Cohen Financial Closes $71.67 Million Sale of Investment Property with Redevelopment Rights for High-Rise Condominiums in Naples, Florida

Business Wire, July 25, 2006

CHICAGO -- Cohen Financial, a national real estate investment banking firm, announced the sale of a 147-room unflagged resort hotel for $71.67 million. The beach-front property is located at 11000 Gulf Shore Drive North in Naples, Florida. The property is entitled for 72 condominium units and will be redeveloped by the purchaser, Signature Communities.

Cohen Financial provided strategic advisory services to the owner five years prior to being engaged to sell the property. Rick Tannenbaum, Managing Director of Advisory Services in Cohen Financial's Chicago office, provided advisory services and marketed the property on behalf of the seller with John Simon. The sale closed in the second quarter.

"Our relationship with the seller began in 1999 when Cohen Financial was hired to evaluate the property and propose strategic and financial alternatives," said Tannenbaum. "We immediately recognized that the value of the land if used for a high-rise condominium building development was much greater than the value of the hotel."

The client, however, was not yet ready to sell the property. "We took advantage of the time afforded us to work with the client to enhance the property value," said Tannenbaum. Working with the client's local zoning counsel and tax planning counsel, Cohen Financial assisted in efforts to improve entitlements and to plan for the tax implications of an eventual sale. "The client and his advisors were well prepared for the day when he decided to move forward with the sale."

In 2004, the seller, Vanderbilt Beach Associates, Ltd., hired Cohen Financial to sell the property. Cohen Financial developed a strategy for securing the highest sales value by delivering enhanced entitlements to the purchaser and affording the purchaser sufficient time to secure condominium presales. The property was placed under contract in January 2005, almost one year before the site development plan was approved by Collier County.

"We strategically targeted condominium developers who were focused on adding beach front properties to their portfolios," said Tannenbaum. "By delivering certain density and building height, we valued and sold the property at a premium on the basis of these zoning entitlements. Allowing the purchaser to pre-sell the property also created value for the seller. As a result, the sale achieved a record price for gulf-front land in Collier County."

Cohen Financial is a national real estate investment banking firm, providing debt and equity placement, investment brokerage, loan servicing and financial advisory services. The company is recognized as one of the nation's largest originators of commercial real estate financing, with over $5.1 billion in total transactions in 2005 and over $5.2 billion in loan servicing. The company has also provided financial advisory services on more than $1 billion of assets. Cohen Financial serves clients throughout the U.S. and Canada through its offices in 10 major markets.

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