MAA Completes Acquisition of Aventura at Indian Lake Village in Metro Nashville, TN

  

MEMPHIS, TN /PRNewswire/ -- MAA (NYSE: MAA) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Aventura at Indian Lake Village (top left photo), a 300-unit apartment community located in the Nashville metropolitan statistical area.

Aventura at Indian Lake Village was developed in 2010 and is located within Indian Lake Village, a desirable master-planned mixed-use development in the Hendersonville submarket. T

he community offers upscale amenities including a resort style pool with sundeck, exterior fireplaces and walking path access to acres of designated greenways. Interior amenities include 9' ceilings, cherry cabinets and granite countertops.

Aventura at Indian Lake Village is convenient to Interstate 65 and only 15 miles northeast of downtown Nashville which was recently ranked by Forbes as the "15th Best Place for Business and Careers." Nashville hosts two major league sport franchises, is home to the headquarters for several Fortune 500 companies, and is a major employer in the music, medical and automotive industries.

Commenting on the announcement, Al Campbell, EVP and CFO said, "We are very pleased to add Aventura at Indian Lake Village to our Nashville portfolio. The Nashville area has experienced strong population growth over the past decade. We expect the positive demographic and economic trends of this area to support strong leasing fundamentals in the coming years."

The acquisition was funded by common stock issuances through MAA's at-the-market program and borrowings under our current credit facilities.

MAA is a self-administered, self-managed apartment-only real estate investment trust, which currently owns or has ownership interest in 48,926 apartment units throughout the Sunbelt region of the U.S.

  For further details, please refer to the MAA website at www.maac.com or contact Investor Relations at investor.relations@maac.com.  6584 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN  38138.

Contact:  Investor Relations of MAA, +1-901-682-6600, investor.relations@maac.com

Web Site: http://www.maac.com

Developer Condo Sales Slow By 33% In Downtown Miami In Q3 2011

MIAMI, FL--New condo sales in Greater Downtown Miami slowed by 33 percent in the third quarter of 2011 on a year-over-year basis compared to 2010, leaving nearly 2,000 developer units still unsold from the real estate boom as of Sept. 30, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

Buyers purchased less than 300 new units for a combined $125 million between July and September of 2011 to reduce the number of unsold units controlled by the original developers to nine percent of the nearly 22,250 condos created in Greater Downtown Miami, according to a new report based on an analysis of Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser data.

The remaining 2,000-unsold developer units are situated in two dozen of the more than 80 condo projects that were created in a 60-block stretch comprised of the Brickell Avenue Area, Downtown Miami, and the Biscayne Boulevard Corridor during the real estate boom that began in 2003, according to an analysis based on the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami™.

A year ago in September 2010, developers controlled 21 percent - nearly 4,600 units - of the new inventory in Greater Downtown Miami.

 In September 2009, the number of unsold developer units represented 36 percent - nearly 8,000 units - of the new inventory added to the market during the condo boom, according to the report.

"The Greater Downtown Miami condo market is changing due in large part to increased asking prices for the remaining unsold developer inventory," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

"Investors and second-home buyers are still in the Greater Downtown Miami market searching for new condos at attractive prices but the competition is intensifying.

"Not only are developers of existing projects competing against each other but increasingly bulk owners are launching their resale campaigns to tap into the buying activity."

 

 Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com.  

General Growth Properties Inc. Awards Grubb & Ellis 1.1-Million-SF Office Leasing and Property Management Assignment in metro Las Vegas

  

SANTA ANA, CA – Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm, announced that General Growth Properties Inc. selected the company to lease and manage a 32-building, 1.1-million-square-foot office portfolio in Summerlin (top left rendering), an award-winning 22,000-acre master-planned community located  in the Las Vegas area. 

 Leading the leasing assignment is David Scherer (middle right photo), executive vice president, Transaction Services, who is joined by Barton Hyde, vice president, Michael Hsu, senior associate, Matthew Kreft, senior associate, and Brandon McCool.  The property management team is led by Eric Forshee, LEED GA, executive managing director. 

“This is a phenomenal group of properties located in one of the leading master-planned communities in the nation,” said Scherer.  “The portfolio is backed by a strong ownership in General Growth Properties and we intend to market it with an innovative, progressive plan that will maximize the value of the assets.”

 Forshee added that the management plan for the portfolio is centered on increasing tenant satisfaction and retention. 

 The portfolio consists of:

• ·         Corporate Pointe, a three-building complex offering more than 180,000 square feet of space located at 10550 – 10750 W. Charleston Blvd.,

 ·         the two-story, 71,388-square-foot 10000 W. Charleston Blvd.,

• ·         The Canyons at Summerlin, comprising four buildings located at 1120 – 1180 Town Center Drive that offer approximately 208,000 square feet of space,

 The Crossing Business Center, a 21-building office complex located at the intersection of  North Town Center Drive and Covington Cross Drive that consists of roughly 491,500 square feet of space and two vacant land parcels,

• ·         The Plazas, two buildings offering a combined 87,950 square feet of space at 1635 and 1645 Village Center Circle and

• ·         the two-story 1551 Hillshire Drive, which consists of nearly 70,000 square feet of space. 

 The office portfolio offers a wide range of options for companies, including professional image office suites, free-standing single-tenant buildings and a modern state-of-the-art corporate campus facility.

