Grand Sakwa Properties, Lormax Stern Development

Venture plans national shopping spree to buy retail properties

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Grand Sakwa Properties,
Inc. and Lormax Stern Development Co., has established a $250 million
private equity fund that will use additional conventional financing tools
to acquire at least $1 billion in U.S. retail properties over the next 3 to
5 years, it was announced today.
The development group, formed after several successful retail projects,
is a Michigan-based L.L.C. that will seek to develop or purchase retail
properties and bring in new retail stores based on market demands.
"We have developed a business model that has yielded great performance
by all parties resulting in projects that have been built on time, within
budget and exceed expectations for return on investment projections," said
Daniel Stern, a partner in the venture. "The venture sees added benefits by
pooling resources into a single equity fund to yield more purchasing
power."
The companies have entered into a program with KeyBank Real Estate
Capital Private Equity Group to evaluate the financing of these properties.
"Over the past decade the two groups have completed more than $1 billion in
financing and construction with KeyBank," Stern added.
"KeyBank Real Estate Capital is pleased to work with Grand Sakwa and
Lormax Stern in the strategic acquisition of mall and shopping center
properties throughout the United States for the purposes of redevelopment,"
said Dan Walsh, Managing Director, KeyBank Real Estate Capital. "These
developers have repeatedly demonstrated an ability to take properties and
rebuild and remarket them for increased efficiency and community
satisfaction. We are excited to continue working with these two great
organizations."
The venture is targeting multiple U.S. retail properties for
acquisition in 2006 and already has several properties under due diligence
review.
Grand Sakwa, based in Farmington Hills and Lormax Stern, based in West
Bloomfield, MI, are prominent developers who have individually and
collectively developed over 35 of the most successful shopping centers in
Michigan over more than two decades. Collectively the two groups have in
excess of 2.3 million square feet of retail construction currently with
properties including: Heritage Park in Grand Blanc, MI; Heritage Village, a
large housing and retail project adjacent to the General Motors Technical
Center in Warren, MI; Green Oak Village Place, a lifestyle center in Green
Oak Township, MI; Independence Marketplace in Allen Park, MI; and new
construction at M-59 and Adams Roads in Rochester Hills, MI.
The company has an additional 1.1 million square feet of projects
currently in the approval process for calendar 2007.
KeyBank Real Estate Capital is the nation's third-largest commercial
real estate capital provider with over $22 billion in annual financings. It
provides construction and interim loans, mezzanine financing, private
equity, commercial mortgages, investment banking and loan sales and
syndications services nationwide for virtually all property types. Its
1,000 financing professionals serve a national client base through 36
locations in major U.S. markets. KeyBank Real Estate Capital is a business
unit of KeyBank National Association, a subsidiary of Cleveland-based
KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY), one of the nation's largest bank-based financial
services companies, with assets of approximately $93 billion.



SOURCE Grand Sakwa Properties, Inc.; Lormax Stern Development Co.