Greystone Closes $38.75 million CMBS Deal

  

New York, NY – September 26, 2013 – Greystone, a leading national provider of multifamily and commercial mortgage loans, today announced it has closed a CMBS transaction for $38.75 million on behalf of a suburban Cleveland-based multifamily property owner.

Robert Russell

The loan was originated by Greystone Managing Director Donny Rosenberg. Managing Directors Robert Russell and John Palmer coordinated the underwriting, diligence and closing.

 The $38.75 million CMBS loan was structured with a 10-year term with only three years of interest and at a rate of 2.35% over ten year swaps. Greystone’s team worked quickly and efficiently to close the deal in only 35 days and expects to close a number of additional deals before the end of the year.

 “This deal is a fantastic example of Greystone’s comprehensive CMBS offering and truly represents the great collaboration and effort that went into completing this transaction,” said Rob Russell.

“The expertise and experience of our team ensures that we continue to provide clients with creative products that meet their borrowing needs and exceed their expectations, and we look forward to providing more great deals in the near future.”

 Launched earlier this year, Greystone’s CMBS program provides clients with additional loan options and supplements the firm’s robust Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA services.

 With more than 200 mortgage professionals throughout the United States, Greystone is a multifamily industry expert and leader. Greystone’s experience working with FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with its expertise in the multifamily and healthcare lending business, allows the firm to provide clients across the United States with innovative solutions that fit their individual needs.

In 2012, Greystone originated approximately $3.4 billion of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Affordable, FHA and Bridge multifamily business.

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

Karen Marotta

PR Manager

Greystone

152 W. 57th Street

New York, NY 10019

212-896-9149 direct

917-902-7073 mobile

kmarotta@greyco.com

www.greyco.com  

HFF closes trophy sale of Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, CA

Ghirardelli Square, 900 and 915 North Point Street, Fisherman's Wharf District,
North Waterfront Area, San Francisco, CA

Nicholas Bicardo

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – HFF announced today that it has closed the sale of Ghirardelli Square, a 12-building, 101,258-square-foot retail center in the Fisherman’s Wharf District of San Francisco.

               HFF marketed Ghirardelli Square on behalf of a major financial institution.  HFF generated more than 30 offers and sourced the buyer, Jamestown Group, which purchased the property free and clear of existing financing.

Mark Damiani

               Ghirardelli Square has a history dating back to 1859 when it was one of the first industrialized manufacturing facilities on the West Coast. 

  Later it served as the production facility for Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, and today, after being renovated and retrofitted most recently in 2007, the property serves as a lifestyle and entertainment-oriented retail complex. 

Michael Leggett

Tenants at the 55 percent leased center include the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, which leases the space for its U.S. flagship retail location, Vom Fass, Jackson & Polk, Gigi & Rose, Wattle Creek Winery, Kara’s Cupcakes and McCormick & Schmick’s, among others. 

The property also includes a 10-level, 283-space subterranean parking garage as well as a separate two-level, 99-space parking garage.  Ghirardelli Square encompasses an entire city block at 900 and 915 North Point Street adjacent to the San Francisco Cable Car Hyde-Beach turntable in the North Waterfront area of San Francisco.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Co. interior

               The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by managing director Nicholas Bicardo and director Mark Damiani along with senior managing director Michael Leggett.

               "The world-renowned brand identity coupled with the irreplaceable location and remarkable demand drivers, including up to 16,000 people walking through the square every day, are just a few reasons that make this retail center so unique and special. 

“Consequently, the competition was nothing short of fierce - we had over 200 interested parties and conducted more than 60 tours.  

"Needless to say, this asset has incredible upside potential.  I have no doubt Jamestown will turn this already special project into something even more spectacular over the next few years," said Bicardo.

               Founded in 1983 with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. and Cologne, Germany and offices in New York City, San Francisco, Ca. and Washington, D.C., Jamestown is a leader in acquisitions and value added management. Over 30 years, Jamestown has generated approximately $8 billion in strategic investments.

The company is focused across the risk spectrum with core, core-plus and opportunistic funds in two primary markets: 24-hour cities and Sunbelt territories with strong demographic growth. For more information, visit www.jamestownlp.com.

