EastGroup Properties Announces Two Houston Developments

JACKSON, MS, Mar. 8, 2011—EastGroup Properties (NYSE-EGP) announced that it is initiating the development of two new business distribution buildings in the Houston market.

World Houston 32, located in the World Houston International Business Center (top left photo) , will contain 94,000 square feet and has a projected total cost of $6,831,000. The building, which is 100% preleased, is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year.

Beltway Crossing 8 will be in EastGroup’s Beltway Crossing Center (lower right photo) at the Sam Houston Toll Road and Highway 249. It will offer 88,000 square feet of multi-tenant space with a projected total cost of $5,316,000 and will be available for occupancy in October.

David H. Hoster II, President and CEO, stated, “We are pleased to add these two new buildings to our Houston development program after having started construction of World Houston 31 (44,000 square feet) last December. Houston is EastGroup’s largest market with a total of 4,823,000 square feet and our strongest in terms of rents and occupancy.”

EastGroup Properties, Inc. press releases are available at http://www.eastgroup.net/

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

David H. Hoster II, President and Chief Executive Officer

N. Keith McKey, Chief Financial Officer

(601) 354-3555

Bulk Buyer Resells Condos For $330 PSF Premium In Bal Harbour

MIAMI, FL--A South Florida bulk buyer that acquired 51 condo-hotel units in the ultra-luxury One Bal Harbour complex (top left photo)  has resold 76 percent of the original portfolio to an investment group for a 524 percent premium, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

Miami-based OBH Investment Properties Inc., with Adam D. Cohen as the authorized signatory, purchased 39 units with more than 30,700 square feet of space for nearly $12.1 million, or $393 per square foot, in a deal that transacted on Feb. 24, according to the report based on an analysis of Miami-Dade County records.

"The One Bal Harbour condo-hotel bulk deal caught the attention of a lot of people in the summer of 2009 when it originally traded for $63 per square foot given the price and quality," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

 "We are expecting a similar response given the resale price achieved. There is no question that a five-fold premium on the retrading of bulk product is going to create a lot of anxiety among those bulk buyers who had a chance to buy but flinched."

In June 2009, the original bulk buyer, Elcom Condominium LLC with Jorge Arevalo and Thomas Sullivan, paid $2.6 million, or $63 per square foot, for nearly 41,050 square feet of condo-hotel space in the 2008 project overlooking Baker's Haulover Inlet connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Intracoastal Waterway in exclusive Bal Harbour, located between Miami Beach and Sunny Isles Beach.

Arevalo and Sullivan were able to pick up the units from WCI Communities, which was unloading luxury product along the South Florida coast in an effort to emerge out of bankruptcy.

At the time of the original bulk purchase in June 2009, Arevalo and Sullivan - the same principals of Elcom Condominium LLC - completed a second transaction where they purchased the common areas of the One Bal Harbour condo-hotel complex for an additional $12 million under the Florida entity Elcom Hotel & Spa LLC, according to a Condo Vultures® Market Intelligence Report™.  

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

HFF closes $14.78 million sale of development site in Miami’s Brickell Financial District; Second development site sale by HFF in past two weeks

MIAMI, FL – HFF announced today that it has closed the sale of Coral Station, a three-acre development site located two blocks west of Brickell Avenue in Miami’s Brickell Financial District (top left photo). 

HFF represented the seller of the Brickell area site, BVT Development Partners, LLP, in the sale. 

A private foreign investment group led by Miami-based Alex Vadia purchased the site for $14.78 million all cash.  The HFF team representing the seller included executive managing director Manny de Zárraga, managing director George Vail and director Jaret Turkell.

The sale of this site represents the second major development site sale by HFF during the past two weeks.  The first land sale was the $25 million sale of a development site located in Surfside.  The buyers and sellers of the two sites are unrelated.

Coral Station is located at 1420 SW 1st Court adjacent to a Publix-anchored retail center in Miami’s Brickell area.  Potential development options may include residential and hotel, as well as retail. 

“The sale of the Coral Station site highlights the exceptional strength of the Brickell Financial District as the global financial capital of the Americas with a 24-hour live-work-play environment,” stated Manny de Zarraga.

Headquartered in Munich, Germany, with US operations based in Atlanta, Georgia, BVT provides equity capital across multiple sectors of the US real estate market, creating high quality offerings for the firm’s German investors and maximizing returns through disciplined investment management.

