Taylor & Mathis Broward Team Secures 37,528 Square Feet in Leases at MetLife Properties in South Florida

Donna Korn

Sawgrass, FL -   Taylor & Mathis of Florida’s Broward leasing team has executed six office leases totaling 37,528 square feet at three MetLife properties in the third quarter.

 “Summer leasing activity has been unusually brisk this year; a sign of the improving economy,” according to T&M Director of Leasing Donna Korn. 

Donna Korn and Jennifer Gemma of Taylor & Mathis brokered the following office lease transactions in Broward County on behalf of landlord MetLife including 21,831 square feet leased at Huntington Centre and 11,381 square feet at Miramar Centre in Miramar plus 3,866 square feet at Venture Corporate Center, Hollywood.

Huntington Centre, Miramar Florida

·         Office of the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Southern District of Florida | Miami-Dade Division signed a 10,039 square foot renewal and expansion.

·         Nordyne International, Inc., offering industry-leading HVAC brands, products, training and programs, leased 7,644 square feet. The deal was co-brokered by Daniel Cook of Cook Commercial Realty, Inc. representing the tenant.

·         Payroll Experts, LLC leased 3,532 square feet. The deal was co-brokered by Sal Bonsignore of Colliers International representing the tenant.

Jennifer Gemma

·         Green Cross Home Care Services, Inc. signed a renewal of 616 square feet

Miramar Centre, Miramar Florida

·         Humana Medical Plan, Inc. signed a renewal of 11,381 square feet. MetLife owns two buildings at Miramar Center with this deal keeping the 3401 building at 100% occupancy. The deal was co-brokered by Leigh Anne Johnson of DTZ representing the tenant.

Venture Corporate Center, Hollywood Florida

·         Enclos Corp. leased 3,866 square feet.  The deal was co-brokered by Zachary Talbot and Rick Miller of DTZ representing the tenant. Enclos, a facade engineering and curtain wall design company, is one of the largest specialty design-build contractors in the United States.

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

Donna Korn dkorn@taylormathis.com  or

Jennifer Gemma jgemma@taylormathis.com

(954)845-8840

www.taylormathisflorida.com

www.TaylorMathis.com

Cousins Properties Closes Northpark Town Center Acquisition in Atlanta, GA

Northpark Town Center, Atlanta, GA

ATLANTA, GA --Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) has completed its previously announced acquisition of Northpark Town Center, a 1.5 million square-foot office complex in Atlanta, GA, for a gross price of approximately $348 million.

Cousins Properties Incorporated is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT).

The Company, based in Atlanta, GA, primarily invests in Class-A office assets located in high growth Sunbelt markets, with a focus on Georgia, Texas and North Carolina.

The Company has a comprehensive strategy in place based on a simple platform, trophy assets and opportunistic investments.

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

Cousins Properties Incorporated

Marli Quesinberry, 404-407-1898

Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications

marliquesinberry@cousinsproperties.com

R3 Funding Arranges $11.5 Million Loan for Orion Lakes Manufactured Home Community in Orion, MI

Orion Lakes Manufactured Home Community
Orion Lakes, MI

ORION, MI --  R3 Funding, a national lender correspondent providing origination and workout services, announced today that it has arranged an $11.5 million fixed rate CMBS loan for Orion Lakes, a manufactured home community located in Orion, Michigan. 

The announcement was made by Ray Potter, managing partner of R3 Funding.

Orion Lakes is 416 pads and is located at 47 Bluebird Hill. It has a 74 percent occupancy rate and its amenities include on-site laundry facilities, a playground and clubhouse, and a basketball court.

The community sits adjacent to the Orion Assembly GM plant, which received a $545 million investment in 2010 in order to retool for the Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano programs.

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

Carl Gaines

Account Director

Great Ink Communications

27 Union Square West, Suite 205

New York, NY 10003

w: (212) 741-2977

c: (917) 202-0771

FrontDoor Communities’ Andalucia in Naples, FL Named Product Design of the Year

Mike Taylor

NAPLES, FL– For the second year in a row, Andalucia, a FrontDoor Communities property in the heart of Naples, Florida, has been awarded Product Design of the Year at the 2014 Sand Dollar Awards.

