ARA Reps Sale of Gates of Harbortown in MetroWest, Orlando, FL

ORLANDO, FL (Sept. 10, 2010) — Atlanta-headquartered ARA, the largest privately held, full-service investment advisory brokerage firm in the nation focusing exclusively on the multihousing industry, announces the sale of Gates of Harbortown (top left photo), a 428-unit, Class “AA”, ultra-luxury garden and townhome apartment community located in the prestigious MetroWest area of Orlando, Florida.

ARA Orlando-based principal, Kevin Judd (top right photo); ARA Boca Raton-based principal, Richard Donnellan (top left photo) , and ARA Tampa-based vice president, Patrick Dufour (lower right photo), represented an institutional seller. The property, located at 2333 Lake Debra Drive, was 94% occupied at the time of the sale.

Los Angeles-based JRK Property Holdings purchased the property for an undisclosed amount with its private equity funds.š JRK owns and manages over 40,000 multifamily units throughout the United States.

Built in 1998 and extensively renovated in 2005-2006, the property boasts frontage on both the MetroWest golf course and Turkey Lake, a large recreational lake with an adjacent 300-acre park.

š“30% of the units at Gates of Harbortown feature stunning golf course or lake views. In addition, the surrounding area is one of the largest employment sectors in the region,” noted Kevin Judd, lead broker on the deal.

“Gates of Harbortown also offers its residents many high-end unit features, a variety of floor plans and extensive community amenities, placing the property among the most luxurious rental communities in the Greater Orlando market.”

Gates of Harbortown also presents superb value-add potential to JRK Property Holdings through unit interior upgrades such as new cabinets and countertops. Newer competitive properties in the immediate area with modernized interiors are achieving rental rates of approximately $75-$100 additional in monthly rents.

Gates of Harbortown is located in the master-planned MetroWest community, an 1,800-acre, $960 million mixed-use development which today, 20 years after breaking ground, is approximately 95% built out.š MetroWest is home to thousands of single-family and multifamily dwellings, 750,000 square feet of retail space, 1.5 million square feet of office space and 590 acres set aside for golf courses, lakes and roads.š

Contact: Marti Zenor mzenor@ARAusa.com, 561.988.8800 x112 Direct  954.205.5207 Cell  561.988.8810 Fax

Michael McCormac Rejoins Grubb & Ellis as Vice President, Office Group in San Francisco Peninsula Office

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm, today announced that Michael J. McCormac (top right photo) has rejoined the firm as vice president, Office Group.

Focusing primarily on landlord representation, McCormac will be based in the company’s San Francisco Peninsula office, which has grown by six professionals in the past 12 months.

“I am thrilled Mike has rejoined Grubb & Ellis. Since he began his career with the company 16 years ago, he has become an energetic, dedicated professional with a proven and successful track record,” said Mark Geisreiter, (lower left photo)  executive vice president, regional managing director, Bay Area. “I look forward to having his expertise and experience on our team.”

McCormac rejoins Grubb & Ellis from Glenborough LLC, where he spent the past four years as a regional leasing director of the firm’s San Mateo office.

While in this position he completed more than 800,000 square feet of lease transactions for the company’s regional portfolio, which totaled more than two million square feet from Denver to the San Francisco Bay Area.

 Previously, McCormac was the leasing director for Hines Interests L.P. and Prometheus Real Estate Group, respectively. He began his career in commercial real estate with Grubb & Ellis in 1994.

McCormac, a native San Franciscan, holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Contact: Julia McCartney, Phone: 714.975.2230, Email: julia.mccartney@grubb-ellis.com