Essex Realty Group Inc. Celebrates 20th Anniversary and Appointments of Principals to the Firm

CHICAGO IL, Jan. 18, 2011--.Essex Realty Group, Inc. is proud to announce it is celebrating its 20th anniversary successfully serving the Chicago-area investment real estate market.

Essex is also pleased to announce it has named James Darrow, Douglas Fisher  Matthew Welke as principals of the firm.

 James J. Darrow  (top right photo) is a third generation investment real estate professional and is a past President of the Commercial Real Estate Forum. He has more than 15 years of investment real estate experience and has been with Essex since 1998.

Doug Fisher (middle left photo) a former commercial and investment banker, has over 20 years of commercial real estate experience and joined Essex Realty Group in 2002 as a Managing Director.

 Matthew Welke (lower right photo) joined Essex Realty Group as Managing Director in March 2004. He was recently honored by GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum as a national 40 Under 40 award recipient.

 Essex Realty Group, Inc. specializes in the sale of investment real estate throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.

Since it’s founding in 1990, Essex has carved a unique niche, focusing exclusively on the brokerage of investment properties valued between $1 million and $30 million, with a strong emphasis in multi-family, retail and shopping center sales.

Contact:  Douglas S. Imber, Essex Realty Group, Inc., 773.305.4902

dougimber@essexrealtygroup.com

Grubb & Ellis Represents Strada Investment Group in Acquisition of Berkeley Crossing for $15 Million

  

WALNUT CREEK, CA (Jan. 18, 2011) – Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm, today announced that Steve Golubchik (top right photo) and Nicholas Bicardo (top left photo), both vice presidents of the company’s Investment Services group, represented Strada Investment Group in its acquisition of Berkeley Crossing, a Class A office building in Berkeley. 

 Strada Investment purchased the note, originally valued at $28 million, and worked with both the lender, New York Life Investment Management LLC, and the previous owner to take ownership of the property in a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure transaction.

 Located at 1608 4th St., Berkeley Crossing offers 131,694 square feet of space and was approximately 30 percent leased at the time of the acquisition.  Renovated in 2000, the property is designed for technology use with open floor plans for flexible layouts.

 Additionally, Berkeley Crossing is equipped with a roof deck that provides views of the surrounding Bay Area and East Bay Hills.  The property is located within close proximity to Interstates 80 and 580 as well as State Route 123. 

 “This is a high quality property in a strong location that offers a tech type feel for tenants in the region looking for larger contiguous blocks of space that are rarely available in Berkeley,” said Golubchik.

 

Contact: Julia McCartney, Phone: 714.975.2230                                     

Email:  julia.mccartney@grubb-ellis.com

          

Banks Repossess 54,400 South Florida Properties In 2010

MIAMI, FL--Banks repossessed more than 54,400 South Florida properties in 2010, representing a 79 percent increase on a year-over-year basis compared to 2009, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

Lenders took title through the foreclosure process to 23,000 properties in Miami-Dade County, 20,400 properties in Broward County, and 11,000 properties in Palm Beach County, according to an analysis by the licensed Florida brokerage Condo Vultures® Realty LLC.

Lenders have repossessed more than 121,000 properties since the real estate crash began in 2007. The year 2010 represents the single-greatest number of repossession in a year.

 By comparison, lenders repossessed 30,400 properties in 2009, 26,250 properties in 2008, and 10,100 properties in 2007, according to the analysis based on Clerk of the Court records in all three South Florida counties.

"The year 2010 proved to be a record year for bank repossessions in South Florida," said Peter Zalewski (middle right photo), a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

 "Nearly as many properties were taken back by lenders in 2010 as in the previous two years combined. It is worth noting that bank repossessions in 2010 are the result of a lengthy foreclosure process that probably began back in 2008 or 2009."

Foreclosures, repossessions, and rental rates are topics scheduled to be discussed at the upcoming Condo Vultures® 3rd annual "State of the South Florida Condo Market" event on Jan. 25 at the Miami City Club (lower left photo) at the top of the Wachovia Financial Center in Downtown Miami.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com