KANSAS CITY—The Kansas City Area Development Council was named the top regional economic development organization in the US, according to a new survey of US corporate executives and location advisors. “Our customers are the number one driver of our success as the region's economic development team,” says Tim Cowden, president and chief executive officer, Kansas City Area Development Council. Conducted by Development Counsellors International every three years, the “Winning Strategies in Economic Development Marketing” survey has tracked trends in economic development since its inception in 1996. According to the 80 site selection consultants who participated in the survey, 21% identified KCADC as a “best in class” economic development organization in an open-ended question.

CHICAGO—Steven Lieb will join Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management as a portfolio manager within its US custom accounts business on September 25. Lieb will focus on portfolio management activities for LaSalle's separate account clients and manage portfolios of office, retail, multifamily and industrial investments located throughout the US. He brings more than 25 years of industry experience to LaSalle, and has served in asset management and portfolio management roles over the last 20 years. Most recently he served as a senior portfolio manager at Heitman where he managed separate accounts for high profile clients across property types and risk profiles. Prior to Heitman, Lieb was a portfolio manager at Equity Office Properties, with oversight of more than 50 million square feet of investments valued in excess of $13 billion.

CLEVELAND—Welty Building Company Ltd., a building services and management firm, has named Ed Paparone as group president of its Cleveland office. In his new position, Paparone will direct overall growth, operations, safety and market implementation strategies for Welty in Northeast OH. He comes to Welty from Turner Construction Co., where he served as business manager. A lifetime resident of Northeast OH, he has been an influencer in the local construction industry for the past 38 years. “Welty has been headquartered in and serving Northeast Ohio for 72 years, and we look for leaders who have a commitment to this area,” says Donzell Taylor, Welty's president and chief executive officer.

COLUMBUS—Molly Leach of CBRE Columbus has been promoted to a senior associate, ahead of her three-year anniversary at the company. “Molly's vigorous work ethic and commitment has led her to achieve this well-deserved promotion,” says Michael Copella, managing director. Leach has experience in property management and financial analysis. She specializes in medical real estate and has taken the lead on several of key transactions for Mount Carmel Health Systems and Central Ohio Primary Care.

OAK BROOK, IL—Inland Mortgage Capital, LLC, a private lender specializing in intermediate-term mortgages for value-added commercial real estate in need of bridge financing, has just appointed Marcus Perry as senior vice president of loan origination for the eastern region and Kevin Blaha as senior analyst in portfolio management. In his new role, Perry will handle all facets of the Oak Brook, IL-based firm's commercial real estate bridge loan origination for the eastern US. He has more than 25 years of experience in underwriting, due diligence, construction lending, acquisition valuation, revolving credit facilities and CMBS loan origination. Prior to joining Inland Mortgage Capital, he served as executive director at Barclays Capital. Blaha will support the portfolio management team with financial analysis and research, including surveillance of the existing portfolio and in-depth research of targeted lending markets. Prior to joining Inland, he was vice president of the Real Estate Advisory Group for Duff & Phelps where he led 45 analysts.

DEALTRACKER

CHICAGO—The Chicago offices of CBRE recently represented Tucker Development in two leases, totaling 46,146 square feet, at the Offices at 900 West in Chicago's Fulton Market neighborhood. CBRE's Ron Lakin, Jessica O'Hara and Ellen Zalatoris represented Tucker in a 40,000-square-foot lease with Spaces, an Amsterdam-based co-working provider, and a 6,146-square-foot lease with ParkerGale, a private investment firm. With the two deals, the building, completed in May, is now 100% leased. “Demand for new office space in Fulton Market is still incredibly high,” says Zalatoris. “This is amazing space that only came online a few months ago and already it is fully leased. There was a lot of interest in this location and project, which speaks to the strength of this rapidly developing office market.” Bill Rogers and Kerry Gilar of JLL represented Spaces, and ParkerGale was represented by Jud Henry of EnTrust Realty Advisors.

DETROIT—Pillar Financial, a division of SunTrust Bank, has originated a $4.775 million HUD Interest Rate Reduction Program loan to refinance Delta Manor, Inc., an affordable seniors housing property located in downtown Detroit. The property consists of 99 one-bedroom units that are available to low-income seniors who are at least 62 years old. Delta Manor, Inc., a private, nonprofit foundation, owns and operates the property. David Wilkins, managing director of Pillar in its suburban Bloomfield Hills office, originated the HUD fixed-rate, 26-year term loan with a 26-year amortization schedule. “We secured the HUD IRRP loan to modify an old loan and to cut the interest rate in half,” he says. “The new loan provides excess funds that will allow the sponsor to keep the property well maintained into the future.”

BY THE NUMBERS

CHICAGO—Building green apartments can attract residents and be good for your bottom line. That was one of the conclusions of an AMLI survey of more than 2,800 US apartment residents. Of the respondents, 84% said living in sustainable/green homes is important to them, and 85% believe living in sustainable/green homes is beneficial to their health. The Chicago-based AMLI, a multifamily real estate firm, conducted the survey in August 2017 at its properties in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Seattle, Southern CA and Southeast FL. The company will use the survey results to advance its sustainability efforts. Roughly 12% of the 2,812 respondents were younger than age 25, 47% were ages 25-34, 16% were ages 35-44, and the remaining 25% were 45 or older. Respondents valued the following green features most highly: a smoke-free community (94 %); energy- and water-efficient features (93 %); access to public transit/ strong walk and bike scores (85 %).

