Meet the Money® Conference in Los Angeles to Focus on Finding Solutions, Sourcing Capital and Creating Value

 LOS ANGELES, CA, March 28, 2012—Encouraged by positive metrics and the return of capital to the hospitality sector, the 22nd edition of Meet the Money®, the hospitality industry’s leading financial conference, is poised to bring together lenders, developers, hotel owners, operators and investors for two days of deal making May 7 – 9, 2012, at the Sheraton Gateway LAX Hotel in Los Angeles, California. 

“As the economy and hotel fundamentals continue to improve, there is a sea level change in the availability of hotel financing,” said conference founder Jim Butler (top right photo), author of www.HotelLawBlog.com and chairman of the Global Hospitality Group® of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM).

 “There is a lot of capital available to finance acquisitions, refinance existing loans based on current cash flow, and even some development opportunities, and it seems that interest is accelerating.”

More than 100 industry leaders are confirmed as speakers and scheduled to talk in more than 25 sessions at this year’s conference, under a theme of “Rise Above  the Global Financial Tempest.”

Attendees will hear from PKF Consulting’s Mark Woodworth (top left photo), Vail Brown (middle right photo) from Smith Travel Research, Suzanne Mellen(lower left photo) of HVS  and Greg Hartman (lower right photo) of Jones Lang LaSalle.

“Meet the Money® has evolved from a breakfast meeting in 1990 to a day and a half event attracting the leaders of the US hospitality industry and the investors who finance them,” Butler said. 

 “The scope of the conference has grown in direct proportion to the number and complexity of the issues the industry faces.   That’s why we consistently attract almost 400 senior hotel industry executives every year from around the world.” 

The conference registration fee is $950.  For more information, to register or learn how to become a Meet the Money® sponsor, please visit www.MeetTheMoney.com or contact Diane Phillips at (310) 785-5320 or at dphillips@jmbm.com.  

For more information, visit www.HotelLawBlog.com.

 To contact Jim Butler, who is recognized as one of the top hotel lawyers in the world and a hotel industry thought leader, contact him directly at 310.201.3526 or at jbutler@jmbm.com. 

Contact:  

Jerry Daly, Chris Daly

 Daly Gray Public Relations

(703) 435-6293

CCIM Institute Awards Sperry Van Ness®/Bluestone & Hockley’s Becky Potter Transaction of the Year Award

 VANCOUVER, WA – Sperry Van Ness International, one of the fastest-growing commercial real estate brokerage franchisors in the nation, announced that Becky Potter (middle right photo), senior advisor for Sperry Van Ness® / Bluestone & Hockley, was awarded “Transaction of the Year” by CCIM. 

The award was given for her extraordinary efforts in leasing the Riverview Bank Building (top left photo) located at the intersection of Highway 99 and 78th Street in Vancouver, Wash.

The 8,000-square-foot office building was leased to Grace Ministries/Exchange Church, a non-profit church organization, for a 60-month term valued at $504,000.  The tenant has the option to purchase the building for $1.3 million within the first 36 months.

  “One of the main challenges of this transaction was the neighborhood, which is plagued by economic stress with many dark shopping centers and a high crime rate.  Another obstacle was that Clark County recently took away street access from building in addition to part of the land,” said Potter, who represented the undisclosed landlord in the transaction.

“It took a considerable amount of patience and perseverance over the course of several years, but in the end the landlord was extremely pleased with the new tenant, which is now benefitting the region through drug and alcohol recovery outreach in partnership with the City and County.”

Each year CCIM Institute selects a single transaction for the “Transaction of the Year” award.  The lease or sale must have occurred in the Portland metro area, which includes the four counties of Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington and Clark.  The criteria for the award is based on the creativity, skill, professionalism, integrity and perseverance brought to the transaction by the broker involved. Commission and transaction size is not a factor in the decision-making process. 

Contact:

Darcie Giacchetto

(949) 278-6224

 darcie.giacchetto@svn.com

http://www.svn.com/.

Sperry Van Ness International Expands Presence in Nashville, TN

IRVINE, CA. (March. 28, 2012) – Sperry Van Ness International, a national commercial real estate brokerage franchisor, today announced the addition of a new franchise in Nashville.

 The new franchise is part of Sperry Van Ness International’s national expansion program, which started in 2001 and has grown to more than 1,000 advisors representing more than 150 markets today.

“SVNI continues to pursue a presence in strong markets across the nation. We are pleased to announce this new Nashville office which is led by some of the region’s top brokers as part of our strategic growth initiative,” said Kevin Maggiacomo (top right photo), chief executive officer and president of Sperry Van Ness International. 

Investec Realty Services will now operate as Sperry Van Ness® / Investec Realty Services. The new office is located at 2400 Crestmoor Road, Suite 327, Nashville, TN and is led by Anthony Lopes (middle left photo), CPM, CCIM,

John Snyder, CPM, SIOR (middle left photo), and Jon Albright, CCIM, SIOR (middle right photo), serve as managing directors. They also lead the firm’s Memphis location. Additionally,

Stephen Graw (lower right photo) will serve as a senior advisor with Sperry Van Ness / Investec Realty Services and comes to the firm from the Nashville office of Grubb & Ellis. 

Sperry Van Ness / Investec Realty Services will provide acquisitions, dispositions, landlord representation, tenant representation, development, consulting, project management and property management for office, industrial and retail properties. 

 “Nashville is experiencing excellent commercial growth.  In addition to increasing businesses, many young professionals are making it the city of choice when relocating to Tennessee,” said Lopes. 

“Since Nashville is the state capital it has the added advantage of both public and private sector job growth. We have had our eye on Nashville for more than five years and find that now is the time to take the plunge with an excellent partner in Sperry Van Ness.”

With more than 28 years of industry experience, Lopes has been involved in all phases of developing, marketing, leasing and managing commercial real estate.  Prior to starting Investec Realty Services, he spent 17 years at Koger Properties, Inc. and Koger Equity, Inc.

 Snyder has more than 27 years of commercial real estate experience.  He served as partner for Investec Realty Services, LLC, and principal broker for Office Locators, LLC, a real estate firm focused on tenant representation.

Albright, with more than 23 years of real estate experience, served as partner for Investec Realty Services since 2007.  Previously, he spent nine years with a national real estate developer in Memphis and owned his own real estate operation. 

 Contact:

Darcie Giacchetto

(949) 278-6224

 darcie.giacchetto@svn.com

www.svn.com.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Announces New Joint Venture Partnership, Construction Financing, and Long-Term Anchor Lease in Boston

PASADENA, CA, March 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE) ("Alexandria"), through its affiliates, announced today a series of significant transactions resulting in the imminent development of the Longwood Center, an iconic and highly unique collaborative life science hub in the heart of Boston's Longwood Medical Area, one of the world's densest concentrations of academic, medical, and clinical care institutions.

 The announcement highlights Alexandria's financing of the project through the use of top-tier joint venture partners, National Development ("ND"), Charles River Realty Investors ("CR"), and Clarion Partners, LLC ("Clarion").

In addition, the partners announced the closing of non-recourse construction financing for approximately 60% of total project costs.

Alexandria also announced the signing of a long-term lease for approximately 154,000 square feet with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ("Dana-Farber"), the top-ranked cancer center in New England and one of the largest research grant recipients among independent hospitals in the United States.

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

 Joel S. Marcus (lower right photo)

 Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

 Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.,

+1-626-578-9693

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