Contacts:

Manuel De Zarraga, HFF Executive Managing Director, (305) 448-1333 mdezarraga@hfflp.com                           

George Vail, HFF Managing Director, (305) 448-1333, gvail@hfflp.com

Kristen Murphy, HFF Associate Director, Marketing,  (713) 852-3500,

krmurphy@hfflp.com

Operating Distressed Commercial Real Estate Assets as Economy Recovers

 ST. PETERSBURG, FL --- For investors with cash, the economic recession is rife with opportunities, allowing purchases of office, retail, industrial and multifamily properties at discounts that range from 40 percent to 60 percent and more.

But managing those assets as the economy recovers will be more difficult than the already challenging distressed acquisition process, says Rachel Elias Wein, AIA (top left photo), who heads WeinPlus Associates in St. Petersburg.

“It’s pretty common now among investors’ circles, a lot of companies are acquiring loans for distressed assets at significant discounts,” Wein said.

“But the key to those opportunities is managing the assets as the economy recovers. Management practices in the recession are different. The economy has evolved, and asset management practices that don’t evolve are likely to fail,” she said.

In a growth economy, asset managers can afford to take a laissez-fair approach to their tenants, focusing only on rent collection.

“In a recessionary economy, landlords have to help facilitate their tenants’ success,” Wein said.

Property owners must create an environment where their tenants can flourish, Wein said.

“You’ve got to look at tenant sales. Are you helping them to get open faster so that they can utilize their free rent period?

Are you helping them through the permit process and the construction process? Once they are open, are you giving them the resources to be able to reduce their operating expenses and their CAM charges? How are you helping them to be more successful?” Wein said.

Tenant renewals are a major concern as well. “It costs significantly more to bring a new tenant into empty space than to keep an existing tenant,” Wein said.

Successful asset managers incentivize the outcomes they want,” Wein said.

“It’s not enough to say that you focus on renewals, a lost existing tenant is far more valuable than a potential new tenant. If you want to not only increase value, but also preserve existing value in your portfolio, than you need to incentivize your team to produce those results,” she said.

 “Property management and leasing practices will prove to be the deciding factor that determines whether a distressed asset venture succeeds or fails, it’s up to the owner to set the stage for their team’s success,” Wein said.

For more information, please contact:

Rachel Elias Wein, AIA, Founder / Principal, WeinPlus, 727-386-9346, http://www.weinplusassociates.com/;

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

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Atlantic | Pacific Management Continues to Expand Its Florida Portfolio with 3 New Property Management Assignments in Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale

MIAMI, FL  – As of March 2011, Atlantic | Pacific Management (A|P Management), the property leasing & management platform under Atlantic | Pacific Companies, is pleased to announce their appointment as the new property management company for Paramount at Lake Eola (top left photo) , Preserve of Temple Terrace (middle right photo), and The Garden Apartments (lower left photo).

Under the new agreements, A|P Management will manage several aspects of each property.

 The most recent addition to their portfolio includes Paramount at Lake Eola located in Orlando.

The building has 317 high rise condominiums and 284 rental units. Property Manager Lorina Rodriguez, Regional Manager Alicia Gonzalez, and Assistant Regional Manager Karin Dutton manage the property.

Primarily leased, the condominium is 89 percent rented and is Class A Multi-Family community. It is a mixed-use condominium project including ground floor retail stores and mezzanine office space with shared public facilities.

A|P Management’s Managing Director Tom Smith says “A|P’s background as one of the state’s most dynamic managers of mixed use projects presented the Paramount at Lake Eola Owner with an optimal choice to manage the day to day operations.”

Smith continues to say, “These new assignments are a testament to A|P’s continued implementation of sound management practices that are attracting clients from both near and far as the principals of Paramount are based in New York and Oslo, and the principals of Gamla-Cedron Investment Group are based in Israel.”

 The Gamla-Cedron Investment Group hired A | P Management to manage the 158 former developer owned condominiums located in the Preserve of Temple Terrace in Tampa, where A | P Management already had been managing the 392 condominium complex for the past four years.

 Managing the project are Property Manager Laura Muellerleile and Regional Manager Alicia Gonzalez. 

 The final addition to A|P Management’s portfolio includes The Garden Apartments, a rental building with 71 units located in Fort Lauderdale. Portfolio Manager Ben Green and Regional Manager Lissette Sabatino manage the assignment for this location.

For more information, visit http://www.apmanagement.net/

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For more information, please contact Randy Weisburd at rweisburd@apmanagement.net.

