Award-Winning Model Homes Now Open at Lexington Hills of Palatine in Palatine, IL

Jeff Benach

CHICAGO, IL (Dec. 2, 2014) – Chicago-based Lexington Homes has opened three model homes at Lexington Hills, a community of 51 townhomes in Palatine, Ill.

 Two of the model homes have been professionally decorated by award-winning Eleni Interiors of Naperville, and the community itself recently won four Key Awards from the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago for Excellence in Architectural Design.

Located on Lake Cook Road, a quarter mile west of the intersection of Lake Cook Road and Route 12, the community offers two-story townhomes in three floor plan designs with three bedrooms, 2½ baths, basements and two-car garages. Base-priced from $297,490 to $328,490, the townhomes measure 1,711 to 1,905 square feet.

“The plans at Lexington Hills were new designs created specifically for this community, and so far buyer response has been fantastic with 95 percent of homes in phase one sold and more than 80 percent of phase two homes sold,” said Jeff Benach, co-principal of Lexington Homes.

“It’s also nice to have these efficient and attractive models recognized by Chicago’s homebuilding community with Lexington Hills’ four Key Awards.

“We take great pride in the communities we build and our buyers at Lexington Hills should feel good about these awards, too, because it reassures them they are living in an award-winning development.”

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

Kelly Shumaker kshumaker@taylorjohnson.com, 312-267-4519

Emily Johnson, ejohnson@taylorjohnson.com, 312-267-4522

HFF arranges $157 million construction financing for the SLS Brickell Hotel and Residences in Miami, FL

Jorge M. Perez

MIAMI, FL – HFF announced today that it has secured a $157 million construction financing for the SLS Brickell Hotel and Residences, a 51-story mixed-use hotel and condominium tower in downtown Miami.

               HFF worked exclusively on behalf of the developers, a joint venture between Related Group and sbe Hotel Group (sbe) to secure the $157 million loan through Canyon Capital Realty Advisors.

               SLS Brickell Hotel and Residences is situated on a 1.3-acre site at 1300 South Miami. 

Due for completion in 2016, the property will contain 453 SLS-branded condominium residences and 124 SLS hotel keys in addition to three luxury restaurants.

World-renowned creator and architect Phillipe Starck is designing the hotel’s interiors, which will feature a gym, spa, pool deck with separate hotel and residence areas, a 6,000-square-foot ballroom, 2,000 square feet of meeting space, roof-top pool and outdoor roof-top dining, and a triple-height drop off area with valet parking.

Sam Nazarian

The HFF team was led by executive managing director Manuel de Zárraga, director Max Comess and associate director Scott Wadler.

“The financing of the SLS Brickell is a significant development that underlines the market’s confidence in the depth of the Brickell neighborhood and the future of the downtown hotel market,” Comess said.  

“The project represents the first stand-alone, mixed-use hotel and branded-residential tower to be capitalized off the beach in Miami this cycle.”

HFF’s Hotel Group has been active in the sale and financing of similar hotels across the country.  

In the first three quarters of 2014, the firm financed or sold 74 hotels and resorts with total transaction volume totaling nearly $1.98 billion. The group is presently involved in numerous Florida Keys and South Florida hotel and resort transactions.

Phillipe Starc

Led by founder, chairman and CEO Jorge M. Perez, The Related Group (Related) is one of the nation’s leading developers of condominiums and multi-family residences. 

Since its founding more than a quarter of a century ago, Related has developed more than 80,000 apartment and condominium residences and is one of the largest privately-owned companies in Florida. 

sbe is a global hospitality and entertainment company helmed by visionary founder, chairman and CEO Sam Nazarian, which comprises a thriving collection of award-winning hotels, casinos, residences, restaurants and nightlife destinations, including the SLS South Beach, Beverly Hills and most recently, Las Vegas.

 

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

Berger Commercial Realty Arranges $479,000 Sale of Fort Lauderdale, FL Property

St. George Guardabassi

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Berger Commercial Realty, a regional full service real estate firm, announced today the sale of an 11,709-square-foot property for $479,000 in Fort Lauderdale.

Berger Commercial Realty Senior Vice President St. George Guardabassi represented co-trustees James E. Harrison and Jack R. Loving in selling the property to A. Zemach, LLC.

 Located at 5731 N.E. 14th Ave. in Fort Lauderdale, the property consists of a 6,400-square-foot industrial building featuring16-foot clear height ceilings, three-phase heavy power, a 5,309-square-foot gated side yard and street level overhead doors, kitchen and private offices.

