The Muller Company Completes $13.5 Million Refinance and Signs 84,864 SF of Leases and Renewals

The Muller Company Completes $13.5 Million Refinance of San Diego Office Building and Signs 84,864 SF of Leases and Renewals Valued at $16.9 Million

LAGUNA HILLS, CALIF. – The Muller Company, a full service real estate company specializing in management, investment and development of commercial real estate in the western United States, announced today that the firm has just completed a $13.5 million refinance of Pinnacle Executive Centre, a 110,110-square-foot Class A office building located in San Diego County, and signed 11 leases and renewals totaling 84,864 square feet and valued at approximately $16.9 million. Tom Mattinson of Quadrant Real Estate Advisors of Alpharetta, Georgia handled the refinance.

Located at 10920 Via Frontera in San Diego, Calif., Pinnacle Executive Centre was purchased by The Muller Company, with their financial partner, in May 2007, and is a five-story, Class A suburban office building built of steel and concrete with a stone and glass exterior.

The Muller Company’s new leases and lease renewals bring Pinnacle Executive Centre's current occupancy level percent to 76 percent. The two most significant leases that were recently signed were with On Ramp Wireless and The State of California. On Ramp Wireless, an existing 12,100-square-foot tenant, signed a lease for an additional 7,000 square feet and added six months to their current lease term for a total lease value of $2.2 million. The State of California, Department of General Services signed a nine-year lease for 23,382 square feet valued at nearly $8.4 million.

Pinnacle Executive Centre’s Property Manager Kim Sabre said, “The Muller Company and our leasing team from Colliers International created a very catchy and effective leasing campaign called “AS SIMPLE AS 1-2-3,” which offers a creative rent schedule of $1.00/SF in year 1, $2/SF in year 2 and $3/SF in year 3. This rent schedule also includes a broker bonus of $1.23/SF. We certainly attribute our success in bringing the building to 76 percent leased in such a short period of time to a dedicated team that includes The Muller Company as an owner and our creative leasing team, which includes Gary Williams from Colliers International and Jay Alexander from Jones Lang LaSalle (formerly with Colliers International).

"We all know the challenges of today’s economy, so our focus has been to not focus on the challenges, but instead find creative ways to get around them and get the attention of prospective tenants. The Muller Company understands the challenges that all business owners are faced with today and we continue to put every effort into finding ways to make deals that meet each party’s objectives,” Sabre added.

About The Muller Company
The Muller Company has over 30 years of experience in developing, acquiring and managing a diverse portfolio of over 20 million square feet of office, industrial and retail real estate throughout the western United States, with nearly 11 million square feet currently under management in the California and Phoenix markets. Over the years, The Muller Company has partnered with institutional owners such as GE Capital Real Estate, Capmark, Rockwood Capital, BlackRock, ING Realty and Metlife. Empowered by an entrepreneurial spirit and guided by an owner’s perspective, The Muller Company excels at mining the long-term value from every asset that it manages by adding value, either through leasing, capital improvements, refinancing, operational audits and repositioning. For more information, contact the Director of Business Development, Lori Ann Haigh at 949.460.5380 or visit www.themullercompany.com.

Hodgdon Group Represents Ashley Furniture in Purchase of Former Circuit City Building in Hawthorne

COLTON, CALIF. – Inland Empire-based Hodgdon Group Realty Inc. announced today that Aaron Hodgdon represented Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. in the acquisition of a former Circuit City building in Hawthorne, California. The Hodgdon companies have been working with Ashley for a decade on various real estate and construction projects. Scott Kaplan, Senior Vice President with CB Richard Ellis in Anaheim, Calif., assisted Hodgdon with the sale transaction. Richard Rizika, Executive Vice President with CB Richard Ellis in El Segundo, Calif., represented the seller, WhiteFire Capital, LLC of New York, NY and the Tabani Group, Inc. of Dallas, Texas. The purchase price could not be disclosed.

Located in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County at 14600 Ocean Gate Avenue in Hawthorne, the 33,952-square-foot retail building faces the 405 Freeway, and is just off of Rosecrans Avenue, a major thoroughfare and freeway off ramp.

“Although the real estate market is still challenging, it has provided a great opportunity for Ashley, the No. 1 retailer and manufacturer of furniture in North America, to acquire vacant big box space such as this former Circuit City building and transform them into great showrooms,” said Aaron Hodgdon, President of Hodgdon Group Realty Inc. “We are currently negotiating on several new locations in Southern California and are continuing to look for more value-add opportunities to buy or lease.”

The Hodgdon Group represents Ashley Furniture Industries on the west coast and recently negotiated the following transactions on behalf of Ashley: the purchase of 439,000 square feet of industrial space in Colton, Calif., one of the largest user‐sale transactions in Southern California in 2009; the purchase of a former Wickes Furniture in Victorville; and the lease of 42,000-square-feet for a HomeStore in Palmdale, Calif. As part of its brokerage service, the Hodgdon Group performs complete due diligence review and coordination on behalf of its clients for the property acquisition.