NEWS & NOTABLES

KANSAS CITY—The Kansas City Area Development Council was named the top regional economic development organization in the US, according to a new survey of US corporate executives and location advisors. “Our customers are the number one driver of our success as the region's economic development team,” says Tim Cowden, president and chief executive officer, Kansas City Area Development Council. Conducted by Development Counsellors International every three years, the “Winning Strategies in Economic Development Marketing” survey has tracked trends in economic development since its inception in 1996. According to the 80 site selection consultants who participated in the survey, 21% identified KCADC as a “best in class” economic development organization in an open-ended question.

CHICAGO—Steven Lieb will join Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management as a portfolio manager within its US custom accounts business on September 25. Lieb will focus on portfolio management activities for LaSalle's separate account clients and manage portfolios of office, retail, multifamily and industrial investments located throughout the US. He brings more than 25 years of industry experience to LaSalle, and has served in asset management and portfolio management roles over the last 20 years. Most recently he served as a senior portfolio manager at Heitman where he managed separate accounts for high profile clients across property types and risk profiles. Prior to Heitman, Lieb was a portfolio manager at Equity Office Properties, with oversight of more than 50 million square feet of investments valued in excess of $13 billion.

CLEVELAND—Welty Building Company Ltd., a building services and management firm, has named Ed Paparone as group president of its Cleveland office. In his new position, Paparone will direct overall growth, operations, safety and market implementation strategies for Welty in Northeast OH. He comes to Welty from Turner Construction Co., where he served as business manager. A lifetime resident of Northeast OH, he has been an influencer in the local construction industry for the past 38 years. “Welty has been headquartered in and serving Northeast Ohio for 72 years, and we look for leaders who have a commitment to this area,” says Donzell Taylor, Welty's president and chief executive officer.

COLUMBUS—Molly Leach of CBRE Columbus has been promoted to a senior associate, ahead of her three-year anniversary at the company. “Molly's vigorous work ethic and commitment has led her to achieve this well-deserved promotion,” says Michael Copella, managing director. Leach has experience in property management and financial analysis. She specializes in medical real estate and has taken the lead on several of key transactions for Mount Carmel Health Systems and Central Ohio Primary Care.

OAK BROOK, IL—Inland Mortgage Capital, LLC, a private lender specializing in intermediate-term mortgages for value-added commercial real estate in need of bridge financing, has just appointed Marcus Perry as senior vice president of loan origination for the eastern region and Kevin Blaha as senior analyst in portfolio management. In his new role, Perry will handle all facets of the Oak Brook, IL-based firm's commercial real estate bridge loan origination for the eastern US. He has more than 25 years of experience in underwriting, due diligence, construction lending, acquisition valuation, revolving credit facilities and CMBS loan origination. Prior to joining Inland Mortgage Capital, he served as executive director at Barclays Capital. Blaha will support the portfolio management team with financial analysis and research, including surveillance of the existing portfolio and in-depth research of targeted lending markets. Prior to joining Inland, he was vice president of the Real Estate Advisory Group for Duff & Phelps where he led 45 analysts.

DEALTRACKER

CHICAGO—The Chicago offices of CBRE recently represented Tucker Development in two leases, totaling 46,146 square feet, at the Offices at 900 West in Chicago's Fulton Market neighborhood. CBRE's Ron Lakin, Jessica O'Hara and Ellen Zalatoris represented Tucker in a 40,000-square-foot lease with Spaces, an Amsterdam-based co-working provider, and a 6,146-square-foot lease with ParkerGale, a private investment firm. With the two deals, the building, completed in May, is now 100% leased. “Demand for new office space in Fulton Market is still incredibly high,” says Zalatoris. “This is amazing space that only came online a few months ago and already it is fully leased. There was a lot of interest in this location and project, which speaks to the strength of this rapidly developing office market.” Bill Rogers and Kerry Gilar of JLL represented Spaces, and ParkerGale was represented by Jud Henry of EnTrust Realty Advisors.

DETROIT—Pillar Financial, a division of SunTrust Bank, has originated a $4.775 million HUD Interest Rate Reduction Program loan to refinance Delta Manor, Inc., an affordable seniors housing property located in downtown Detroit. The property consists of 99 one-bedroom units that are available to low-income seniors who are at least 62 years old. Delta Manor, Inc., a private, nonprofit foundation, owns and operates the property. David Wilkins, managing director of Pillar in its suburban Bloomfield Hills office, originated the HUD fixed-rate, 26-year term loan with a 26-year amortization schedule. “We secured the HUD IRRP loan to modify an old loan and to cut the interest rate in half,” he says. “The new loan provides excess funds that will allow the sponsor to keep the property well maintained into the future.”