SUSPENSE!!

"In Hempstead, the wait goes on"

*After four years of discussion, multiple public hearings and a handful of cancelled votes, the long-awaited redevelopment of 26 acres in downtown Hempstead will wait a little longer. UrbanAmerica’s ambitious, $2 billion redevelopment proposal was scheduled for a village trustee vote on Tuesday, day, but 11th-hour negotiations with Hempstead Village Mayor Wayne Hall postponed the vote – once again.

COMMENT: UrbanAmerica will seek to get the state and federal government to foot the bill for infrastructure improvements around the redeveloped area. They want to maximize the tremendous mass-transit site

Economic Challenges Facing Global & Domestic Business

U.S. power stocks charge ahead as risks mount
Mon Jun 4, 2007 7:02am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. electricity company stocks have returned to health, posting market-leading returns over the past two years as steady economic growth helped work off a glut in supply and companies cleaned up their balance sheets. Over the past year, U.S. utility and power stocks have rallied 31 percent, and even with investor profit taking over the past few weeks, they have outperformed the broader Standard & Poor 500 index's 21 percent gain.

COMMENT: That is good news for investors, who saw the Standard & Poor's Utility index shed more than half its value in 2001 and 2002 on the gloom caused by the collapse of Enron Corp. Utility stocks have been the darlings of the market. BUT the industry faces new risks, from the growing movement to regulate carbon emissions.

Social Reponsibility

Intel Commits $300 Mln to Teacher Training Program
September 27, 2007

*NEW YORK (Reuters) - Leading microchip maker Intel Corp plans to spend $300 million over the next four years on a Web training program to help teachers incorporate technology into their lesson plans. Intel said on Thursday it would work with governments of 15 countries to develop online versions of in-person training courses that it has supported for about seven years. The new program is part of Intel's annual global investment of more than $100 million in improving education in schools and universities. The company says it contributed more than $1 billion over a decade in cash and in-kind support for teacher training.

READ MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-intel-education.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Week 5 Assigment - Marketing Plan

UrbanAmerica is gearing to start their new fund - Fund III. American real estate markets have been flooded with capital from multiple sources that have profoundly affected market conditions. It too will accelerate due in large part to the worldwide shift in investors attitude concerning how much of their assests should be allocated in real estate.

COMMENT: UA's marketing plan is to showcase their unique market niche and execution capabilities. The attached Ad lists their experties as Investment Managers.

TERM: IRR's - Internal Rate of Return

Assignment Week #4

UA's Advertising Initiate Includes:

*Full page newspapers/Magazines - Media clips in targeted cities with core groups of participating niches.
*Ad Page in WSJ announcing closing of their Fund II @ $500M.

Assignment Wk # 3

Week 3 Stock Market

COMMENT: UrbanAmerica was not affected by the stock market. It is a private real estate equity firm to become America's pre-eminent vehicle for fiscally and socially prudent investment in inner city commercial real estate. The firm made a decision not to partake in REIT – Real Estate Investment TrustS particularly in markets linked to sub-prime mortgages.

AVOID BEING BEHIND THE 8-BALL - THIS IS WHY:

NYTIMES: NovaStar Ending its Status as a REIT
September 18, 2007 *NovaStar, a troubled subprime mortgage lender that has drastically scaled back its business, said yesterday that it was giving up its status as a real estate investment trust because it could not afford the $157 million dividend it would have to pay to maintain the status.The company said the move would leave it with a substantial tax bill for 2006.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/business/18novastar.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1190314070-td/LiD3Ea6x/Qiy/ZZabug

BREAKING NEWS

UrbanAmerica vote scheduled
http://www.libn.com/breakingNews.htm?articleID=8722

The Village of Hempstead’s Board of Trustees has scheduled a vote for Tuesday, Sept. 25 on UrbanAmerica’s $2 billion proposal to rebuild 26 acres of its downtown. The vote, which had been postponed due to the death of a trustee’s family member, will take place at the Village of Hempstead Library at 6 p.m. Labor unions and the mayor support the plan, but housing activists want the proposal to include more housing for lower income families.

COMMENT: As of now, UrbanAmerica’s plan includes 2,500 condo units, 600,000 square feet of retail and office space and a performing arts center for the area north of Main Street.

Market Strategy

Company acquires real estate assets across property type and life cycle. Properties are then positioned to fulfill the growing economic demands of the ethnically diverse urban centers they serve. Initiatives may include rezoning, renovation, financial restructuring and lease up, as well as master project planning.
PRIMARY MARKETS: New York Tri-State Area (excluding NYC)FloridaCaliforniaTexasPhoenix, AZ Washington, DC (Metro)Philadelphia, PA (Delaware Valley)Atlanta, GA
PROPERTY TYPES: Retail-anchored, mixed useOfficeHigh & Mid-rise For Sale Residential Mixed Use

INVESTMENT: Institutional Capital into Urban Real Estate

Urban I

UrbanAmerica deployed its first investment vehicle's equity in acquiring 28 assets or 3.7 million square feet, at a cost of $330 million. The portfolio is characterized by strong credit, with state government, medical and educational institutions comprising the bulk of tenancy in the office half and grocery and national retailers bolstering the retail half.

Urban II
In partnership with Fisher Brothers, UrbanAmerica continues a value added strategy via its second investment vehicle. We are poised to acquire over $1 billion in assets across product type (office, retail, hospitality, mixed use, including a residential component) and life cycle (development, repositioning and stabilized).

UrbanAmerica OVERVIEW

The firm delivers value-added returns to investors, while also stimulating economic impact in its investment locales. UrbanAmerica identifies, enhances and captures value by:

• Maintaining a dynamic proprietary pipeline. Extensive industry, political and non-profit relationships keep UrbanAmerica abreast of high-potential opportunities.

• Bringing an institutional owner/operator mindset and Class A development capacity to its markets, where traditionally these are lacking.

• Partnering with national retailers to help execute their urban strategy.

• Executing replicable growth strategies on behalf of leading institutional investors, including pension funds, banks, and insurance companies.

COMPANY PROFILE: UA Founded in 1998

UrbanAmerica’s Fund II has raised over $500 million in equity. In 2004, UrbanAmerica’s Fund II extended its general partnership to include the New York based Fisher Brothers. Its focus is to deploy equity into projects tenanted by government, medical, academic institutions and supermarket anchored retail in its portfolio as well as housing and hospitality. The organization operates a $1 billion portfolio consisting of 15 properties and is currently developing over $1.5 billon of new projects. Investors include many of the country’s largest private-public pensions, banks and insurance companies. With its headquarters in NYC, the firm is also comprised of offices in Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, and Orlando.