‘Best of the Best’ in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

[JACKSONVILLE, FL]., May 5, 2010 – Marcus & Millichap is pleased to announce that CoStar Group (Nasdaq:CSGP) has selected David Hsieh, vice president, of Jacksonville, Florida, as a CoStar Power Broker Award winner , for being the “best of the best” in commercial real estate brokerage . The annual recognition program, now in its eighth year, spotlights the U.S. firms and individual brokers who closed the highest transaction volume in commercial property sales and leases during the 2009 calendar year. All awards are based on transaction data in CoStar’s commercial real estate information database.

As the largest professional research organization serving the commercial real estate industry, CoStar is in a unique position to identify the top firms and brokers in each market. Every year, CoStar tallies the commercial real estate sales and lease transactions that closed during the previous year and presents CoStar Power Broker Awards to the select few who closed the highest transaction volume in commercial property sales and leases that year. David Hsieh was measured against all the commercial real estate brokers active in the Jacksonville, FL market and ranked based on overall leasing transaction volume for 2009 as reported by CoStar.

“The Power Broker Awards are a true testament to the success of the ‘best of the best’ in commercial real estate,” said CEO Andrew C. Florance. “We are proud to recognize and congratulate all the award winners for their remarkable sales and leasing success.”

The complete list of 2009 CoStar Power Broker Award winners can be found at http://www.costar.com/PowerBrokers/.

About CoStar Group, Inc.

CoStar Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSGP) is the number one provider of information, marketing and analytic services to commercial real estate professionals in the United States as well as the United Kingdom. CoStar’s suite of services offers customers access via the Internet to the most comprehensive database of commercial real estate information throughout the U.S. as well as in the United Kingdom and France. Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, CoStar has approximately 1,400 people working for the Firm Name worldwide, including the largest professional research organization in the industry. For more information, visit http://www.costar.com.

http://www.globest.com/news/1675_1675/florida/300125-1.html?ET=globest:e22228:346865a:&st=email

ENCINO, CA-John J. Kerin, senior vice president and managing director of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, has been named president and CEO, effective July 1. He replaces Harvey E. Green, who’s retirement was announced last month after 29 years at the firm……

Located at 5320 Norwood Avenue in Jacksonville, the property features more than 1,600 feet of linear frontage on Interstate 95, is accessible from two highway exits and is less than three miles from Shands HealthCare, affiliated with the University of Florida Health Science Center, and downtown Jacksonville. Jacksonville’s third-largest public transportation station is located on site.

Built in 1967 on approximately 56 acres, Gateway Town Center was renovated in 2005. The center’s national anchor tenants include Publix, Radio Shack, Firestone, Payless and Family Dollar. The Publix lease expires in 2015 with options to renew.

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With more than 1,200 investment professionals in offices nationwide, Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services is the largest firm specializing in commercial real estate investment services in the nation. Marcus & Millichap closed 3,441 transactions in 2009, the largest of any firm. Founded in 1971, the firm has perfected a powerful system for marketing properties that combines product specialization, local market expertise, the industry’s most comprehensive research, state-of-the-art technology and relationships with the largest pool of qualified investors nationally.

www.MarcusMillichap.com

PALO ALTO, Calif., April 12, 2010 – Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, announced today that president and chief executive officer, Harvey E. Green, has retired from the firm. A formal search is being initiated with Green’s input and participation.

“Harvey’s tireless energy, dedication and passion have been driving forces behind the firm’s tremendous expansion and emergence as the leader in real estate investment brokerage,” says George M. Marcus, founder and chairman. “The firm would not be where it is today without his leadership,” he adds.

Green joined Marcus & Millichap in 1981 and quickly rose through the ranks having opened the firm’s Encino office, which became a flagship operation. He was named chief operating officer in 1996 and then president and CEO in 2000,at which time he accelerated the firm’s aggressive national expansion. Green led the company’s growth from 22 offices and 424 agents in 1996 to 76 offices and over 1,200 agents currently.

For More Read On:

http://www.marcusmillichap.com/aboutus/viewNews.asp?CID=5369

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With more than 1,200 investment professionals in offices nationwide, Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services is the largest firm specializing in commercial real estate investment services in the nation. Marcus & Millichap closed 3,441 transactions in 2009, the highest of any commercial real estate brokerage firm. Founded in 1971, the firm has perfected a powerful system for marketing properties that combines product specialization, local market expertise, the industry’s most comprehensive research, state-of-the-art technology and relationships with the largest pool of qualified investors nationally.

“……The 183-page report was completed by the Congressional Oversight Panel, whose task was to assess commercial real estate loan loss risk to the country’s financial stability. Other observations in the report include that $1.4 trillion of loans come due between now and 2014, and 50 percent are underwater; and that there are nearly 3,000 banks with problematic exposure to commercial real estate. The panel’s bleak assessment of the industry is probably close to accurate if all banks with more than 30 percent of their assets tied up in commercial real estate loans closed shop tomorrow and liquidated.

The reality is much different. Most banks that are overexposed to commercial real estate loans will continue to tread water, and those with capacity to lend will quite likely excel in growing their brand in the coming years. Interestingly, it is the large banks that currently have the most capacity to lend. The top 20 banks in the country possess more than 80 percent of total bank assets. Of those, only two have commercial real estate exposure that exceeds 20 percent of their total assets (BB&T and Regions). Conversely, all others – the 8,080 small and medium-sized banks – have an average exposure that is closer to 40 percent (i.e., 40 percent of their assets are commercial real estate loans). Another troubling commercial real estate trend is that loans are going into default and over to special servicers at an alarming rate. Special servicers are tasked with handling problem conduit loans – the loans originated by Wall Street firms, bundled together and sold as commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS). According to data provided by Trepp, 10 percent of all CMBS loans are now specially serviced. Property types with the largest problems are hotel, multifamily and retail properties, with 19.7 percent, 13.8 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively, of each category being specially serviced. According to Fitch Ratings Service, the actual delinquency rate for the same CMBS loans sat at 6 percent at the end of January, but with specially serviced loans at 10 percent, delinquencies are expected to rise….”

Ok.  Let’s talk real estate, more specifically commercial investment real estate.  The general pulse of our business on a national level has been a very slow 2009 season.  Let me qualify this by saying that I believe the North Florida market, specifically Jacksonville, FL’s market, is generally a few months ahead of the curve relative to the rest of Florida.  While we had a slow down beginning in 2008, we have certainly seen a pickup in equity resurfacing in late 2009.

While NPLP (non-performing loan pools) have been the preferred lender transaction vehicles, I still expect to see portfolios of fee simple transactions occur below the radar.  No lender likes to have public press of having made a bad loan so expect to hear about transactions after the fact and not before….

The crux of this blog – tremendous pipeline of distressed assets that havent even begun to hit the lenders’ books.  Combine that with unemployment rising ( yes i say rising, dont believe everything that you read as much of it is also measured by who is doing the measuring and how they measure ).  Case in point, Florida’s unemployment is over 11% with Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville hovering around 12%….

You heard it here, maybe not first, but definitely vocally – expect more failed assets to hit the market AND expect unemployment to hit mid 12% if not even 13%.  Expect the market to head south again…

Signing out -

David Hsieh, Jacksonville, FL  March 17, 2010…..