пятница, 27 июня 2008 г.

First Horizon National to limit home building, real-estate lending

First Horizon National Corp. said Monday that it will pull out of national home building and commercial real estate lending everywhere except in Tennessee and a few other parts of the Southeast.

The move came a little more than a week after the Memphis-based banking company boosted loan loss reserves, largely related to real estate loan problems, and cut the dividend on the company's stock.

Company executives said then that they planned to cut the home and real estate finance businesses.

"This is the next step in our continued effort to refocus on our regional banking franchise [First Tennessee Bank] in the Southeast and Tennessee," said Dave Miller, investor relations officer.

Any cutbacks in the company won't be in Memphis -- they're more likely, over the course of the year, to be in places like First Horizon Mortgage headquarters in Dallas and in some of the 40 branch offices outside Tennessee and the Southeast, Miller said.

This follows the sale of 34 bank branches First Horizon opened, starting three years ago, in Atlanta, Dallas and Washington, D.C.

The moves won't have a major impact on First Horizon's finances, he said.

"This announcement comes as no surprise, and we expect to see a likely announcement related to the potential sale of the MSR [mortgage servicing rights] assets and/or the complete mortgage business in the coming months," said Robert Patten, analyst in New York for Memphis-based Morgan Keegan & Co.

"We remain convinced we'd like to see the mortgage business and our exposure to it reduced over time," Miller said.

But while talking about the company's fourth-quarter losses and strategy on Jan. 18, First Horizon CEO Jerry Baker said: "Mortgages are something, obviously, we'll always be involved in."

He did say First Horizon leaders would take seriously any compelling offer for the whole division.

Patten didn't change his profit estimates for the company -- $1.25 a share this year, $1.65 in 2009.

But he said the lending cutback was "overall a positive for the stock."

Higher-level learning pairs with real estate

In the GTA we not only have the largest home-building market in the country, we have the only academic program in Canada geared to students wishing to specialize in one or more areas of the development and real estate industries.

It's called the program in real property development and it's been offered by the Schulich School of Business at York University since the early 1990s.

Our industry needs graduates with the skills and expertise delivered by this MBA program, which is aimed at those who want to pursue careers in the management and executive levels of the development, home building, real estate and related industries.

"The need for higher-level learning in the real estate industry is not a luxury, it's a necessity," says George Carras, president of RealNet Canada Inc., a leading provider of real estate information services.

"The role real estate plays in our greater community is growing in importance. As an investment class, it's probably the most important one I think we have today," says Carras, a member of the advisory council to the program in real property development.

In year two of their MBA studies, Schulich students have the option of taking courses specializing in the development, investment and finance side of real estate. Graduates receive a diploma in real property development as part of their MBA degree.

Andre Kuzmicki, executive director of the real property development, says it has had two critical hallmarks. The curriculum is rooted in the practical, real-world needs of businesses active in real estate and development, plus strong ties are maintained with the industry through an advisory council made up of industry leaders such as Peter Gilgan, president and CEO of Mattamy Homes and Julie DiLorenzo, president of Diamante Development Corp.

They are among more than 30 business leaders and executives who sit on the program's advisory council. Industry practitioners are guest speakers at lectures and classes. As well, most of the instructors come from the industry and many are still active in it.

There's a course in real estate law, one on property finance and investment, another on structuring property transactions and another on managing the development process, among others.

"The industry needs people who have a broad understanding of all the basic skills and disciplines that you get in a graduate level, business administration program," Kuzmicki says.

"What we are trying to do is essentially have the students learn from their exposure to people in the real estate industry.

In turn, industry people are increasingly looking at the students as a great talent pool when they need somebody. There's a lot of networking going on," Kuzmicki says.

Patrick Iaboni graduated from the program in 1994. Today, he's president of Berkley Developments Ltd., a Toronto-based company that builds and invests in new home and condominium projects.

Iaboni says he made solid contacts through the program and networking opportunities resulted.

"To this day I still do a lot of business with graduates of the program. Not only with people who attended when I did, but also with those who have graduated more recently," Iaboni says.