The Collier Building Industry Association presents the awards each year to deserving real estate projects in the Collier County area.

The Sand Dollar Awards recognize achievement by builders, developers, architects and others in real estate that have demonstrated building, design and marketing excellence.

FrontDoor Communities received the award for Product Design of the Year in Single Family Homes at an awards ceremony Sept. 27 at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples.

“FrontDoor Communities is honored to be recognized by the Collier Building Industry Association for the second year in a row alongside some of the top names in real estate,” said Mike Taylor, vice president at FrontDoor Communities. “Winning Product Design of the Year reflects our commitment to deliver better homes through quality design.”

Andalucia is a 167-home community located on 78 acres at the heart of Naples.

 The homes feature Mediterranean design elements that enhance and complement Florida’s history and climate including tiled roofs, arched windows and doorways and ornamental details.

 Bordered by natural preserves and wetlands, the community is convenient to top beaches, schools and shopping.

 For more information on Andalucia, visit www.andalucianaples.com.

                                         

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

M.C. Rhodes •The Wilbert Group

1720 Peachtree St., Suite 350 • Atlanta, Ga. 30309

O: 404-343-0274  • M: 678-983-5867

www.thewilbertgroup.com             

Little Rock Marriott Hosts Grand Opening Festivities; Hotel Promotes Community with Easter Seals Charitable Partnership Announcement

  

Gretchen Hall

 LITTLE ROCK, AR, Oct. 2, 2014—Hotel officials celebrated the grand opening of the 418-room Little Rock Marriott in downtown Little Rock, Ark., with a spectacular gala highlighting the hotel’s prominent place in the community.

 Headlined by the Arkansas Symphony with performances by local school bands, the Razorbacks tailgate themed event was hosted by Davidson Hotels & Resorts, which operates the hotel, and officials from Fairwood Capital, the hotel's owner.

The hotel also announced a charitable partnership with the Easter Seals.  With funds provided by the Marriott Little Rock and Fairwood Capital, Easter Seals will facilitate an in-state college scholarship program. 

On July 4, 2015, the hotel will host the first of a series of events with the 2nd Annual 4th of July Extravaganza with a portion of those additional proceeds donated to the charity.

Patrick Lupsha

General admission guests will be provided a “festival-style” experience that includes dinner, private access to Riverfront Park, the Riverview Room and Riverview Terrace. 

Casual seating is available in the Riverview Room and Terrace while dining. Admission includes dinner, live entertainment and fireworks overlooking the river.

“Today marks a new chapter in Arkansas’ lodging history as we welcome our state’s first and only full-service Marriott hotel to downtown Little Rock,” said Pat Lupsha, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Davidson. 

  “With the completion of our multi-million renovation, the hotel is perfectly positioned to meet the growing needs of the area’s business and leisure travelers.  

"The Marriott name is synonymous with hospitality, making it the perfect choice to usher in a new high-water mark for hospitality in our community.”

Attendees included Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe; Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola; Jim Kauffman, Marriott’s president of North America full-service hotels; Bob Solmson, CEO Fairwood Capital, John Belden, Davidson’s president and CEO; and Gretchen Hall, president and CEO of the Little Rock Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola

To entertain gala guests, the Arkansas Symphony and Mabelvale School all gave moving musical performances.  

The evening concluded with an old fashioned “’Backs Tailgate” party, complete with  trucks, photo booths, the Central High School Band and Cheerleaders and a replay of the “Game of the Century” 1969 Arkansas Razorbacks vs Texas Longhorns.  

Mayor Mark Stodula spoke about the revitalization efforts of downtown.  With the renovation of the Little Rock Marriott, it is expected that the hotel will increase traffic to downtown businesses and spur economic activity. 

  The hotel provides a world class conference facility and hospitality destination making downtown a place for residents of Arkansas and others to visit and enjoy.

