Faris Lee Investments Completes $5.27 Million Sale of Retail Property Occupied by Hobby Lobby in Visalia, CA

IRVINE, CA, Feb. 27, 2012 – Faris Lee Investments, the nation’s largest retail-specialized investment advisory firm, has completed the $5,272,000 sale of a 59,283 square foot retail property occupied by Hobby Lobby (top left photo) in Visalia, Calif.

Situated on 4.89 acres, the property is located at 3231 S. Mooney Blvd. as an anchor to the Sequoia Mall (lower left photo)which includes Sears and Regal Theaters, with Marshalls and Bed Bath & Beyond adjacent to the mall.

Also included in the sale is a potential developable outparcel, which has been approved by Hobby Lobby and the mall ownership, for up to 5,000 square feet of rentable area.

Donald MacLellan (top right photo)  and Richard Walter (middle left photo) of Faris Lee Investments represented the seller, Lubert –Adler Management West Inc.

Dennis Vaccaro (lower right photo) of Faris Lee Investments represented the buyer, a private investor from Los Angeles, who paid all-cash.

“This Visalia location which opened a year ago was Hobby Lobby’s first California store and was purported to have one of the strongest store openings in the chain’s history,” said MacLellan. “Faris Lee’s strategy was to educate the capital-rich California buyer pool on the strength of Hobby Lobby as a leading retailer in the industry.”

Vaccaro added: “Hobby Lobby is located in the former Mervyn’s anchor space of Sequoia Mall which has significant vacancy, however, the superior positioning of the Hobby Lobby building within the recovering Visalia marketplace offered an opportunity to capitalize on the property’s intrinsic value.”

 

 Hobby Lobby is located along S. Mooney Blvd. with excellent visibility and strong traffic counts at the intersection of Caldwell Avenue and Mooney Boulevard (56,000 cars per day).

Hobby Lobby operates about 435 stores in 35 states and sells arts and crafts supplies, baskets, beads, candles, frames, home-decorating accessories, and silk flowers. It also has operations in China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, and it is the #3 craft and fabric retailer (behind Michaels Stores and Jo-Ann Stores). Sister companies, Crafts, Etc! and Hemispheres, supply Hobby Lobby stores with merchandise, received from its Oklahoma distribution facility.

“California capital continues to seek out single-tenant property within the state as well as in other well-located markets throughout the country,” said Walter. “The marriage between location and tenant strength is key to investor appeal as more often than not, annual returns are more reliable and more profitable than other non-real estate investment options.”

 For more information, please visit www.farislee.com.

Contact:              

Darcie Giacchetto,

949.278.6224

Spaulding Thompson & Associates

For Faris Lee Investments

Regency Centers to Begin 378,000 sf Ground-Up Development in Petaluma, CA

    

 PETALUMA, CA.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regency Centers (NYSE: REG), a national owner, operator and developer of grocery-anchored and community shopping centers, will begin construction of East Washington Place (top left rendering), a 378,000-square-foot community center anchored by Target.

Located 39 miles north of San Francisco in Petaluma, Calif., this new development is strategically located at the intersection of two main arterial roads, East Washington Street and Highway 101, with daily traffic counts in excess of 92,000.

Regency Centers will invest approximately $61 million into the project, which will create approximately 380 construction jobs and 720 permanent jobs.

East Washington Place will fill a retail gap in the Petaluma market which is currently underserved by major retailers. The center will include a 138,324-square-foot Target along with 121,000 square feet of anchor space and 118,676 square feet for junior anchors, small shops and office space. Construction will commence this week with the center opening slated for Summer 2013.

“East Washington Place has all the key attributes that define a Regency center – market-dominant anchor, a prime infill location and superior demographics,” explained Ryan Nickelson, Vice President of Investments for Regency Centers. “Tenant interest remains high as there are very few location options in this highly desirable market that has limited opportunities for future retail development.”

To lease space, contact Leasing Agent Jenny Smith at 925.279.1885.

In 2004, Regency Centers purchased the land occupied by Kenilworth Junior High School, which used the funds to relocate and construct a new school facility. In addition, Regency Centers partnered with the Petaluma National Little League and Petaluma City School District to relocate and construct new baseball fields located at Petaluma Junior High School which will open for the Spring 2012 season.

Regency Centers owns and/or manages 71 properties in California totaling 9 million square feet.

Contact:

The Hoffman Agency

Bonnie Hayflick, 904-398-9663

bhayflick@thehoffmanagency.com

or

Regency Centers

Ryan Nickelson, 925-279-1865

Vice President, Investments

ryannickelson@regencycenters.com

CMBS Delinquencies and Bank Troubled Assets Holding Steady, Report Guests on Atlanta’s Commercial Real Estate Show

 ATLANTA, GA (Feb. 27, 2012) – When it comes to CMBS loan delinquencies and the percentage of problem assets that banks have on their balance sheets, things are not getting better. But the situation is not getting worse.

 Guests of the most recent episode of the “Commercial Real Estate Show” shared those observations in a comprehensive look at the issues facing banks and servicers. Topics included upcoming CMBS maturities, the performance of banks in 2011, best practices for participation loans and successful OREO marketing techniques.

Tom Fink (top right photo), a senior vice president of Trepp LLC, said the volume of CMBS delinquencies are “in a steady state right now. I wouldn’t call it greatly improving, but it’s not getting worse, that’s for sure.”

 However, some of the numbers are still unsettling. Approximately $60 billion of CMBS loans are set to mature in 2012 – and about half of those are upside down, Fink said.

 CMBS default rates have been improving in the multifamily and hotel sector, but deteriorating among office and retail properties, Fink noted. 

Meanwhile, more than 90percent of U.S. banks turned a profit in 2011, up from approximately 60 percent just two years earlier, said Christopher Marinac (top left photo), managing principal and director of research for FIG Partners LLC. “As the cigarette commercial goes, we like to say, ‘We’ve come a long way, baby,’” he said.

 The median level of problem assets among banks is about 6 percent, but the measurement is holding steady, Marinac noted. “It may not necessarily get better in the near-term … but it’s not getting worse. That’s real important,” he said, adding banks “are much more stable and much stronger than people give us credit for.”

Banks are lending more and have shown interest in hotels, multifamily properties and retail sites that are characterized by healthy cash flows and reasonable leases, Marinac said.

 “That’s good,” replied show host Michael Bull (middle right photo), president and founder of Bull Realty. “Fundamentals are improving slightly for commercial real estate. New loans at the current lowvales may be some of the safest loans lenders will ever originate.”

 Lenders that handle theforeclosure of a property well are the ones that make sure their various departments communicate early and often once trouble rears its head, said Rob Whitmire (lower left photo), a partner with Bull Realty. “They’ll bring their advisors in, their brokers, their leasing team, their management team and have them start early on providing expectations for disposition value,” he said.

 

 A successful tactic for foreclosing on an OREO property is to have the property held by a special-purpose entity rather than a bank. That way, the asset “has far less liability issues,” said Robert Reynolds, an attorney with Reynolds, Reynolds & Little.

 The next “Commercial Real Estate Show” will be available March 1 and will examine land use and zoning issues.

Contact

Stephen Ursery

Wilbert News Strategies

404.965.5026

sursery@wnspr.com

www.CREshow.com.