"We are getting that action happening where the industry looks to the school as the place to recruit people who have a strong interest in careers in the real estate business," Kuzmicki adds.

Economic Growth Could Hurt California Real Estate Industry

The current surge in economic growth could pose a threat to some debt-laden homeowners and won't soon help owners of vacant office buildings, real estate investors and analysts warned Tuesday.

In an economy that now seems in "full recovery mode," property owners will benefit from job growth but suffer the from rising interest rates, said Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics.

About 400 real estate professionals who gathered in a hotel ballroom for the Fisher Center's twice-a-year all-day conference found little to cheer about.

Housing demand and prices in the Bay Area are likely to stall or slump, rents and occupancy rates in commercial properties are stuck in a rut, and California's government is unable to cope, a succession of panelists warned.

Even the normally upbeat Leslie Appleton-Young, economist for the California Association of Realtors, warned that the state's once unstoppable housing markets seem ready to reverse direction. "We may have to pay the piper a little bit for all the feasting we've had on these wonderful rates," she said, referring to house borrowing costs that had reached historical lows but are now expected to rise.

Economists normally view job growth as the underlying factor in strong real estate markets. But in the Bay Area, low interest rates fueled demand and double-digit price appreciation in the house market despite a technology crash in 2000 that chopped 400,000 jobs from the region's economy.

Rosen described low interest rates as the "heroin" that fueled that euphoria in the house market, and warned that prices could be flat or go down over the next three years.

Stephen Chamberlin, a Philadelphia homebuilder, offered an even more grim view. He urged investors to bet on a decline in the stock prices of his publicly traded competitors. "Housing has clearly reached a bubble stage," he said. "Something ugly is going to happen."

Dale Ann Reiss, a real estate analyst for the accounting firm Ernst & Young, said that risks are especially great for homebuyers who took advantage of "very aggressive lending at variable rates." Their distress could spread, since a lack of equity and rising interest rates could prompt some highly leveraged borrowers to walk away from houses and boost housing supply with foreclosed properties, she said.

In the commercial sector, local building owners are still waiting for job growth that would fill some of the acres of empty offices in the Bay Area, Rosen said.

With rents still sharply lower than only a few years ago, the best face that Michael Smith, the Bay Area manager for CB Richard Ellis, could put on things was that "clearly, our market has hit bottom."

But investors still have an appetite for office properties -- as long as they are filled with tenants. "There is more money chasing deals than there are deals," said Luis Belmonte, an executive vice president of AMB Property Corp. of San Francisco.

That has reduced returns on investments in U.S. offices, prompting AMB to sell U.S. office properties and buy buildings outside the country, he said.

Some investors have found bargains at home. Steven Pilch, chief operating officer of Divco West Properties of Palo Alto, was upbeat about his firm's participation in the purchase of the former ChevronTexaco Corp. headquarters in San Francisco. That 777,000-square-foot building was only 20 percent occupied when it sold for $80 million in November, but the new owners expect to boost that rate into the mid-40s soon, Pilch said.

Clouding the long-term prospects of office properties is the lack of investment in deteriorating infrastructure, including crowded roads, in the Bay Area and throughout California, Belmonte said. The need to reduce the state's structural budget deficit will inevitably lead to higher property taxes on commercial properties, he said.

But Rex Hime, a lobbyist for commercial property owners, said higher property taxes on his members would be blocked by a new political alliance with a powerful advocacy group for small property owners. "The commercial real estate community and the Howard Jarvis folks have now become joined at the hip," Hime said.

Owners of Charleston, W. Va., Office Building Hire Manager

The new owners of Laidley Tower have hired a national real estate services firm to manage the office building.

Real Estate Resources Inc. of Charleston, which was hired earlier this month by the new owners to manage Laidley Tower, announced Wednesday that it has teamed up with Trammell Crow Co., a national firm based in Dallas.

Real Estate Resources Inc. already manages several city office buildings, according to a news release, including the United Center, the Kanawha Valley Building and City Center East. The company now manages more than a million square feet of office space in the city.