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

Chris Daly

Daly Gray Public Relations

 (703) 435-6293

chris@dalygray.com

 (703) 435-6293

Cyndi Norwood                                                                                

(678) 349-0909  

cnorwood@davidsonhotels.com

Davidson Hotels & Resorts                                                             

Bankunited Provides $2.16 Million Refinance Loan to Leasa Industries, Inc., Liberty City’s Largest Employer in Metro Miami, FL

MIAMI LAKES, FL  – BankUnited announced it has provided a $2.16 million loan to Leasa Industries, Inc. to refinance its Liberty City facility at 2450 Northwest 76th Street.

As the largest employer in Liberty City, with more than 70 employees, Leasa is known for its socially responsible practices, including hiring its employees from within the Liberty City community, and locating its facility within a designated Empowerment Zone/Community Redevelopment Area.

One of the largest growers, manufacturers, processors and packers of healthy food products across the Southeastern United States, Leasa brand products are distributed to various retail locations throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, the Caribbean and Alaska.

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

Mary Harris,

(305) 817-8117                                           

MHarris@BankUnited.com

Savannah Whaley,

 (954) 776-1999, ext. 225

swhaley@piersongrant.com

Amy Hoffman

Pierson Grant Public Relations

6301 Northwest 5th Way  Suite 2600

Fort Lauderdale, FL  33309

v. (954) 776-1999  ext. 228

f. (954) 776-0290

ahoffman@piersongrant.com

www.highimpactdigital.com

RealtyTrac Ranks Best U.S. Markets for Buying Residential Rental Properties

Daren Blomquist

IRVINE, CA,  Oct. 2, 2014 — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the nation’s leading source for comprehensive housing data, today released its Q3 2014 Residential Property Rental Report, which ranks the best markets for buying residential rental properties.

For the report, RealtyTrac analyzed median sales prices for residential properties and average fair market rents for three bedroom properties in 586 U.S. counties with a combined population of 218 million people — 71 percent of the total U.S. population.

Rental returns were calculated using annual gross rental yields:  the average fair market rent of three-bedroom homes in each county, annualized, and divided by the median sales price of residential properties in the third quarter.

The 586-county analysis found that investors buying U.S. residential rental property in the third quarter of 2014 are getting an average annual return of 9.06 percent, down from an average annual return of 9.65 percent for the third quarter of 2013.

Median home prices in the 586 counties analyzed in the report increased more than 7 percent on average in the third quarter of 2014 compared to a year ago, while average fair market rents for three-bedroom homes increased an average of less than 1 percent.

In these counties on average 33 percent of the housing units were renter-occupied and 67 percent were owner-occupied. 

The average rental vacancy rates in these counties were 7.4 percent compared to a national average of 8.7 percent as of the end of 2012.

“The single family rental market is still strong, with returns averaging 9 percent in the 586 counties analyzed,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Even so, the market is softening, with those same 586 counties averaging a nearly 10 percent return a year ago.

“In the high-risk, high-yield markets, where unemployment and vacancy rates are higher than national averages, the average return was a whopping 19 percent, actually up from a year ago thanks to a strong increase in rental rates,” Blomquist continued.

 “Home prices, meanwhile, were more volatile in the high-risk, high-yield markets, with three out of the 16 posting double-digit percentage decreases in median home prices from a year ago.”

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

Jennifer von Pohlmann

PR Manager

Office: 949.502.8300 ext 139

jennifer.vonpohlmann@realtytrac.com

McCraney Property Co. Inks Lease with FedEx in Its John Young Business Park Project in Orlando, FL

Steven McCraney

ORLANDO, FL – McCraney Property Company (MPC) has signed a lease with FedEx Ground to occupy 60 percent of its John Young Business Park’s Building 3, which consists of 142,638 square feet. The tenant, FedEx Ground, a leader in cost-effective, small-package ground shipping, will be using the space as a package distribution center.

“We’re encouraged about the demand for Class A industrial in our Central Florida projects,” said Steven McCraney, SIOR, CCIM, president and CEO of McCraney Property Company. “FedEx has a great business platform, and we’re excited that they chose John Young Business Park.”

 McCraney’s 25-acre John Young Business Park consists of a three-building portfolio, totaling 393,000 square feet of modern industrial buildings. A joint venture was formed between MPC and international real estate investment manager Clarion Partners, LLC, to develop the project.