The building features decorative arches in the front with glass store front entrance to the offices, paved front parking lot and many upgrades.

 It is conveniently located one block east of Dixie Highway and just south of Cypress Creek Road near I-95 and Federal Highway.

  

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

Marielle Sologuren

msologuren@piersongrant.com

(954) 776-1999, ext. 226

Mortgage Bankers Association Reports Commercial/Multifamily Delinquencies Continue Decline in Third Quarter

 

Jamie Woodwell

Washington, DC (Dec. 2, 2014) – Delinquency rates for commercial and multifamily mortgage loans continued to decline in the third quarter of 2014, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Commercial/Multifamily Delinquency Report.

“Commercial and multifamily mortgage loans continue to perform well,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research.

 “Improving property fundamentals and values, as well as a strong finance market, are helping drive delinquency rates down across all investor groups. 

“The 90+ day delinquency rate for bank-held commercial and multifamily mortgages fell to 1.28 percent in the third quarter of 2014, a level last seen in early 2008 at the beginning of the credit crisis. 

“The delinquency rate for multifamily loans held by banks has not been this low, 0.5 percent, since 2006.”

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

Shawn Ryan

sryan@mba.org

(202) 557-2727

RECI Reports Strong Demand for Longer-Term Debt Exists in the Commercial Real Estate Industry

Jeanne Peck

Chicago, IL – Real Estate Capital Institute reports the commercial real estate industry is driven by low interest rates, as attractive property values are maintained through aggressive of both debt and equity capital. 

And as property values climb, in some cases peaking, money continues to flow into this investment sector.  Major trends in the CRE capital markets are noted below:

Stable treasury yields are helping. During the past couple of weeks, rates

flattened out, as spreads between the five and 10 year treasury remain at
about 70 basis points, nearly half the difference from a year ago, but above
the average of 60 basis points. 

Such treasury behavior clearly shows how

monetary policy is influencing the slope of the yield curve.  Strong demand
for longer-term debt exists, as global investors look for "safe haven"
capital.  A tightening of the monetary policy usually means a rising
short-term interest rates, typically intended to lead to a reduction in
inflationary pressures.
Declining Mortgage Spreads.  The direct result of an oversupply of capital
is declining mortgage spreads. Mortgage yields are edging downward and about
10 basis points narrower than the average for the past three decades.
Except for lodging and special-purpose properties, rate premiums are almost
nonexistent among various property types, as improving market fundamentals
drive more demand for funding a wider variety of commercial properties.

Rationalizing Risk.   Bullish optimism continues to chase down yield.  While
profits breed competition, seeking excess profits can ruin it.  Today's
markets clearly surpassed 2007 yield benchmarks with sub 4% annual returns
acceptable to many foreign investors driven by equity multiples, rather than
yield.  New construction is a profit frontier measured by low teen returns,
as well as 100 to 250 basis points development yields versus exit
capitalization rates. 

 However, the biggest profits are hidden in
repositioning and upgrading existing holdings, with returns often exceeding
50 to 80%.  On the debt side, lenders and investors rationalize that the low
rates on CRE debt remain well over that of "risk free" investments and feel
they are compensated appropriately for investing in this sector.  Lenders
are quick to institute floors if they feel base rates are dropping too
quickly or deeply, thus protecting a perceived downside to the lower rates
they offer.
Ms. Jeanne Peck, Director of the Real Estate Capital Institute(r), observes,
"Mortgage rates are tight across all varying loan terms driven by lower
treasuries and the overall perception that commercial real estate represents
safety versus higher yield."


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

Jeanne Peck, Executive Director
director@reci.com

www.reci.com

NAI Realvest Gets New Event Production Tenant at Poinciana CommerCenter East in Kissimmee, FL

Kristen Kemp

 ORLANDO, FL – NAI Realvest recently completed a new long term industrial lease agreement with an event production services firm at Poinciana CommerCenter East, 1771 Business Center Lane in Kissimmee.  

Michael Heidrich, a principal at NAI Realvest and associate Kristen Kemp brokered the transaction representing the landlord and developer, Small Bay Partners, LLC of Maitland and the tenant Atlas Production Services, Inc. in the lease of 1,875 square feet. 

The tenant provides audio, visual and lighting rentals including crews for large and small events at parks or stadiums.

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

Beth Payan or Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142 Lvershelco@aol.com.