Laidley Tower was built in the mid 1980s by Lexington, Ky., developer Dudley Webb in partnership with some members of the law firm Jackson & Kelly, which is the building's largest tenant, and members of the Dickinson family.

The group recently agreed to turn over ownership when it was unable to refinance a mortgage held by CIGNA, the insurance conglomerate. The new owner is CORAC Laidley LLC, an affiliate of Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., the news release said. Connecticut General is a CIGNA subsidiary.

Former Chicago-area real estate executive sues investor, firms for $1 million

A former real estate executive with Sam Zell is suing the billionaire investor and two private holding companies, alleging that he is owed more than $1 million for work on various deals.

Beginning in 1989, Gary Beller worked for various companies controlled by Zell, including as executive vice president for parking facilities for Equity Office Properties Trust, Zell's public office building real estate investment trust.

Beller alleges he was never paid his share of the profits for several deals he worked on for Zell, including a downtown parking garage, a hotel company and a land development firm, according to the complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

"The entire complaint is simply without factual or legal merit," said attorney David Bradford, a partner with Chicago-based Jenner & Block LLP, which represents Zell and the private holding companies. "Mr. Beller was very well compensated for the work he did."

Beller is now president of his own real estate firm.

Beller alleges he was promised a $1 million bonus payment and 2.5 percent of the annual cash flow of the Washington Madison Wells parking garage in the Loop.

Although Zell is named personally as a defendant, the complaint does not specifically accuse him of any wrongdoing.

Instead, Bell alleges that the billionaire worked through two longtime top Zell executives, Shelli Z. Rosenberg and Gerald Spector. Rosenberg is a director of Equity Office and Equity Residential, Zell's apartment REIT, while Spector is executive vice president and chief operating officer of Equity Residential. Zell is chairman of both REITs.

REITs part of healthy portfolio, advisers say

Investing in real estate doesn't always mean stomping through grassy lots or renovating old buildings.

Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs, have become a popular way to join a pool of investors who earn money on portfolios of buildings most of the investors will never see.

"It's a way of investing in real estate without having to fix the toilet," said Jim Eagleton, vice president of investments at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in Tulsa.

Although the dividends paid by REITs have gone up along with the fortunes of the real estate market as a whole, local investors caution that the payouts already may have passed their peak.

"Any time a particular asset class has the astronomical rise REITs have had, it's a good idea to be cautious," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive of Longbow Asset Management Co.

Although REITs are tied to portfolios of regional, national or worldwide real estate properties, in some aspects they're like a mirror image of the stock market. Investors in any given REIT are shareholders, and the price of each trust's shares can go up or down based on the amount of enthusiasm people have for buying into the trust.

So, to some extent, REIT investors hope to make money by buying into the trust when its value is low and selling when it's high.

"Investors have the expectation that the share price will go up over time," Eagleton said.

But the true appeal of REITs are the dividends they pay. By law, at least 90 percent of the income from renting as well as selling properties must go to a REIT's shareholders.

The amount of income REITs pay out has remained high over the past five years. A.G. Edwards' index of 120 REIT companies shows the aver age yield moved above 9 percent of stock value through 2001, although it has since dropped to 6 percent as REIT stock prices have risen.

Dollarhide said the main factors in real estate's rising status were the demise of the tech bubble and falling interest rates.

"The tech boom implosion occurred, and high-powered stocks were down 20 percent," he said. "Billions of dollars of paper profits vanished overnight."

As people lose their taste for stocks, they often move their money into low-risk dividend payers, such as bonds or CDs, Eagleton said. But these investments suffer when interest rates fall as they did at the start of the decade.

The real estate market, on the other hand, benefits from low interest rates.

"When the banks wanted to renew an 8 percent CD at 2 percent, they (investors) turned to REITs," Eagleton said.

REITs have performed well over the past five years, though industry watchers caution that their values have started to drop. Jim Brock, senior financial adviser of Brock & Associates, a division of Amerprise Financial Services in Tulsa, feels the peak time for REITs has passed.