  

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

Kristen M. Murphy

Associate Director

HFF | One Post Office Square, Suite 3500 | Boston, MA 02109

Main: 617-338-0990 | Direct: 617-848-1572 | Cell: 617-543-4873 | www.hfflp.com

krmurphy@hfflp.com

Lincoln Property Co. Southeast Brokers Leases by Connecticut School of Broadcasting, 4 Corner Resources and All Phase Logistics in Orlando, FL

Alliance International Business Center, Orlando, FL

Lisa Bailey

 ORLANDO, FL (Sept. 26, 2013) – Lincoln Property Company Southeast (Lincoln) has brokered office and industrial leases totaling more than 15,000 square feet in Orlando.

 The details of the transactions are as follows:

• Connecticut School of Broadcasting leased 3,323 square feet of office space in the Alliance International Business Center. Robert Kellogg, CCIM, vice president of office leasing for Lincoln, represented the tenant in the transaction, and Lisa Bailey of Morrison Commercial Real Estate represented the landlord.

Robert Kellogg

• 4 Corner Resources, a professional recruiting firm, decided to move out of the downtown core and relocate into the freestanding building located at 135 E. Colonial Drive, where the firm signed a new lease for 5,000 square feet. Nick Poole of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant, and Kellogg represented the landlord.

Nick Poole

• All Phase Logistics leased 7,200 square feet in Atlas Commerce Park, an industrial park. Paul Straubinger of Straubcos LLC represented the landlord, and Sean DuPree, CCIM, director of sales and leasing for Lincoln, represented the tenant.

“As 2013 heads into the fall, the office and industrial markets in Orlando continue to improve,” said Scott Stahley, senior vice president for Lincoln who manages the Orlando office.

Scott Stahley

 “These three transactions are representative of the increased activity taking place in the area, and we in Lincoln’s Orlando office are excited about the opportunities that await both our tenant and landlord clients.”

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

Stephen Ursery

The Wilbert Group

404-405-2354

sursery@thewilbertgroup.com

HFF closes $13.88 million sale of LA Fitness in Riverside, CA

LA Fitness Riverside, 3437 Arlington Avenue, Riverside, CA

LOS ANGELES, CA – HFF announced today that it has closed the sale of LA Fitness Riverside, a newly-expanded, 49,661-square-foot fitness center in Riverside, California.

Bryan Ley

HFF marketed the site on behalf of the seller, Westminster Arlington LLC, wholly-owned by Westminster Fund V LP.  The property was purchased for $13.88 million by Cole Credit Property Trust IV, Inc.

               The asset is located at 3437 Arlington Avenue with prominent frontage along Highway 91 adjacent to Tava Center, a multi-tenant retail property.  Completed in 2010 and expanded in 2013, the property is adjacent to an available, undeveloped retail pad that is entitled for up to 15,000 square feet. 

               The HFF team representing the seller was led by managing director Bryan Ley and director John Crump.

John Crump

               The Westminster Funds are real estate investment partnerships for private investors and their foundations.  Founded in 1996, The Westminster Funds currently comprise eight commercial income-property investment funds and two CCRC funds for development and operation of CCRCs.

 The 10 funds total more than $600 million of equity capitalization and own about $1 billion of property assets throughout the United States.

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

Kristen M. Murphy

Associate Director

HFF | One Post Office Square, Suite 3500 | Boston, MA 02109

Main: 617-338-0990 | Direct: 617-848-1572 | Cell: 617-543-4873 | www.hfflp.com

krmurphy@hfflp.com

Obamacare and Federal Budget Wrangling Could Affect Commercial Real Estate, Notes Severino of Reis

  

President Barack Obama

  

Ryan Severino

ATLANTA, GA (Sept. 25, 2013) – Several years after the recession ended, the commercial real estate landscape remains varied, with the multifamily sector soaring and retail sector still the lagging sector. Meanwhile, uncertainties over the federal budget and over the implementation of the new federal healthcare reform law, known as “Obamacare,” could slow the economy and the commercial real estate industry recovery as well.

Those were several of the points made during the most recent episode of the “Commercial Real Estate Show” radio program, hosted by Michael Bull of Bull Realty. Bull and his guest Ryan Severino, senior economist at Reis, provided an enlightening view of the state of the commercial real estate markets.

Michael Bull

 Topics included the performances of the individual property sectors, investment sales, new construction, and the potential impacts of Obamacare, rising interest rates and tapering of quantitative easing.

