FIRST FIDELITY SECURES
$240 MILLION LOAN FOR CRABTREE MALL IN RALEIGH 

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Atlanta-based First Fidelity Mortgage Corp. has arranged $240 million in senior secured financing for the 1.35 million-square-foot Crabtree Valley Mall, located in Raleigh. The loan proceeds were used to repay existing maturing debt and fund ongoing capital spending programs. Kell Martin and Richard Booth of First Fidelity secured the 10-year loan through a major life insurance company on behalf of the borrowers, a separate-account client of Clarion Partners and an affiliate of Plaza Associates.

ARA BROKERS $26.25 MILLION MULTIFAMILY SALE 

CARBARRO, N.C. -- Fairfield Autumn Woods LLC has sold the 236-unit Autumn Woods Apartments, located at 222 Old Fayetteville Road in Carbarro for $26.25 million. Blake Oakland, Dean Smith, Sean Wood and John Heimburger of ARA's Charlotte, N.C., office represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer was Centerville, Ohio-based The Connor Group. The property is 94 percent leased.   

MCA PURCHASES ALABAMA SHOPPING CENTER  

HUNTSVILLE, ALA. -- MCA has acquired the 603,000-square-foot Bridge Street Town Centre, a lifestyle center located in the 4,000-acre Cummings Research Park in Huntsville. Tenants include Bed Bath & Beyond, DSW, Barnes & Noble, ULTA, Toys "R" Us/Babies "R" Us and a 14-screen Monaco Pictures movie theater. Adam Howells and David Disney of UCR Investment Sales represented the seller, O&S Holdings, in the transaction.

PORTFOLIO OF NINE BANK BRANCHES SELLS FOR
$18.6 MILLION

One of the KeyBank locations in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

OAK BROOK, ILL. -- Oak Brook-based Inland Real Estate Acquisitions has purchased a portfolio of nine retail bank branches located in Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia for a total of approximately $18.6 million. The portfolio includes five Ohio properties leased to KeyBank N.A., two Regions Bank locations in Georgia and two BB&T locations in North Carolina and Florida, which total 42,882 square feet. The buyer was self-represented by Joe Cosenza.    

ARAGON HOLDINGS PURCHASES FLORIDA APARTMENT COMPLEX

ORLANDO, FLA. -- Aragon Holdings has purchased the 373-unit Abaco Key Apartment Homes, a Class A apartment complex located adjacent to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. The property is 95 percent leased, and includes a fitness center, basketball and tennis courts, a pool with cabanas and sundeck, media and game room, outdoor kitchen with tables and a grill, business center and dog park. The Aragon Multi-Family Cash Flow Fund provided equity for the purchase.

BACH: INDUSTRIAL SECTOR IS SILVER LINING IN SUBPAR MAY JOBS REPORT 

MEMPHIS OFFICE MARKET FACES SHORT-TERM UNCERTAINTY

MEMPHIS -- We've all said time and again that the key to recovery in office real estate is continued and significant increase in employment rates. Like much of the rest of the country, Memphis has begun to see an uptick in employment in the professional and business sector. In the Memphis MSA, employment in this all-important sector for office real estate jumped from 73,400 to 87,100 during 2011, approaching pre-recession highs of 88,800.

Additionally, on May 3, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that productivity in the U.S. fell at an annual rate of 0.5 percent for the first 3 months of 2012, after steady growth during 2011. This is the first sign that corporations have achieved the efficiency they desired and needed to weather the latest economic storm. As demand increases, corporations will be forced to hire to fill the gap between demand and capacity, so the good news for the market is that employment rates, the most fundamental drivers of office real estate, should continue to improve.

There are a couple of black swan events, the outcomes of which will shape the immediate future of the office market in Memphis, and specifically the Central Business District. The first is the recent bankruptcy filing by Pinnacle Airlines. In 2011, Pinnacle leased 170,000 square feet to move its corporate headquarters to the 475,082-square-foot One Commerce Square in a transaction that included major incentives from the city of Memphis. As a part of its bankruptcy reorganization, Pinnacle recently announced a restructuring process that includes cuts in ground operations and other areas. This will undoubtedly result in a smaller corporate footprint at the very least, or in another possible scenario, an acquisition by Delta, which would result in a relocation to Atlanta.

Additional fallout in the CBD is likely to occur as a result of the recent Raymond James acquisition of longtime Memphis financial firm Morgan Keegan, which creates one of the largest full-service wealth management and capital markets firms not located on Wall Street. Morgan Keegan currently occupies 275,000 square feet in the Morgan Keegan Tower on Front Street, which had been the company's headquarters building. The company has already trimmed some redundant positions, which cut dozens of jobs in Memphis. The full impact of the merger is yet to be determined.

In the short run, we're expecting continuing volatility in the market as we are burdened by the uncertainty associated with two major leases that account for nearly 7 percent of the office space in the CBD and more than 1 percent of the entire market. Uncertainty is a tough thing to deal with and tends to overshadow the good news of a steadily improving economy. We're likely to be riding this roller coaster in the CBD for much of the rest of the year but anticipate that other submarkets -- like the market's popular and largest East and 385 Corridor submarkets -- will experience steady declines in vacancy rates in response to the more fundamental drivers of the office real estate market.

-- Ron Riley is senior vice president of the office division for Colliers International in Memphis.

Urban Land Institute Florida - Statewide Summit
Overview: Come meet Florida's top decision makers and industry experts from every sector of real estate and land use. Join us for highly interactive sessions, mobile workshops, and networking events.
When: Thursday, June 7, 10 AM - 2 PM
Where: St. Petersburg, Fla.
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SMPS Retail & Hospitality Real Estate Luncheon
Overview: This interactive luncheon panel will address current local development issues as well as how Atlanta and the surrounding markets have finally decided to move forward.
When: Tuesday, June 19, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Where: Atlanta
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CREW Miami Monthly Luncheon Meeting
Overview: Monthly luncheon meeting. This month's topic is "Measuring Green: Return On Investments."
When: Wednesday, June 20, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Where: Miami
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NAIOP Monthly Luncheon Meeting
Overview: Monthly luncheon meeting. Marc Vitner, managing director and senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities, will be speaking.
When: Thursday, June 21, 11:30 AM - 1 PM
Where: Raleigh, N.C.
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