"I'd be hesitant to get into them, because when I look at the historic performance, it looks so good," he said. "People would be coming in at the end of the cycle."

The biggest threat to REITs is rising interest rates, which will cause bonds and CDs to become more attractive, Eagleton said. If a large number of people leave REITs, their share prices may go down.

The local investment advisers said interest in REITs has cooled significantly as yields decline and more people worry about the future of real estate.

"Most people are reserved about them," Brock said.

Dollarhide also expects the dividends to fluctuate, especially if vacancies in commercial buildings increase.

"People who are retired shouldn't depend on a certain dividend, because dividends change as prices change," he said.

However, no one expects REITs to crash entirely. Eagleton said they will remain a good choice for investors who want to combine low risk with a regular income, provided they hold onto their investment for the long term.

Local investors said REITs can be a healthy part of most investment mixes, provided investors put 2 percent to 5 percent of their portfolios in them.

Brock said that most investment disasters occur not because certain investments are inherently bad, but because people fail to diversify.

"The biggest problem people can cause themselves is making big bets in one area or another," he said.

BentleyForbes may buy Woodall Rodgers Tower

A California real estate investor is negotiating to purchase an Uptown high-rise on the north edge of downtown.

The 16-story Woodall Rodgers Tower is across the freeway from the Arts District on Akard Street.

BentleyForbes -- a Los Angeles-based company that already owns several buildings in the Dallas area -- has contracted to purchase the 22-year-old office building.

Real estate brokers say that the tower is expected to fetch close to $200 per square foot.

Officials with BentleyForbes did not reply to requests for comment.

For the last five years, the building has been owned by a Dallas real estate partnership that paid about $14 million for the 156,000-square-foot property.

Since then, the nearby Arts District and surrounding Uptown neighborhood have boomed with construction.

Just across the freeway from Woodall Rodgers Tower is the new office tower home of Hunt Consolidated. And behind the building on McKinney Avenue, construction is under way on a high-rise apartment project.

BentleyForbes is a private real estate investor that owns four office buildings in the Preston Center area of North Dallas. The company also owns the Four Seasons Resort and Club in Las Colinas.

Tameer lends support to 'Hope Wedding'

Tameer lends support to 'Hope Wedding' Sharjah, May 29th, 2007 (WAM) - As part of its corporate social responsibilities and objectives in supporting and giving back to societies, Tameer Holding, the region's most pioneering real estate firms, has again reconfirmed its commitments in building bridges with the society with its recent sponsorship to Al Amal mass wedding of 60 couples with special needs that was held under the sponsorship of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and was attended by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Deputy Ruler and Minister of Finance and Industry..

Tameer's sponsorship of this occasion marks the firm's latest activity on its corporate social responsibility timetable of events that sees Tameer giving back to the community. Most recently the firm sponsored Abu Dhabi Conference and exhibition of People with Special Needs (ADDEX) that was held in Abu Dhabi on March 28th 2007, exclusively sponsored the 30th Anniversary of the German School of Sharjah and also dedicated 2 school buses as a gift to the Early Intervention Center in Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, to name a few.

“Tameer has consistently endeavored to give back to society through various means, either through building real estate masterpieces or through the sponsorship of events that is guaranteed to build and boost bonds and relationships with social, environmental and charity organizations,” said Omar Ayesh, President of Tameer Holding..

“We, at Tameer, consider social responsibility a very seriously operational function in our industry and we view it as an integrated part of our development firm. This aspect of business is an essential pillar of our achievements and is as important as all the various other components needed for any corporate entity to be a success in this day and age.” he added.

'Al Amal' second mass wedding designed to promote social awareness about equal opportunities has been intended to further shine the spotlight on those coping with special needs. Named 'Wedding of Hope', Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum awarded the marrying couples 70,000 dirhams each, in order to help them enter marital life free of financial debts and burdens..

Amegy Bank may be Uptown-bound

A downtown Dallas banking operation is eyeing a move to a new Uptown building.

Real estate brokers say that Amegy Bank is shopping for as much as 70,000 square feet of office space in the Saint Ann Court tower.

