Shaul Elovitch is seeking real estate opportunities in the US following his failure to acquire Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR). Eurocom Group unit Eurocom Global Real Estate Ltd. (TASE: EGRE) and Harbor Group International LLC have bought the Tree Summit residential and commercial project in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth for $37.5 million. Local subsidiaries of the two companies will own the project in equal shares through a joint venture, Pine Crest Gardens Associates LLC.
EGRE will invest $3.54 million in equity in the project, and will receive 70% of the estimated $11.8 million in shareholders' equity needed from Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) in a ten-year loan. EGRE will pay only interest for the first two years. The loan will bear variable interest set by Freddie Mac on the basis of US government bonds plus 3.53% up to a maximum interest rate of 7.5%. The current interest rate is 3.7%.
The complex has 660 apartments and 1,440 stores with 73,000 square meters in total leasable space on a 75-acre site. The occupancy rate is 86%. The companies will rename the complex Overlook at Berkeley Lake Apartments. After closing the acquisition, EGRE and Harbor Group will invest several million dollars in renovations and upgrades in the complex, which was built in the mid-1990s.
EGRE chairman Dr. Yair Weil and Elovitch each own 42.74% of the company. Its core business is in Romania, as well as interests in Germany and the US. Harbor Group is owned by US and Israeli investors, including 25% by Electra Real Estate Ltd. (TASE:ELCRE), controlled by chairman George Salkind.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 4, 2009
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009