Lake Foy Apartments in Deltona, FL Fetches $520,000 in a Marcus & Millichap Sale

  

  DELTONA, FL,  Oct. 24, 11 – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has announced the sale of Lake Foy Apartments (top left photo), a 20-unit apartments community located in Deltona, Fla., according to Bryn D. Merrey, vice president and regional manager of the firm’s Tampa office. The sales price of $520,000 represents $29 per square foot.

Michael Donaldson, a multifamily specialist in Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a Georgia-based financial institution.  The listing agent also secured the buyer of the property, a private investor from Orlando.  

Lake Foy Apartments was built in 1986 and is located at 100-500 Meyer Court.  This offering consists of five buildings of masonry construction, resting on a total of .85 acres, with frontage to a small retention lake known as Lake Foy.  Units are a mix of two-bedroom and two-bathroom units of approximately 900 square feet, one of the most popular floor plans in the submarket.  Each unit features central HVAC units, refrigerator, dishwasher, range and washer/dryer connections.

“This transaction represented a unique opportunity for a buyer to capitalize on a rare mid 80s-built complex with frontage to a lake, in one of the best locations in the Deltona market.” says Donaldson. “While the property had above-normal vacancy, the units had been extensively renovated and should attain or exceed the market occupancy due to the superior amenities and finishings found in the units.”

 Press Contact:  Bryn D. Merrey, Vice President and Regional Manager, Tampa

(813) 387-4700

www.MarcusMillichap.com

HFF closes $42.5 million loan sale secured by Smith Tower & the Florence Building in Seattle, WA

 SAN FRANCISCO, CA  – HFF announced today that it has closed a loan sale secured by Smith Tower (top left photo) an iconic 42-story, 263,807-square-foot office tower, and the Florence Building, a two-story 7,829-square-foot office building located in Seattle, Washington.

HFF marketed the A and B mortgage notes on behalf of the seller, Münchener Hypothekenbank, one of Germany’s leading co-operative banks.   CBRE Capital Partners purchased the loans.

Smith Tower is located at 506 2nd Avenue in the historic Pioneer Square submarket of downtown Seattle.  Originally built in 1914, the property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a City of Seattle landmark.

 The property underwent an extensive $28.0 million renovation in 2000 that included numerous upgrades and replacement of the building’s systems.  At the time of the note sale, Smith Tower was 20 percent leased to a variety of national and local tenants.

The HFF team representing Munchener Hypothekenbank included senior managing directors Gerry Rohm (middle right photo) and Michael Leggett  (lower left photo). 

“The significant interest in the sale of these non-performing notes demonstrated investor appetite for debt secured by high-quality real estate in a core West Coast market, which continues to experience growth from the technology sector despite the uncertainly of the U.S. economy,” said Rohm.

Münchener Hypothekenbank is one of Germany’s leading co-operative banks based in Munich, Germany with assets under management exceeding approx. $47.0 billion.  The bank was founded as a co-operative bank in 1896. Its two core businesses are private property financing and commercial property financing.  Münchener Hypothekenbank is also an active and internationally renowned issuer in the Pfandbriefe market 

CBRE Capital Partners is the real estate debt investment platform of CB Richard Ellis Investors, a global real estate investment management firm with approximately $63.6 billion in assets under management. CB Richard Ellis Investors sponsors investment programs across the risk/return spectrum for investors worldwide.

Contacts:

Gerry Rohm, HFF Senior Managing Director, (415) 276-6935, grohm@hfflp.com                                                                            

Michael Leggett, HFF Senior Managing Director, (415) 276-6300, mleggett@hfflp.com                                                                         

Kristen Murphy, HFF Associate Director, Marketing, (713) 852-3500                         

krmurphy@hfflp.com         

Cassidy Turley Brokers Sale of Shopping Center in Scottsboro, AL

ATLANTA, GA, Oct. 24, 2011 -- Cassidy Turley, a leading commercial real estate services provider in the U.S., recently brokered the sale of a 60,000-square-foot shopping center in Scottsboro, Ala.

The center, County Park Plaza (top left photo), is 95 percent leased. Its anchor tenants are Aaron’s Sales & Leasing and Food World, a grocery chain owned by Southern Family Markets, which also owns the Piggly Wiggly chain.

 The shopping center sold for a price close to the asking price of $2.86 million.

Cassidy Turley’s Vice Presidents Drew Fleming (middle right photo) and Mark Joines (lower left photo) represented the seller, RCG Ventures, LLC. The buyer, a private equity group based in Atlanta, did not use a broker.

 “The transaction was driven by the fact the center is anchored by a well-performing grocer and is good fundamental real estate in a growing market,” said Fleming.

 “The shopping center is located near Alabama’s largest recreational lake, Lake Guntersville, and backs up to the Tennessee River, destinations that attract visitors who shop at the center.”

Please visit http://www.cassidyturley.com/ for more information about Cassidy Turley.

Contact:

Laura Dudebout

O: 404.965.5023

C: 678.642.4301

ldudebout@wnspr.com

CalPERS Announces Appointment of Customer Account Services Division Chief

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) today announced the appointment of Karen DeFrank  as Chief of the pension fund’s Customer Account Services Division (CASD).