The 27-story office project is being built at Harry Hines Boulevard and Moody Street just north of downtown.

If Amegy Bank makes the move, the new offices would be a high-profile replacement for its Dallas operations center, now at 1807 Ross Ave. The bank has been in the building since 2004.

Amegy Bank wouldn't confirm Friday that it is talking with Saint Ann Court developer Harwood International.

Amegy spokeswoman Leigh Akin said that while the bank is expanding its retail operations in North Texas, "no decisions have been made about relocating the Dallas corporate headquarters at this point."

Harwood International officials would neither confirm nor deny real estate industry chatter that they are in talks with Amegy.

The 320,000-square-foot Saint Ann Court building was already about 40 percent leased thanks to a new lease with law firm McGuire, Craddock & Strother PC. The tower is set to open in early 2009.

In the same area, real estate brokers say that Ernst & Young is closer to announcing a lease in the Victory Park complex.

The accounting firm has been talking with developer Hillwood about moving into a new building in the mixed-use project.

Hillwood recently started construction on its 20-story One Victory Park office tower. And a Hillwood executive said the developer hopes to announce plans soon for a second Victory Park tower.

Texas Capital Bank -- which is already in Uptown -- will move its operations in late 2008 to the 2000 McKinney office tower, which is under construction at Woodall Rodgers Freeway and Olive Street..

Turtle Creek tower won't become condos

In what may be the first sign that Dallas' condominium craze has its limits, a Turtle Creek project is shifting gears.

Instead of converting the building to condos, the owners of the Rienzi tower are refocusing the property as a rental project, real estate brokers say.

The nine-story, 154-unit residential building at 3500 Fairmount St. has been owned since March by TA Associates Realty of Boston. In April, the building began converting from apartments to condominiums, with units priced from $215,000 to $1.2 million.

But after selling more than a dozen units, the owners have decided not to continue the project.

"At this point, I would say it is in question," said Reid Parker with TA Associates.

TA Associates is refunding condo buyers and has hired apartment developer ZOM Texas Inc. to lease the building.

Real estate brokers familiar with the move say the change of plans was due in part to the shifting rental market in Dallas. Apartment demand is at its highest point in years, and vacancy rates are falling.

Sales of the condos at the Rienzi were also slower than expected.

"It's a wake-up call," said Mike Puls, with Dallas condo and apartment analyst

Foley & Puls Inc. "You can't convert every apartment into condominiums just because you think it's a good idea."

Mr. Puls also said that investors -- which may make up as much as 25 percent of the high-rise condo market in Dallas -- have gravitated to high-profile buildings such as the W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences and the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton.

"The buyers are sophisticated -- they always buy the best units," he said

Crisp commercial building repossessed

A Stockdale Highway office building real estate salesman David Crisp bought in April has been foreclosed on.

Earlier this year, Crisp said the $2.5 million building would serve as the sales office for a luxury condominium project he and one-time business partner, Carl Cole, had proposed to develop on the Cal State Bakersfield campus. Cal State ended project negotiations with the former Crisp & Cole Real Estate agency principals in July.

In August, the office at 8800 Stockdale Highway went into default.

Crisp owed more than $2 million on two loans borrowed against the 10,000-square-foot space on Thursday, when it was put up for public auction on City Hall's steps.

The property was repossessed by the lender, the Los Angeles-based Lone Oak Fund LLC, after no buyers responded to the opening bid of $1,534,000.

Crisp did not return a voice message asking for comment Thursday.

In September, federal agents searched 13 Bakersfield properties related to the now-defunct Crisp & Cole agency.

No charges have been filed, but the FBI investigation is ongoing.

As of early December, associates of the former Crisp & Cole company had defaulted on more than 100 properties, according to an ongoing Californian tally of public records.

So far, at least 62 have been foreclosed upon.

Ybor fish market, empty lot expected to fetch top dollar

In an area where street parking is scarce, the S. Agliano & Sons Fish Co. is one of Ybor City's only Seventh Avenue storefronts to come with vacant land, making it prime real estate.

