kingsbridge’s operations, as well as a great real estate investment opportunity.”

Bank of America was represented by Cushman & Wakefield.

TEAM DeGRINIS is a specialized group within Colliers International that provides consulting on industrial and R&D real estate requirements in the North Los Angeles region.

With a combined 40 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, TEAM DeGRINIS is a leader in sharing strategic local market insight and has completed more than $385 million in transactions over the past five years.

For more information, visit www.colliersmn.com/teamdegrinis.

Contact: Megan Morales, Marketing & PR Coordinator, 949 724 5537
megan.morales@colliers.com

Morrison Commercial Real Estate Completes Office Lease Transactions Totaling 31,243 SF at Parkway Buildings in Maitland and Downtown Orlando

ORLANDO, FL (Aug. 16, 2010): Greg Morrison, CCIM, SIOR, Principal of Morrison Commercial Real Estate, announced the completion of two office lease transactions totaling 31,243± square feet for their client Parkway Properties.

Parkway Properties is one of the nation’s premier office REITs that own five (5) office buildings in the Greater Orlando area totaling over 900,000 square feet.

Greg Morrison (bottom right photo) and Emily Zinaich (top right photo)  represented Parkway in leasing 21,391± square feet to Welbro Building Corporation for a total of six (6) years at the Maitland 200 building. Tony Jones of Newmark Knight Frank in Miami represented the Tenant in this transaction.

In Downtown Orlando, Morrison and Damien Madsen (top left photo)  leased 9,852± square feet to Hancock Bank for a total of five (5) years at the Gateway Center located at 1000 Legion Place. This includes Hancock Bank’s first Downtown Orlando bank branch location along with the additional office space for their commercial banking operations.

Contact: Buffy Gillette, Phone: 407.219.3500, Email: bgillette@morrisoncre.com

PCCP and Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) Form New Venture to Originate Senior Commercial Mortgages

 SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Aug. 16, 2010 - PCCP, LLC and the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System have teamed up to form a new venture that will originate first mortgages. The venture will take advantage of the lack of liquidity in the floating-rate commercial mortgage debt space.

According to Don Kuemmeler (top right photo), founding partner of PCCP, “The great recession has reduced the number of skilled, entrepreneurial lenders who understand fundamental real estate value and who make and hold commercial real estate mortgages on their balance sheets.

"The PCCP and OPERS venture intends to offer a shorter-term, flexible first mortgage product for owners with a value-added business plan. We expect to hold these loans to maturity, and service our customers with creative solutions, as PCCP has done over the past 12 years.”

The venture will leverage PCCP’s team of seasoned investment professionals and established lending platform which has originated in excess of $3.5 billion of floating-rate loans over the past 12 years.

With a national focus, the venture will make loans secured by all major asset types (office, multifamily, retail, industrial and hospitality).

“We are excited to be teamed up with the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. OPERS recognized a need in the market, and we expect to have many opportunities to make excellent investments in the coming year,” said Adam Zoger, a principal in PCCP’s San Francisco office.

 PCCP, LLC is a premier real estate private equity firm focused on commercial real estate debt and equity investments. PCCP has over $6 billion under management in multiple closed-end funds and joint ventures with institutional investors.

With 33 investment professionals and 50 employees across four offices located in New York, San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles, PCCP invests throughout the United States. Learn more about PCCP at www.pccpllc.com.

With assets of $68.3 billion, OPERS is the largest public pension fund in Ohio and the 12th largest public pension fund in the U.S.

Contact: Darcie Giacchetto, Spaulding Thompson & Associates, Inc., 949-278-6224

Marcus & Millichap Sells 2.5 Acre Parcel of Development Land in Tampa

TAMPA, F – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has announced the sale of the University of Tampa Land Development Opportunity, a 2.5 acre Land property located in Tampa, FL, according to Bryn D. Merrey, Regional Manager of the firm’s Tampa office.

The asset commanded a sales price of $4,000,000.