 Contact:  Jessica Wade Pfeffer / Jessica Wade Inc., 305.804.8424, Jessica@jessicawadeinc.com

Brian Barriero, RPA, Joins Grubb & Ellis as Vice President, Director of Management Services in Boston

   

BOSTON, MA (Mar. 8, 2011) – Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE: GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm, today announced that Brian Barriero, RPA, a 20-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry, has joined the firm as vice president, director of Management Services. 

 “Brian has experience in virtually every facet of the property management business, from managing some of Boston’s most iconic office buildings to overseeing significant real estate portfolios on behalf of investor groups,” said Mike Edward, executive vice president and managing director of Grubb & Ellis’ Boston office.  “His varied experience and relationships within our market make him a tremendous asset to our team.”

In this position, Barriero will lead Grubb & Ellis’ property management team in Boston and oversee and expand the company’s management services business throughout the region.

Barriero joins the company from Broadway Real Estate Services, where he served as a portfolio manager with overall responsibility for the firm’s 4-million-square-foot Boston portfolio, which included trophy assets such as the John Hancock Tower, Bay Colony Corporate Center and 200 State Street.

 Contact:  Erin Mays, Phone: 312.698.6735                              

Email:  erin.mays@grubb-ellis.com

CRE Show Panel: Middle East Uprisings, Rising Oil Prices Impacting Nation’s Restaurant Business

ATLANTA, GA, Mar. 7, 2011 - Events taking place halfway across the world are making the wallets of local restaurateurs a little bit lighter.

While appearing on the “Commercial Real Estate Show,” Pierre Panos (top left photo) said he noticed a sudden drop in business when political protests in Egypt started in early February.

The CEO of QS America, which owns and operates the upscale Brookwood Grill, theorized that the protests raised oil prices leaving consumers with less money to spend on dining out.

“”People are extremely antsy and when they find that something has changed in the market they react almost instantaneously,” Panos told Commercial Real Estate Show host Michael Bull (lower left photo) during the episode that aired March 5.

 Panos also is founder of the Fresh 2 Order restaurant chain, which plans to have 50 locations across the country by 2015.

Harold Shumacher, president and managing broker of The Shumacher Group, echoed Panos’ thoughts. Shumacher noted that rising grocery and gas prices have cut into the budgets of potential customers.

“People have not changed the frequency of going out,” said Shumacher. “If they were going out three times a week they are still going out three times a week. What they have done is they’ve adjusted downward. So if you were a $15 customer, you are now a $10 customer.”

Shumacher said that slow and steady growth would be a key factor in the revival of the restaurant industry.

To hear the entire Restaurant Industry Focus show click here.

The next “Commercial Real Estate Show” will air March 12 and focus on the car wash and self-storage industries. Guests will include Jeff Lenard from the National Association of Convenience Stores; Nancy Miller of Bull Realty; and Jeff Sturges of Pentagon Car Wash Consulting.

Contact:  Midd Read, mread@wilbertnewsstrategies.com

Moore Wallace Signs Lease at 1117 Perimeter Center West in Atlanta

 

ATLANTA, GA (Mar. 7, 2011) –Lincoln Property Co., one of the most respected and diversified service firms in the U.S., announced today it has completed a lease with Moore Wallace North America at 1117 Perimeter Center West (top left photo) just north of Atlanta.

Moore Wallace leased nearly 11,000 square feet at 1117 Perimeter Center West, a five-story, 391,000-square-foot class A office complex situated near the Sandy Spring s MARTA station. It is owned by Colony Realty Partners.

With the Moore Wallace lease, 1117 Perimeter Center West now is 88 percent leased, said David Danhof, vice president of office leasing at Lincoln Property, which represented Colony in the transaction.

 “Moore Wallace will be a great addition to 1117 Perimeter Center West,” Danhof said. “The lease builds on the leasing momentum Colony and Lincoln have created at the office complex.”

Moore Wallace is a division of RR Donnelly & Sons, the largest printing company in North America. RR Donnelly and Moore Wallace merged in February 2004.

Moore Wallace, which was represented by Jay Dowlen and Tara Alexander of CBRE, will move into 1117 Perimeter Center West in May.

Lincoln Property Company currently leases and or manages 12 million square feet of commercial space in the Southeast Region.

For more information on the Southeast Region of Lincoln Property Company, please visit http://www.lpc.com/or www.lpcsoutheast.com

    

.To check out the blog, go to http://blog.lpcsoutheast.com/

Contact: Midd Read, mread@wilbertnewsstrategies.com