The Agliano family announced plans to close the business and sell the property Tuesday, but suitors had been making offers for quite some time.

Now the offers are rolling in. Interested buyers' plans include opening a restaurant, building condominiums and erecting a hotel behind the existing building.

Real estate experts say the two pieces of property together could sell for $1 million or more, although the property appraised much lower.

But what kind of business will take the fish market's place? And how could it change the atmosphere in a historic district struggling to shed its party reputation?

Vince Pardo, president of the Ybor City Development Corp., said several hotel chains have offered to buy the property over the past three years. Some wanted to build a hotel abutting the fish market building and use the storefront as an entrance, he said.

All new construction in Ybor City's historic district has to be approved by the Barrio Latino Commission, which strives to make sure changes fit Ybor's character. Tearing down historic buildings is prohibited.

That's another reason, Pardo said, that the Aglianos' vacant land is so attractive to developers.

Rick Wolfe, the broker representing the family, said his clients decided against an asking price because they feared it could value the property too low. Instead, they will entertain offers, he said.

The family also hasn't decided whether to sell as a package the 3,104-square-foot building at 1821 E. Seventh Ave. and the 26,600-square-foot property behind it.

One potential buyer, Wolfe said, is someone involved with the nearby Italian Club who wants to use the vacant land as parking for the social club.

Another interested buyer, he said, is a prominent Ybor City restaurateur who might want to open another restaurant. One developer has discussed a mixed-use project of retail and residential.

"Right now, we can't say what the highest and best use of the property is," said Wolfe, with Rick Wolfe & Associates Inc. As the seller's representative, Wolfe said he will discuss options with Ybor City development groups before the Aglianos accept an offer.

Stephanie Agliano, whose mother took over the business last year after her husband died, serves on the boards of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce and the Ybor City Development Corp.

While the closing of the landmark market is particularly sad for her, the open storefront should be viewed as an opportunity for Ybor City.

"You have to step back and say, "Gee, what do we need to fill in the blank?' " Agliano said.

The Agliano building is wet zoned, which means it could become a bar. Some worry that another bar or restau rant would hinder the city's efforts to diversify Ybor's businesses and attract an older clientele.

The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser values the building at $164,038, though its appraisals traditionally are much lower than market value.

Bob Zegota, of Grubb & Ellis commercial real estate, has been involved in other Ybor sales and said land along Seventh Avenue is selling for $15 to $20 a square foot, which would bring the value of the two properties to just less than $600,000. Zegota said he wouldn't be surprised, though, if the Agliano property sells for much more.

The vacant land behind the building could be worth more than the building itself, Zegota said.

"It's prime property," he said.

Office Building Proposed for Pewaukee

A 97,000-square-foot office building has been proposed for Riverwood Corporate Center business park in the City of Pewaukee. Quadrangle Realty Services is seeking Plan Commission approval for the building, which would be nearly identical to a 96,715-square-foot building developed by Quadrangle at Riverwood. The business park is north of I-94 and west of Highway J. "For all intents and purposes, it's the same building," said Michael Faber, of Quadrangle. The first building, known as One Riverwood Place, was completed in June 1999 and is about 70 percent occupied. Its anchor tenants include McLeod USA, which has 16,000 square feet, and Cisco Systems Inc., which has around 13,700 square feet. Quadrangle sold the building to Great Lakes REIT Inc., an office building real estate investment trust based in Oak Brook, Ill., in December for $9 million. Great Lakes owns several other Milwaukee-area office buildings, include the Milwaukee Center Office Tower downtown. The success of the first building demonstrates the continued strong demand for high-quality office space in the western suburbs, Faber said. Construction of the newly proposed building, named Two Riverwood Place, could begin by June once city officials approve the project, Faber said. The building would be completed within 12 months, he said

Key Bank Sells Assets of Failed Baby-Clothing Maker in Fort Kent, Maine

The sprawling Kent Inc. facility, buildings, real estate and assorted personal property of the bankrupt company, were sold Monday morning at auction to the Northern Maine Finance Corp. for $460,000.