The Hodgdon Group is a full-service real estate brokerage, development and construction management company for all of types of real estate projects. For more information about the Hodgdon Group, please call Aaron Hodgdon at 909.783.3020.

The Muller Company Adds Two Commercial Real Estate Industry Veterans to Expand its Corporate Ranks
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Lori Ann Haigh Named Director of Business Development and Susan G. Rosenblatt Named Director of Asset Management

LAGUNA HILLS, CALIF. – The Muller Company, specializing in managing, investing and developing commercial real estate in the western United States, announces today that the firm has added two commercial real estate industry veterans to its corporate ranks. Lori Ann Haigh, former Vice President of National Sales at First American Title, will serve as The Muller Company's Director of Business Development; and Susan G. Rosenblatt, former Senior Vice President at Wells Fargo Bank, has been named Director of Asset Management. These additions will assist The Muller Company in expanding its business platform and growing its current portfolio of nearly 11 million square feet under management in California and the Phoenix markets.

As the new Director of Business Development, Haigh will be responsible for maintaining communications and relations with key industry contacts in order to provide The Muller Company with new partnership opportunities and fee management contracts. Haigh comes to The Muller Company with 15 years experience in the commercial title insurance industry where she advanced to the position of Vice President of National Sales at both Land America Commercial Services as well as First American Title Insurance. Haigh received a Bachelor Degree in Public Relations from the University of Southern California. A resident of Tustin, Haigh is a third-generation native Californian with a family history in serving the real estate community.

"My decision to work for The Muller Company was actually quite easy," said Haigh. "It's one thing to know the track record of a company; however, having worked with The Muller Company as a longstanding customer of mine while I was in the title business, I know the owners of The Muller Company; I know their character, their integrity, and their entrepreneurial spirit and passion for excellence. I consider it a privilege to have been chosen to expand their third-party management division."

Rosenblatt, as the Director of Asset Management, will be responsible for all aspects of debt capital management, including managing The Muller Company’s existing project financings and strategic lender and partner relationships as well as sourcing new debt and equity for future expansion. Rosenblatt has nearly 20 years of hands-on experience in commercial real estate finance from Wells Fargo Bank. She led all syndication activities for 20 real estate production groups and marketed to top national and middle market developers to win syndicated transactions as the Agent Bank. She received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Management from The College of William and Mary and a Masters of Business Administration from San Diego State University. She is a Licensed Real Estate Broker and currently lives in Newport Beach.

"I am delighted to take the role of Director of Asset Management for The Muller Company based on the company's outstanding reputation and track record in the real estate industry. The company has an extremely cohesive and dynamic management team with a strong base of talented employees with impressive tenure. The company's linear and nimble organizational structure, combined with the vision of the two key principals, will position it for significant growth in the future," says Rosenblatt.

Both women are highly involved in their industry and are members of National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP), Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) and International Association of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Rosenblatt is additionally involved in Real Estate Lenders Association (RELA) and Haigh spends time participating with Women in Leadership, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) and the National Charity League.

According to Stephen J. Muller, Principal, The Muller Company sees Haigh and Rosenblatt as tremendous assets and believes they will help spearhead the firm’s 2010 goals of refinancing, finding new institutional partners and growing the fee management side of the business. Haigh and Rosenblatt will report to Muller and also company Principal, Jon M. Muller.

In addition to the two new hires, The Muller Company attracts and retains many other highly talented individuals such as Christina DuCote', CPM, RPA, who was recently nominated by readers and editors of the San Diego Daily Transcript as their "Top Influential," based upon her actions and opinions strongly influencing San Diego's real estate and business community. She is the Senior Property Manager at Torrey Pines Court in La Jolla, Calif., a 200,000-square-foot office park, which was purchased by The Muller Company in a joint venture with Rockwood Capital in July 2005. When purchased, the project was 56 percent leased and had severe functional challenges. With a construction cost of approximately $26 million, The Muller Company renovated three of the existing buildings down to the raw structure, redeveloping it to a first class research and development facility. After completion, Torrey Pines Court was awarded Energy Star status and became a recipient of BOMA 2008 Building of the Year award and recently reached 100 percent occupancy with major tenants such as NOAA, Orexigen and Wireless Health.

About The Muller Company
The Muller Company has over 30 years of experience in developing, acquiring and managing a diverse portfolio of over 20 million square feet of office, industrial and retail real estate throughout the western United States, with nearly 11 million square feet under management in the California and Phoenix markets. Over the years, The Muller Company has partnered with institutional owners such as GE Capital, Capmark Financial, Rockwood Capital, BlackRock, ING Realty and MetLife. Empowered by an entrepreneurial spirit and guided by an owner’s perspective, The Muller Company excels at mining the long-term value from every asset that it manages by adding value, either through leasing, capital improvements, refinancing, operational audits and repositioning. For more information, contact the Director of Business Development, Lori Ann Haigh at 949.460.5380 or visit http://www.blogger.com/www.themullercompany.com.