 Located near the Spring Mountains and Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (lower right photo), Summerlin was first established in the 1950s by Howard Hughes Jr. (middle left photo) 

The community has grown to a population of nearly 100,000 and has been awarded numerous development awards from organizations like the Urban Land Institute, American Society of Landscape Architects and the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.

 For leasing information, call 702.733.7500, or contact Scherer at

 david.scherer@grubb-ellis.com. 

 Contact: Julia McCartney, Phone:  714.975.2230                                     

Email:  julia.mccartney@grubbellis.com                                                                                                              

Sperry Van Ness International Partners with Better World books to Help Fund Global Literacy

 IRVINE, CA – Sperry Van Ness International has partnered with Better World Books, a leading social enterprise that collects and sells books online, in support of its mission to help fund global literacy.  Through the partnership, Sperry Van Ness International will provide clients with a socially responsible outlet for books in their communities.

“Sperry Van Ness International is committed to looking for ways of improving our business that embrace corporate social responsibility.  Our partnership with Better World Books demonstrates Sperry Van Ness International’s support of the company’s mission and our commitment to being a true value-added partner in the real estate community,” said Kevin Maggiacomo (top right photo), chief executive officer and president of Sperry Van Ness International.

Better World Books began as a book drive and quickly grew into an online bookstore that integrates social responsibility into its core business model.  The for-profit social enterprise funds global literacy initiatives through the resale of used books and protects the environment through its book recycling program, preventing millions of books a year from being discarded into landfills.

 “As a B Corporation, Better World Books must adhere to rigorous standards for being a socially responsible and environmentally-friendly company.  Sperry Van Ness International’s core covenants are closely aligned with the core values of Better World Books, which was a key factor in our decision to partner with them,” added Maggiacomo.

Today, Better World Books is a fast-growing enterprise that employs nearly 400 people and sustains social and environmental responsibility as a core element of its business strategy.  They were named one of the “Top 25 Responsibility Pioneers” by Time Magazine and voted “Most Promising Social Entrepreneur of the Year” by BusinessWeek.  The founders at Better World Books believe that every book has lifelong value and the potential to help can change the world.        

ess

For more information on both companies, please visit www.betterworldbooks.com and http://www.svn.com/

Contact:  Megan Morales, 714) 273-2472, Megan.Morales@svn.com  

Equity Partners Handles Refinancing of Alafaya Corporate Center in East Orlando, FL

ORLANDO, FL – Equity Partners Inc., a full service brokerage and development company, announces the successful refinance of Alafaya Corporate Center (ACC)  (top left photo) for five years with Wells Fargo.

 ACC is a 150,000 SF Class A single story, multi-tenant office building with 1,200 feet of frontage on Alafaya Trail, situated across the Research Park/University submarket of Orlando.

Michael D Fess (middle right photo), an owner of ACC and President of Equity Partners Inc., said the property was 90% leased with long-term credit tenants at the time of refinance.

The most recent lease deals to note were the expansion and renewal of two long-term tenants: University of Phoenix and Environmental Tectonics Corporation (ETC).

Michael Fess and Faith Thompson (lower left photo) Leasing Manager, represented the landlord, Alafaya Corporate Center, LC in both transactions, which totaled 33,000 square feet of office space.

  Contact:

Faith Thompson

Leasing Manager

Equity Partners, Inc.

http://www.equitypartners.net/

Licensed Real Estate Broker

20 North Orange Avenue

Suite 605

Orlando, Florida 32801

407.660.4949 phone

407.808.2656 cell

407.660.4995 fax

Plaza Advisors Announces Sale of Gulf Breeze Marketplace in Pensacola, FL

TAMPA, FL--Plaza Advisors is pleased to announce the sale of Gulf Breeze Marketplace (top left photo) in Pensacola, Florida.

The shopping center is situated at the intersection US 98 and County Road 281. The shopping center contains 333,654 square feet of total of gross leasable area. Walmart Supercenter and Lowes Home Improvement are shadow anchors.

 The local tenant mix is composed of numerous national credit entities including; Sally Beauty, Firehouse Subs, GNC, Radio Shack and Hibbett Sports. The sale also included a freestanding Wells Fargo bank branch. The asset was constructed in 1998 and was fully leased at the time of sale.

 Plaza Advisors represented the seller in the transaction and co-managing partners Jim Michalak (middle left photo) and Anthony Blanco (lower right photo), together with Senior Financial Analyst, Lenard Williams were involved in the engagement. The seller and buyer were DDR Corp. and a private equity group, with offices in Atlanta and Tampa, respectively. 

“Grocery anchored retail assets are clearly the product of choice for both institutional and private equity investors,” Michalak says. “ Even though Gulf Breeze Marketplace does not contain a traditional grocery anchor the asset benefits from the consumer drawing power of the contiguous Walmart Supercenter and Lowes Home Improvement stores”.

 Blanco adds, “This sale further accentuates the strong demand for high quality retail investment assets.

 “The capital markets displayed a very substantial interest in the asset as evidenced by the strong demand and numerous offers received”.

Contacts:

Tampa Office                                                Miami Office                                     

Jim Michalak                                                Anthony Blanco                                           

3412 Bay to Bay Boulevard                                5201 Blue Lagoon Drive, Suite 846

Tampa, FL 33629                                               Miami, FL 33126

OFFICE: 813-837-1300                                       OFFICE: 305-629-3606

FAX: 813-831-2627                                            FAX: 305-647-6441

Jim.michalak@plazadvisors.com              Anthony.blanco@plazadvisors.com