Duane Walton, corporation vice president, was the only bidder at the auction called by Key Bank, holder of the mortgage on the real estate of the baby clothing manufacturer. The deal will be closed within 45 days.

Within six months, the corporation will in turn sell the property, buildings and personal property inside the buildings to the town of Fort Kent.

NMFC is an equity corporation administered by Northern Maine Development Commission that secures funding from government programs for equity investments.

Kent Inc., a baby clothing manufacturer with a more than 40-year history in Fort Kent, closed its doors two months ago in bankruptcy. The company, which had 185 employees during the summer of 2002, saw its contracts sold to a Chicago company, which moved the contracts to offshore manufacturers.

"The opportunity presented itself for this project with the town," Walton said after the sale. "We will be working with the town to raise funds for the purchase.

""We have been working with the town on multiple fronts to raise grant money for the town to purchase the property," he said. "It will ultimately be owned by the town."

Walton said the objective is for the town to own buildings which can be used for job creation for the local workforce. It is the town's objective to find manufacturers to lease space in the building.

Ownership of the buildings, which total 138,610 square feet, went to Key Bank which has held a mortgage on the buildings since March 26, 1998.

The auction sale was conducted in the offices of the buildings by Catherine Alexander, a Portland attorney representing Key Bank.

The two, light-blue, steel buildings are located on a 6.6 acre parcel of land in the Fort Kent Industrial Park on Route 1, just west of town. The front building also includes a brick addition in the front where administrative offices are located.

Creative Apparel Associates of Belfast leases some of the space in the building. The company manufactures Kevlar jumpsuits for the military. It was said Monday that more than 30 people are working for the Belfast company at Fort Kent.

"We have had a couple of inquiries about leasing space in the building," Fort Kent Town Manager Donald Guimond said after the sale. "We are working with them to try and bring jobs here.

"It may take a few months or more to make anything happen," Guimond said.

In the meantime, Northern Maine Finance Corp. has 45 days to finalize the sale with Key Bank. Prior to the auction, NMDC officials were checking the building, including the roofs of the structure.

During the sale negotiations, Walton raised the issue of the possibility of lost or stolen personal property in the building since Kent Inc. closed. He negotiated a deal in which the locks on the building could be changed Monday afternoon. The town became caretakers of the building until the sale is finalized.

Personal property, equipment, tools, machinery like air conditioners, refrigerators, desks, shelving and even curtains, made up about 25 percent of the value of the building, according to Walton.

There also was talk between Walton and Guimond that local police may look to find personal property that has been removed from the building.

AmSouth Bank Seeks to Move Memphis, Tenn

Birmingham-based AmSouth Bank is negotiating to move its local offices into the building Belz Enterprises will soon launch at Poplar and Interstate 240.

Belz is scheduled to begin demolishing The Ridgeway Inn in June to build a 50,000-square-foot, five-story office building.

Real estate people familiar with the deal said AmSouth is interested in the $4 million project as a build-to-suit that will include a first-floor bank branch.

AmSouth's 40,000-square-foot lease at 6000 Poplar, just a few blocks east of the Ridge|way Inn site, expires in mid-2005.

Belz Enterprises spokesman Andy Groveman said Belz was negotiating with several potential tenants.

AmSouth officials would not comment, but the bank has been seeking a site in the Poplar Corridor for more than two years.

The bank was officially represented by Birmingham-based Harbert Realty, but Memphis-based Weston Cos. was enlisted as a subagent.

Weston searched for a suitable site for two years, ending it late last fall.

The search was prompted because AmSouth wanted to open a retail bank branch with three or four drive-through lanes. The 6000 Poplar building does not have a branch.

"They needed a drive-in retail facility, so it was just not practical to build one there and stay in that building," Weston president and CEO David Peck said.

AmSouth was initially looking for 30,000 to 35,000 square feet and would seriously consider only sites on Poplar Avenue east of I-240.

Among the sites Weston explored between I-240 and the Germantown city limits were those of the Homewood Suites, Applebee's, Steak and Ale, and the former site of the Kingsway Christian Church at Poplar and Massey.