Paul Bouldin (top right photo) , Marcus & Millichap’s Southeastern Land & Development Specialist, led Dorothy Jackman (top left photo) , Travis Prince (middle right photo) , and Jeffrey Meyer in the transaction for the Tampa office.

They were engaged as the exclusive agent to market the property on behalf of the seller, a single purpose LLC under the direction of a publicly traded Midwestern company.

The buyer, Florida Health Sciences Center, Inc., was represented by DeLaVergne & Company, a longtime Tampa area commercial real estate advisory and brokerage services firm.

The property is located at 722 West Kennedy Boulevard. The site is suitable for a number of residential and commercial uses. The buyer has made other acquisitions in the area, but did not disclose any immediate plans or intended uses.

Press Contact: Bryn D. Merrey, Regional Manager, Tampa, (813) 387-4700

HFF secures $10.4M financing for San Marcos, TX retail power center

DALLAS, TX – The Dallas office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced today that it has secured a $10.4 million financing for Red Oak Village, (top left photo)  a 176,693-square-foot retail power center in San Marcos, Texas.

Working on behalf of Lincoln Property Company, HFF associate director Travis Anderson  placed the 10-year, 5.5% fixed-rate first mortgage with Southwest Bank.

Completed in 2007, Red Oak Village is 87% leased to tenants including Best Buy, Marshalls, Bed Bath & Beyond, PetSmart, Ross Dress for Less and Carl’s Jr.

 The property is located at 2233 Interstate 35 South close to Texas State University and the Prime and Tanger Outlets in San Marcos, about halfway between Austin and San Antonio.

Lincoln Property Company is nationally recognized for its full-service, vertically integrated institutional investment and property management platform.

Since 1965, Lincoln has acquired and developed approximately $34.3 billion of residential and commercial property. Lincoln currently maintains a presence in 200 cities in the United States and currently manages over 120 million square feet of commercial properties and 135,000 multi-family units across the country.

Contacts:

Travis Anderson, HFF Associate Director, (214) 265-0880, tanderson@hfflp.com
Kristen Murphy, HFF Associate Director, Marketing, (713) 852-3500, krmurphy@hfflp.com

C&W negotiates new renewal for Walter P. Associates, Inc. engineering in Orlando, FL

Orlando, FL – Aug.t 16, 2010– Cushman & Wakefield of Florida, Inc. (C&W) Office Brokerage Senior Director Richard Solik (top right photo)  announced a renewal for Walter P. Moore and Associates, Inc in Lincoln Plaza downtown.

Mr. Solik represented the tenant, in the six-year deal for 5,400 sf. Lincoln Properties represented the landlord in the deal which commences on October 1.

The Houston-based engineering firm has worked on many high profile projects in Orlando including the Orlando Convention Center, Downtown Disney West and the Orlando International Airport.

Contact: Brook Hines, Tel: 407-541-4401
brook.hines@cushwake.com, http://www.cushwake.com/

Chesapeake Hospitality Announces Top Performers at 19th Annual General Manager’s Conference

GREENBELT, Md., Aug. 16, 2010—Officials of Chesapeake Hospitality, a highly ranked third-party hotel management company, today announced the names of its top performing hotels and operators, each of whom was formally recognized during the company’s 19th annual general managers conference held recently in Maryland.

“Our top performing properties and general managers continue to outpace the industry in terms of marketshare and guest satisfaction scores, impressive results achieved during one of the most difficult operating environments in our industry’s history,” said Kim Sims, Chesapeake president.

 “While it is important for us to recognize these individual accomplishments, the real winners here are our owners and guests who continue to be the beneficiaries of some of the highest standards of operating excellence in the hospitality industry.”