With a national vacancy rate of just 4.3 percent, the multifamily sector remains “the star performer” of commercial real estate, Severino said. A looming uptick in new construction, however, could cool off the white-hot sector just a bit, he cautioned.

“You aren’t going to see demand pull back significantly, but you are going to see greater competition from new supply in the next six to 18 months,” Severino said. “That is not going to cause vacancy to explode, but we’ll probably drift higher in the next four to five years.”

Nordstrom, Chicago, IL

On the other hand, the retail market continues to sputter overall, but it’s not without its positives. “If you look at those high-quality, Class A malls with anchors like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus and in-line tenants like Armani and Polo, those centers have held up pretty well,” Severino said.

 “If you get away from those sectors to the Class B+ and lower-caliber malls, we haven’t seen demand bounce back because most consumers have been a little more circumspect about their discretionary spending.”

The office market continues to be hampered by sluggish job growth, but that could change starting next year, Severino noted. “Give it a year or two,” he said. “With economic growth accelerating, I think you’ll see stronger demand on the part of users of office space.”

Neiman Marcus, Dallas, TX

The industrial sector “has a Goldilocks temperature to it right now,” Severino said. “It’s not as hot as the apartment market, and it’s not as cold as retail.” The national vacancy rate for the warehouse/distribution subsector is 11.8 percent and 13.8 percent for the flex/R&D subsector, he added.

Questions about the implementation of Obamacare are one of several economic factors poised to impact property performance in the coming months, Severino said, as business owners will remain hesitant to make real estate and personnel decisions until the dust settles.

“Whether you like Obamacare or you don’t like Obamacare, what I would really like to see them do is just settle on everything so that the market knows where it stands, and [business owners] can make decisions going forward,” Severino said. 

“Even if you hate the law and you don’t like what it’s going to do to your business, at least you can make decisions about the future once you know for certain where you stand.”

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

Stephen Ursery

The Wilbert Group

404.405.2354

sursery@thewilbertgroup.com

Manhattan Construction Group Announces John Reyhan as New President of Subsidiary Manhattan Construction Co.

John Reyhan

TULSA, OK, Sept. 26, 2013 – Oklahoma-based Manhattan Construction Group, a nationally ranked civil and building construction firm, has named John Reyhan as president of its building construction subsidiary, Manhattan Construction Company.

Reyhan will be responsible for the company’s overall strategic direction and the achievement of specific company goals and objectives, including performance of quality construction services and development of career opportunities for its employees.

Manhattan has operations in Dallas, Austin and Houston, Texas; Naples, Fort Myers, Sarasota and Tampa, Fla.; the Washington, D.C., regional area; Atlanta, Ga.; and Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Okla. Reyhan will be based in Atlanta.

Francis Rooney

“We are fortunate to have John join our management team,” said Francis Rooney, chairman of Manhattan Construction Group. “His integrity and both personal and professional values closely align with our own culture. He brings a breadth and depth of experience to Manhattan, which will assure that we can continue to provide innovative and responsive construction service to our clients.”

 Reyhan has 27 years of construction industry experience. He previously worked for Skanska USA, where he held a succession of leadership roles. He led the business units for sports, higher education, and federal market sectors, and served as general manager for the company’s Georgia region, including much of the Southeast United States.

For more information about Manhattan, please visit: www.manhattanconstruction.com or connect with us on twitter @ManhattanBuild, via Facebook/ManhattanConstruction and on LinkedIn.

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

Natalie Pagano

Manhattan Construction Group

918.583.6900

npagano@manhattanconstruction.com

HFF closes sale of single-tenant industrial facility in Carteret, NJ

700 Blair Road, Carteret, NJ

Michael Nachamkin

FLORHAM PARK, NJ – HFF announced today that it has closed the sale of 700 Blair Road, a 234,325-square-foot, single-tenant, light industrial building in Carteret, New Jersey.

HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, GP 700 Blair Road, LLC, and procured the buyer, The Hampshire Companies.  The purchase price was in excess of $10 million.

Jose Cruz

700 Blair Road is fully leased to, and functions as the corporate headquarters for Berjé Inc., a global leader and distributor of essential oils and aromatic chemicals with more than 60 years of experience supplying the flavor, fragrance, pharmaceutical and allied trades. 