Dade Paper, a 150,000-square-foot state-of-the-art distribution center and offices, was the first of the three buildings in John Young Business Park to be completed. Construction has just been completed on its two spec industrial buildings, Buildings 2 and 3, totaling 243,000 square feet.

Jerry Benson

Jones Lang LaSalle was the tenant representative for FedEx Ground. David Murphy of CBRE was the exclusive leasing agent for John Young Business Park.

MPC’s team consisted of Steven McCraney, Jerry Benson, asset manager and Ben Kraljev, director of growth and development.

MPC currently has approximately 244,000 square feet under negotiations in Central Florida.

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

Don Silver (donsil@boardroompr.com) or

Ashley Fierman (afierman@boardroompr.com)

BoardroomPR,

954-370-8999

954-629-7523.

MBA Releases Commercial/Multifamily Quarterly DataBook for Q2 2014

WASHINGTON, DC --The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its second quarter 2014 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Quarterly DataBook.

To download a free copy, click here.

The report includes a summary of major trends and detailed charts and tables that provide current and historical information on the economy and commercial/multifamily real estate markets.  Among the findings covered in the DataBook:

·        Property markets continued to improve, with rents growing and vacancy rates ticking down.

·        Year-to-date borrowing by commercial and multifamily real estate owners is running at the same pace as last year.

·        Low interest rates and improving property fundamentals are prompting borrowers to act, but the relatively low volume of loans hitting maturity is checking overall demand.

·        Commercial and multifamily mortgage performance continued to strengthen during the second quarter.

·        Among loans held on bank balance sheets, the 30-90 day delinquency rate fell to the lowest level in the series history, going back to 1993.

MBA’s Quarterly DataBook compiles the most up-to-date information on topics of interest to commercial/multifamily real estate finance industry professionals, including trends in the economy, property sales, originations, delinquencies, and mortgage debt outstanding.

If you have any questions please contact Shawn Ryan at (202) 557-2727 or sryan@mba.org.

Jones Lang LaSalle Reports Phoenix Office Market Pushes Forward with Jobs, Construction and Rent Growth

Dennis Desmond

PHOENIX, AZ – Hotspots of construction and a bevy of new financial services jobs are powering the Phoenix office sector forward, according to JLL’s just-released Q3 Phoenix Office Market Report.

According to the report, job growth among financial services firms is currently almost double that of Phoenix’s overall job growth. The activity has helped drive third quarter office demand and construction activity, in turn pushing rents and absorption upward.

“We don’t have the luxury of saying we’ve recovered all of our jobs in all of our job sectors, but there are beacons—like the financial services industry—that point to a true and robust recovery,” said JLL Senior Managing Director Dennis Desmond. “This sector has grown exponentially, and continues to add jobs every week… every month.”

The JLL report cites GM Financial and Silicon Valley Bank as two companies that have recently expanded their local footprint.

“This supports the return of Class A rents, a tide that has been slowly turning since early 2013 but that made a notable post-recession push in 2014,” said JLL Research Analyst Matt Kolano. “In the hottest office markets, such as Tempe and the Camelback Corridor, rents are reaching as high as 50 percent above the Phoenix market average, to $30 per-square-foot for full-service space.”

Matt Kolano

Together with advances in other Valley markets, Phoenix now sits at a 12-month rent growth of 3.3 percent. Rent growth in Class A product, specifically, has jumped by 5.8 percent since 2012. 

Overall, the Phoenix office market has absorbed 1,632,316 square feet of space year-to-date. This rivals the 1,684,139 square feet absorbed in 2012 and is significantly higher than the 916,570 square feet absorbed in 2013.

All of this momentum is culminating in more than 2.0 million square feet of new construction within the Southeast Market Area alone (South Tempe, Airport, Chandler and Tempe submarkets.) 

More than half—approximately 1.3 million square feet—of this space is being added in Tempe. Most new projects are build-to-suit, being developed by companies looking for custom space or hindered by the lack of large, new, modern blocks of product.

To view JLL’s Q3 Phoenix Office Market Insight Report, click here.

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

Stacey Hershauer

focusAZ

Marketing & Public Relations

(480) 600-0195

stacey@focusaz.com

www.focusaz.com