All winners were selected on performance-based criteria. This year’s winners include:

1. John Eliot; Holiday Inn Laurel East, Md. (top left photo)—New Comer of the Year/New GM Award (awarded to the hotel with the highest combination score of guest satisfaction, sales and marketing, brand citizenship and financial performance within the first 18 months of a new general manager’s start date)

2. Bill Winn, Holiday Inn Brownstone Raleigh, N.C (top right photo).—Overcoming Adversity Award (awarded to the property in the most difficult competitive position with the highest positive market share)

3. Rick Guttenberger; Shell Island Resort Hotel, N.C (middle left photo).—Most Improved Award (awarded to the property with the highest Year-Over-Year non-ramp-up share gain based on Smith Travel Research T12 reports )

4. Rod Musselman; Hilton Savannah Desoto, Ga. (bottom right photo)— Guest Service Excellence (awarded to the hotel with the largest increase in Year-Over-Year guest service scores based on brand defined measures)

5. Mike Keeler; Hilton Wilmington Riverside, N.C.(bottom left photo)—Forecast Excellence Award (awarded to the hotel based on trailing six month forecast results from 60 days out to actual date)

“With hotels finally beginning to see improvements in occupancy and rate, depending on market, excellent operating practices become more important than ever as a way to gain a competitive edge during the recovery, ” Sims added.

Headquartered in Greenbelt, Md., just outside of Washington, D.C., Chesapeake Hospitality is a mid-sized, third-party hotel management company with a proven track record in both full- and select-service hotels.

Ranked in the top 50 largest independent operators, the company manages properties under the Hilton, Starwood and InterContinental Hotel Group brand families.

For additional information, visit the company’s website: http://www.chesapeakehospitality.com/.

Contacts:
(media) Chris Daly, Senior Vice President; Jerry Daly;  Daly Gray Public Relations, ph: 703-435-6293, chris@dalygray.com  or jerry@dalygray.com
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/dalygray

 Joseph F Smith, management inquiries, (216) 496-9120,  jsmith@chesapeakehospitality.com

Arbor Closes $8M Fannie Mae DUS® Loan for 309 West 57th Street in New York, NY

Uniondale, NY (Aug. 16, 2010) - Arbor Commercial Funding, LLC (“Arbor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC, announced the recent funding of a $8,000,000 loan under the Fannie Mae DUS® Loan product line for the 102-unit multifamily building known as 309 West 57th Street (top left photo) in New York, NY.

The five-year loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule and carries a note rate of 4.65 percent.

The loan was originated by Alexander Kaushansky (middle right photo), Director, in Arbor’s full-service New York, NY, lending office.

“This was the borrower’s first Fannie Mae and Arbor transaction,” Kaushansky said. “I’m glad we were able to provide the borrower with the most competitive terms out in the market.”

Helping to arrange the financing for the borrower was Zev Pollak, the broker of the deal, who noted, “The borrower was pleased with the fact that he received a below-market interest rate.”

Arbor Appoints Jennifer Caluri-Sullivan as Vice President, Marketing

Uniondale, NY (Aug. 16, 2010) - Arbor Commercial Funding, LLC (“Arbor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC and leader in the commercial real estate finance industry, has announced today the appointment of Jennifer Caluri-Sullivan (bottom left photo) to Vice President, Marketing, in Arbor’s Uniondale, NY, headquarters.

She reports to Bonnie Habyan, (bottom right photo)  Senior Vice President, Marketing.

Ms. Caluri is responsible for executing all phases of internal and external sales, employee, client and other corporate events.

She additionally oversees new business strategies for Arbor’s family of companies and its national sales team, including customer relationship management and client retention initiatives, as well as the management and oversight of all internal and external marketing disciplines, such as advertising, website design, digital communication, direct mailings, tradeshows and employee communications.

Ms. Caluri possesses more than 14 years of real estate marketing experience. Prior to joining Arbor, Ms. Caluri held the position of Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Greystone & Company, Inc., where she provided organizational leadership in identifying new business opportunities through advertising, public relations and special event initiatives, while also cultivating long-standing business relationships.

Ms. Caluri also previously held the position of Marketing Director at The Lefrak Organization, where she spearheaded marketing and branding strategies across all business communication mediums.

Ms. Caluri received a Bachelor of Business Administration-Marketing degree from New York’s Bernard Baruch College. Ms. Caluri is also a New York State-licensed real estate broker. She resides in Fair Lawn, NJ.

Contact: COstrowski@arbor.com