CASD serves CalPERS members and employers as the single point of contact for account management for retirement and health programs. DeFrank will ensure that vital member and employer services such as payroll processing, compensation review, health open enrollment and annual member statements are managed as efficiently and effectively as possible.

“A member who is about to retire, or the employer with contract questions both want accurate answers delivered quickly. Karen’s proven experience and leadership in developing excellent customer service procedures will be an invaluable asset to the CASD team and the service they provide,” said Donna Lum (top right photo) CalPERS Deputy Executive Officer for Customer Services and Support.

  

DeFrank will perform long- and short-range planning for division workloads, and develop staffing plans to maintain optimal service delivery. She is responsible for interpreting retirement laws, rules and policies that govern employers. She will also represent CalPERS on matters relating to Retirement and Health Account Management in front of the legislature and in other public forums.

Previously, DeFrank demonstrated her strong leadership and management skills as Project Manager of the Public Employees Readiness Team (PERT) for the my|CalPERS Pension System Resumption (PSR) project, increasing educational methods and opportunities to keep our business partners engaged in the my|CalPERS implementation process. DeFrank also served as the Assistant Division Chief to the Employer Services Division with direct oversight of several units that are included in her new assignment.

DeFrank received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics and Business Management from the University of California, Davis.

CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund, with approximately $225 billion in assets. It administers retirement benefits for more than 1.6 million active and retired State, public, school and local public employees and their families, and health benefits for more than 1.3 million enrollees.

More information about CalPERS is available online at www.calpers.ca.gov.

Contact:

External Affairs Branch

(916) 795-3991

Robert Udall Glazier, Deputy Executive Officer

Brad Pacheco, Chief, Office of Public Affairs

Contact: Amy Norris, Information Officer

pressroom@calpers.ca.gov

Virgin Hotels Announces Purchase of Chicago Property

 CHICAGO, IL, Oct. 24, 2011—Virgin Hotels, a new four-star lifestyle hotel brand, announced that its property venture has purchased the Old Dearborn Bank Building (top left photo) in downtown Chicago in an all-cash transaction.  Virgin Hotels will convert the former office building and expects to re-open it as Virgin Hotel Chicago in the fall of 2013. 

The 27-story Art Deco building, a Chicago landmark designed by C.W. and George L. Rapp Architects in 1928, has significant historic and architectural features that will be restored and recreated.

Located at 203 N. Wabash Avenue, at the corner of Wabash and Lake, the property is in the heart of Chicago’s Loop. The new hotel will have 250 guest rooms and feature meeting spaces, restaurants, lounges and other public areas that reflect the Virgin brand’s stylish and functional legacy. 

“This transaction is a first step towards our goal of building a portfolio of hotels that anticipate and respond to the needs of today’s travelers and set a new standard for the industry,” said Anthony Marino (top right photo), Managing Partner, Leisure and Hospitality, Virgin Group and head of Virgin Hotels. “The Virgin Hotels team is focused on finding the best locations and strongest partners to bring Virgin’s product vision to life for our 60 million customers around the world."

Virgin Hotels President and COO Raul Lea (middle left photo)l said, “Chicago is a top destination for pleasure and business, with all the qualities we look for in Virgin Hotels locations: it’s economically vibrant, culturally exciting, and a sports and entertainment hub. But it also has a world-renowned architectural heritage, and we are eager to contribute to its continued acclaim.”

Virgin Hotels has selected The John Buck Company to execute the redevelopment of the iconic Dearborn Bank Building. Marino said, "The John Buck Company offers a unique blend of local knowledge, global perspective and strong execution, a combination we're looking for in partners for our other locations.”

“We are thrilled to be able to partner with Virgin Hotels to revitalize this beautiful landmark building and to create an exciting new hotel destination in downtown Chicago,” said Jack Buck (lower right photo), Principal, The John Buck Company.

Virgin Hotels has an active pipeline of properties in gateway cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, and London, locations where Virgin Hotels is pursuing hotel and office conversions, as well as ground-up development.  “As a result of our anticipated development growth, it is highly likely that one or more Virgin Hotels will open before Virgin Hotel Chicago,” said Marino. “We are ready to respond to the growing number of unique real estate and repositioning opportunities generated by the current environment.”

Virgin Hotels was launched in September 2010 with plans to develop and operate gateway city hotels with 150 to 400 guest rooms, restaurants, and public spaces.  The brand is designed to attract the same highly-valued business and leisure traveler whose loyalty Virgin has captured over the last 25 years.

About Virgin Hotels

Virgin Hotels is a new four-star lifestyle hotel brand in its initial development stage of acquiring properties in the U.S.  The group seeks new development and conversions of existing hotels or office properties in major urban markets.  Parties interested in partnering with Virgin Hotels may contact the company at http://www.virginhotels.com/ or (212) 966-2310.

  

 For more information, please visit: http://www.tjbc.com/.

 Contact:

Jerry Daly or Chris Daly, media,  Daly Gray, Inc, (703) 435 6293 

 jerry@dalygray.com or chris@dalygray.com                        

W. Christine Choi, Virgin Management USA, Inc. (212) 497-9059

Christine.Choi@virginusa.com