Investec Announces Acquisition of $21 Million Shopping Center The Plaza at Sunbow in San Diego
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Investec Continues to Seek Grocery Anchored Centers in California

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. – Investec, specializing in the acquisition, development, management and leasing of retail properties in California, is pleased to announce its newest acquisition, The Plaza at Sunbow in San Diego, California. The 100,000-square-foot shopping center, which was purchased for approximately $21 million, is anchored by Ralphs and CVS, along with a host of national retailers including Starbucks, McDonald’s, KFC and T-Mobile. The transaction was sourced by Investec as an off-market acquisition opportunity from a private investor.

The Plaza at Sunbow was developed in 2002 by Kitchell Development in the suburbs of San Diego and has been the dominant neighborhood shopping center in its trade area. The center, which is 100 percent occupied, is situated on 11 acres at the northeast corner of Medical Center Drive and Palomar Street.

"We are always pleased when we can acquire quality assets like Sunbow, which provide us a quality center with a high performing grocer and pharmacy in strong in-fill markets," said Grant Harris, Investec's Director of Acquisitions. "Sunbow has performed very well since it was built, and we are confident it will continue to thrive with the quality and mix of tenants currently in place."

Harris said the addition of Sunbow brings Investec's retail portfolio to nearly 2,000,000 square feet of retail space in California, valued at over $620 million. Investec represented itself in the transaction, while the seller was advised by Mark Lucescu of Lucescu Realty.

According to Kenneth Slaught, President of Investec, "Contrary to the general gloom about retail real estate, not all retail real estate is the same. Much of the adverse retail press has been focused on discretionary retail or the woes affecting large niche chains. In contrast, all of our existing grocery anchor tenants have shown sales increases averaging 2.9 percent over the past 12 months. With the grocery and drug stores typically accounting for approximately 60 percent of the leasable area of our centers, we are confident that our gross sales increases will continue at all of our shopping centers."

Traffic and sales are increasing at Investec's necessity-based shopping centers as consumers return to basics by eating at home more often and by searching Investec’s discount retailers for bargains. "Knowing this type of real estate in California, particularly Coastal California, is performing well during this severe downturn has us excited about the future," Slaught stated. "We plan to continue buying the same type of properties in Coastal California, but during the next few years, we are going to have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to buy this exclusive asset class at below replacement cost."

In October 2009, Investec completed the development of Gene Autry Plaza, a new $17.5 million 60,000-square-foot shopping center in Palm Springs, Calif. and celebrated the grand opening of the first ground-up Smart & Final Extra! store in California. The center also includes Staples and 11,500 square feet of shop space.

For more information about Investec's acquisition criteria, please contact Grant Harris at 805-962-8989 x343 or grant@investecre.com.

ABOUT INVESTEC
Since its inception in 1983, Investec has handled more than one billion dollars in real estate transactions. Having thrived in one of the nation's most competitive real estate markets for more than 25 years, Investec remains ideally positioned for continued growth in this dynamic and challenging industry during turbulent economic times. Investec's current portfolio includes more than 2.5 million square feet of commercial properties under management in California including shopping centers, office buildings and self-storage facilities. Investec's acquisition and development strategy is primarily focused on necessity-based, recession-resistant market/drug anchored neighborhood shopping centers. For more information, call 805.962.8989 or visit www.investecre.com.

Hodgdon Group Represents Ashley Furniture HomeStore in Lease Transaction in Palmdale, CA
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Hodgdon-Miank Construction Awarded Design Build Tenant Improvement Contract

COLTON, CALIF. – Inland Empire-based Hodgdon Group announced today that Aaron Hodgdon, president of Hodgdon Group, represented Ashley Furniture HomeStore in a lease transaction to occupy the former 42,000 sq. ft. Wickes Furniture Store building in the Sierra Commons shopping center, located across from the Antelope Valley Mall in Palmdale, Calif. Hodgdon also performed due diligence review on behalf of Ashley. The landlord, GRAE Ventures, LLC of Los Angeles, was represented by Rick Edwards and Winston Lee of GRAE Ventures in the lease transaction.

Located at the northeast corner of Avenue P and 10th Street West, Ashley Furniture HomeStore will join tenants Michaels, BevMo, Tuesday Morning and Applebee’s. Ashley Furniture is the No. 1 manufacturer and retailer of furniture in North America; the stores provide every furniture need for the home.

Hodgdon-Miank Construction, a full-service construction company also based in the Inland Empire, has commenced as the Design Build contractor on the tenant improvements with Dan Wallner serving as the project manager. Ashley Furniture HomeStore plans to open on October 2, 2009.

About The Hodgdon Group
The Hodgdon Group is a full-service real estate brokerage, development and construction management company for all of types of real estate projects; and has constructed a variety of medical office buildings through its general contracting division, Hodgdon-Miank Construction. For more information about the Hodgdon Group, please call Aaron Hodgdon at 909.783.3020 or visit www.hodgdongroup.com.