  The recently renovated property is situated on 12.41 acres close to Interstate 95/NJ Turnpike, Newark Liberty International Airport and Port Elizabeth/Newark.

Kevin O'Hearn

The HFF team representing the seller was led by managing director Michael Nachamkin along with senior managing director Jose Cruz, managing director Kevin O’Hearn and real estate analyst Marc Duval.

The Hampshire Companies is a full-service, private real estate firm with equity in assets valued at more than $2.5 billion, based in Morristown, New Jersey.  

Brickell Avenue skyline, Downtown Miami, FL

The Hampshire Companies is a vibrant, dynamic organization that combines creative vision and superior execution, thereby enabling it to create and enhance value in real estate investments. www.hampshireco.com.

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

Kristen M. Murphy

Associate Director

HFF | One Post Office Square, Suite 3500 | Boston, MA 02109

Main: 617-338-0990 | Direct: 617-848-1572 | Cell: 617-543-4873 | www.hfflp.com

krmurphy@hfflp.com

Four Law Firms Sign Joint Lease on 7,696 SF at 800 Brickell in Downtown Miami, FL

800 Brickell, Downtown Miami, FL

MIAMI, FL, Sept. 26, 2013 - Colliers International South Florida is pleased to announce that Randy Olen, Executive Vice President, and Matthew Anderson, Office Leasing Consultant, represented four law firms in the firms' joint search for Brickell office space. The firms are Jonathan H. Green and Associates, P.A.; Schlesinger & Associates, P.A.; Samuel J. Rabin, Jr., P.A.; and Roy J. Kahn, P.A.

Randy Olen

Olen and Anderson helped the law firms secure a seven-year lease on 7,696 square feet at 800 Brickell Avenue in Miami. 

"The office layout suited the new tenants well and the landlord, CRE 800 Brickell LP, offered a competitive rate that made the deal attractive," said Olen. 

"The building's central Brickell location, strong institutional ownership, and responsiveness of the landlord and landlord's representative, Michael Taylor of Stiles, factored into the equation." The building's amenities include Brickell views and an Au Bon Pain in the building.

Matthew Anderson

Olen and Anderson, who specialize in office leasing, said the transaction points to a growing trend of compatible firms collaborating on office leases to obtain a prestigious Brickell address. "It works because landlords continue to be willing to offer concessions to secure quality tenants," said Olen.

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

Crystal Proenza

Vice President of Marketing

Colliers International South Florida

Commercial Real Estate Services

Tel: 305 476 7138

Email: crystal.proenza@colliers.com

www.colliers.com/southflorida  

Sales Volume and Median Home Prices Continue to Increase in Most Markets; Short Sales and Bank-Owned Sales Combined Account for One in Four Sales

 

IRVINE, Calif. – Sept. 26, 2013 — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the nation’s leading source for comprehensive housing data, today released its August 2013 U.S. Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report, which shows that U.S. residential properties, including single family homes and condominiums and townhomes, sold at an estimated annualized pace of 5.6 million in August, up 2 percent from the 5.5 million pace in July and up 12 percent from the 5.0 million pace in August 2012.

Daren Blomquist

The national median sales price in August was $175,000, up 3 percent from the previous month and up 6 percent from a year ago — the 17th consecutive month where median home prices have increased annually nationwide.

The median price of a distressed residential property — in foreclosure or bank owned — in August was $116,000, up 1 percent from the previous month, but down 3 percent from a year ago. Median distressed prices have now declined on an annual basis for six consecutive months including August.

“Seven years after the housing bubble burst, U.S. home prices are clearly on the rise again, up 23 percent from the bottom in March 2012 although still 26 below the peak of the housing price bubble in August 2006,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

 “This recovery in home prices and sale volume continues to be driven in large part by cash buyers and institutional investors, as evidenced by the increasing share of sales represented by those two categories in August.”

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

Jennifer von Pohlmann

949.502.8300, ext. 139

jennifer.vonpohlmann@realtytrac.com

Ginny Walker

949.502.8300, ext. 268

ginny.walker@realtytrac.com

Brittney Marin

949.502.8300, ext. 107

brittney.marin@realtytrac.com

Data and Report Licensing:

800.462.5193

datasales@realtytrac.com