SBA 504 Loans and the 2008 Stimulus Package

According to Ron Reuss, President of GulfCoast Business Finance (www.gulfcoastbiz.com), the new 2008 Stimulus Package includes the following in respect to the SBA 504 loan program:

Appropriation of $100 million for loan subsidy & loan modification costs for 504 loans to cover
elimination of SBA 504 fees through September 2010, provided appropriated funds continue to
offset such fees;

Temporary elimination of bank participation fee (currently .5%) and CDC processing fee (currently 1.5%);

The SBA 504 requirement of projected employment impact will change from "one job projected
to be created per $50,000" to "one job projected to be created for every $65,000 in SBA funds"

If the project meets with SBA's public policy or community development goals, this job
creation requirement does not apply.

A SBA Secondary Market guarantee authority of up to $3.0 billion has been established to
facilitate the sale of 504 first mortgage pools. (These may be existing pools of loans, or new loans
that may be pooled after date of enactment.)

Refinancing existing debt (in an amount not to exceed 50% of the projected cost of the project financed), if;
the new loan involves business expansion
it is collateralized by fixed assets
the existing debt was incurred for benefit of small business
proceeds are used to acquire land, to construct or expand building or to purchase equipment
borrower is current on all payments of existing debt for one year
new financing will provide better terms or interest rate
new financing will be used only for refinancing existing debt, or for costs related to project
being financed

For the SBA 7(a) loan program, loan fees were eliminated and the SBA will now guarantee the
7(a) lender up to 90% of the outstanding loan.

No provisions were offered in the bill that increase the amount of SBA 504 loan nor the
amount of the 7(a) loan guarantee of $1.5 million.

500 N. Westshore Blvd sells for $20.1 million

The 10 story office building built in 1984 near the corner of Westshore Blvd and I-275 sold to Orlando based Eola Capital for $20.1 million ($157 per square foot). This 90% occupied 130,000 square foot building known as Westshore 500 will increase Eola Capital's Tampa portfolio to over 1.6 million square feet.

MiLB purchases office complex for $1.57 million

MiLB (Minor League Baseball) purchased the former R-Club Child Care building located at 9550 16th St in the Gateway submarket of Pinellas County. This 10,348 square foot two building office complex was purchased for $1.57 million or roughly $152 per square foot.

Tampa Festival Centre sells for $6.625 million

Tampa Festival Centre, a 131,278 square foot retail center sold February 6th to Forge Capital Partners of Tampa. This center sits on 19 acres at 2525 E. Hillsborough Avenue and is anchored by mostly discount retailers. The seller was Urban America LP based out of New York that paid $5.38 million for the center in 2000.

It is estimated that this property was about 93 percent occupied at the time of sale.

Prologis Puts 33 Million Square Feet of Industrial on the Market

Prologis announced that they would be putting 33 million square feet of industrial space on the market. This portfolio of properties will span across 14 states and many of the countries best industrial markets. The total value has been estimated at $1.43 billion dollars and Florida's chunk will be approximately 1.73 million square feet, with as much as 1.54 million square feet of industrial space spanning from Tampa Bay to Orlando.

Boca Ciega townhomes sell $7.8 million

St. Petersburg's Boca Ciega townhome multifamily complex in St. Petersburg sold for $7.8 million (approx. $72,000 per unit). It was estimated that this California buyer paid a 9.5% cap rate for this project.

4th Quarter 2008 Office Market

In a report published by the Maddux Business Report, absorption for all counties of the Tampa Bay multi-tenant office market were negative with Hillsborough County leading the decline. This report states that for every 1,000 square feet of space lost, Hillsborough was accountable for 810 of those feet. Total negative absorbtion for 4th quarter 2008 - 485,720 square feet of the 57.6 million square feet included in this survey.

Pinellas county had the least negative absorbtion out of all the other Tampa Bay counties and in certain submarkets actually had positive absorbption for the 4th quarter.