AmSouth was prepared to demolish the buildings on each of the sites, but Weston could not make the locations work because of issues such as site dimensions, access and owners unwilling to sell.

Belz Enterprises announced two weeks ago that it would demolish The Ridgeway Inn and build the new office building on a speculative basis, or without commitment from a tenant.

Such a move would be uncharacteristic for the family-owned company, which has not built a speculative office building since The Tower at Peabody Place in 1997.

Construction will take about a year.

The announced plans include more space than AmSouth was initially looking for, but Peck said the bank company wanted room to expand. He expects the banking firm would take the entire building.

"I would imagine if they were doing that many drive-in lanes, that would almost prohibit anybody else from going into the building," Peck said.

CRESA Partners Memphis president Mary Singer said the demographics surrounding the site are good for a bank location, as are the amount of traffic nearby and access.

As for visibility, the location is tough to beat.

"It's like a billboard location in every direction," Singer said. "It's like having a billboard as a building."

Clark & Clark principal Nick Clark said the rare location with two sides fronting Poplar would give the AmSouth office prominence and is the perfect place for a signature building.

AmSouth entered the Memphis market in 1999 following its acquisition of Nashville-based First American Corp.

Clark said AmSouth's move would be a good sign for Memphis, which has several signature buildings occupied by recently acquired local banks.

Construction Company Seeks Tax Abatement for Arlington

A Cincinnati construction company is seeking a property tax abatement from the city to help finance a $6 million project to restore a tornado-ravaged office building in southeast Arlington.

The AG Hauck Co. of Ohio, which specializes in restoring buildings after natural disasters, has filed an application seeking a 60 percent discount on local property taxes for 10 years. The company said it plans to reopen the 112,000- square-foot building at 1351 E. Bardin Road in the Interstate 20 business corridor as an office and call center.

The property was formerly the regional home of the Texas Rehabilitation Commission and the state departments of Protective and Regulatory Services, Human Services and Health.

Hauck Holdings has not yet purchased the building, real estate broker Jim Whitten of CB Richard Ellis said. The company's plans are on hold pending City Council approval of its abatement request. Construction would take about eight months, according to the company's application. Abatements reduce local taxes due on real property, such as a building, or personal property, such as equipment.

"We think it's a perfect call center site in an excellent location between Collins Street and New York Avenue, with I-20 visibility," said Whitten, who is marketing the property for the owner, Tyler businessman Jack Paul. "It could go to a single user or we can break it up." The building would "be completely renovated and redone" by Hauck, Whitten said.

Arlington Chamber of Commerce President David Sampson said the city would be responsible for demolishing the building if it is not purchased.

"There is not a great market out there for storm-damaged buildings," Sampson said. "Look at the Bank One building in downtown Fort Worth. We're fortunate to have a company who is willing to come in and restore the building."

Under the city's existing guidelines, tax abatements are available when a developer plans to add $5 million or more to the city's tax base. The rules vary for special investment districts within the city.

In the case of the East Bardin Road building, the restored building is expected to be appraised at about $4.5 million, so the improved value would fall short of city guidelines, said Rudy Farias, an assistant to the Arlington city manager.

He said Hauck has asked the City Council to consider lowering the minimum added value required for an abatement to $3 million to accommodate the project. The tornado left the building a steel frame.

"They're putting in about $6.1 million in improvements with the assumption the building would be appraised at least $4.5 million," Farias said.

Any tax abatement request would be reviewed by the council's Fiscal Stewardship Committee, with the council having final approval.

Councilman Joe Bruner, the committee's chairman, said he supports the developer's abatement request.

"It's a godsend," Bruner said. "You couldn't asked for anything better. Naysayers might say we're giving stuff away, but that's just not the way we saw it. This will get jobs back into that building."

Farias said the city would present the fiscal committee with the applicant's formal application and tax number estimates on March 20.

The Arlington I-20 business corridor is home to about 4,000 call center and service-center jobs, all of which operate within 2 miles of the Bardin office building, according to company and Arlington chamber estimates.