Friday, August 17, 2018

Proper Title Welcomes Amanda Ley As Senior Escrow Officer



Amanda Ley
                                                                                      
CHICAGO, IL (Aug. 17, 2018) – Palatine, Ill.-based Proper Title, LLC, a full-service title insurance agency serving the residential and commercial real estate industries, announced it has hired Amanda Ley as senior escrow officer. 

“We are thrilled to have Amanda join the Proper Title team, as she is such a trusted expert in our industry,” said David Garside, executive vice president of title and escrow operations at Proper Title. “Amanda is known for her ability to handle complex transactions, making her a great fit for our goal to bring clients peace of mind at the closing table.”

Ley comes to Proper Title after nearly two decades with Chicago Title & Trust Company, where her work as an escrow officer earned her the Fidelity National Financial President’s Award seven times. She will be handling both commercial and residential transactions out of Proper Title’s Northbrook office.

“Having worked with the largest title insurance underwriter in the nation, I’ve been a part of almost every type of property transaction,” said Ley. “I’m excited and honored to work at Proper Title, which continues to add some of the industry’s top talent to its team.

David Garside
"And, of course, the opportunity to bring my expertise to a company that provides such a high level of customer service to its clients is also very rewarding to me on a professional level.”

Launched with just 27 employees in 2013, Proper Title has doubled its size and increased its transaction volume every year to become a major player in the title insurance business and the second-largest title insurance agency in the state.

 It recently earned the 2016 Award for Excellence from Fidelity National Title Group, Inc., a member of the Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) family of companies and the nation’s largest group of title companies and title insurance underwriters.

The award is given for meeting and exceeding specific title underwriting and settlement services criteria.

Proper Title is able to deliver an exceptional title experience throughout the Chicago area and the Midwest. For more information, visit 

For more information, please contact:

Traci Failla, tfailla@taylorjohnson.com, (312) 267-4516
Kim Manning, kmanning@taylorjohnson.com, (312) 267-4527


HFF announces $30.5 million refinancing for Kinzie Hotel in Chicago


Kinzie Hotel, 20 West Kinzie Street, Chicago, IL

 CHICAGO, IL –– Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announces the $30.5 million refinancing for Kinzie Hotel, a 215-room boutique hotel in the heart of Chicago’s River North submarket.

Daniel Kaufman
The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, Bixby Bridge Capital, LLC and Urbana Holdings, LLC (“Urbana”), to place the three-year, floating-rate loan with two 12-month extension options with Annaly Commercial Real Estate Group, Inc. 

 Loan proceeds were used to refinance the existing mortgage in conjunction with installing Urbana Varro as the new hotel management company.

Constructed in 2003 as an Amalfi Hotel, the property was renovated and transformed in 2014 into the Kinzie Hotel.  The hotel, which occupies the first six floors of a 385,000-square-foot, Class A office building, has its own lobby entrance and elevators on the first floor in addition to featuring the Double Cross Lounge, 24-hour fitness center and 2,300 square feet of meeting space. 

Nicole Aguiar

 Kinzie Hotel is at 20 West Kinzie Street in the heart of River North, which is a prominent business hub containing over 13.6 million square feet of office space, and steps from Michigan Avenue, positioning the hotel among upscale retailers, restaurants and offices. 

Jeff Bucaro
Additionally, the hotel is two blocks from the Magnificent Mile’s luxury boutiques, department stores and multi-story mega malls.

The HFF debt placement team representing the borrower consisted of managing director Danny Kaufman, senior director Jeff Bucaro and associate Nicole Aguiar.
  
For more information, please contact:

KIMBERLY STEELE
HFF Digital Content/Public Relations Specialist
(713) 852-3420