Harlequin His the Racetrack

NASCAR Romances a Hit with Fans

By Mark Emmons, San Jose Mercury News, June 21, 2006

Let’s just say “In the Groove” is a racy novel.

Sarah is a former kindergarten teacher forced to take a job driving the bus of jet-setting and, predictably, super-sexy NASCAR driver Lance. She’s unimpressed with his fame but, according to the back cover, “whenever he comes near her she turns hot as race fuel.”

And, of course, the spark plugs fly.

Yes, the prose is overheated — but then that’s precisely the idea. The brainchild of Pamela Britton, a graduate of San Jose’s Pioneer High School, “In the Groove” is the first collaboration between NASCAR and Harlequin.

Welcome to romance in the pits.

“When they first told me that there was going to be a Harlequin romance novel about NASCAR, I said, `You’ve got to be kidding,’ ” said driver Carl Edwards, who will race in Sunday’s Dodge/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma.

“But I’ve since seen women at the racetrack, sitting there, reading these books. So if you’re going to be reading a romance book, you might as well read about auto racing.”

Somebody’s reading it. Released in February, “In the Groove” had a first printing of 200,000 copies. Britton’s second book, “On the Edge,” comes out in the fall, and she is working on a third. There are plans for about two dozen NASCAR romance novels by various authors.

Britton, 40, a longtime race fan and self-taught writer, also is a symbol of how successfully NASCAR has barreled into popular culture. Britton said she even signed more autographs than driver Jeff Gordon at this year’s Daytona 500.

“I’m just your average, ordinary, everyday person who got lucky in this publishing thing,” Britton said. “And to hear so many people talking about this just blows my mind. Women have embraced the book, and their husbands have, too.”

Macho NASCAR gearheads reading romance books? That, Britton believes, is the secret of her success.

Finding the right gear

Stock car racing and steamy romance stories ought to mix like, well, Chevys and Fords. NASCAR traditionally has been a mostly Southern male thing — a testosterone-fueled world of beer and motor oil.

But the sport now has a wide, and growing, audience. NASCAR’s annual foray to Infineon Raceway is Northern California’s biggest one-day sporting event. The TV ratings are second only to the NFL’s, and among its 75 million fans are 30 million women.

From Harlequin’s perspective, the women of “NASCAR Nation” represent an untapped market.

“I know people think this is funny, but we’ve had love stories set in hospitals, in war time, and all over the world,” Harlequin spokeswoman Marleah Stout said. “So why not in NASCAR, too?”

That’s an idea Britton had been pitching for years.

She always loved racing, competing in BMX as a kid and later graduating to drag racing (she reached speeds of more than 120 mph in her 1967 Camaro in local events). She also worked as a scorer for NASCAR truck races.

But Britton, who had attended college for just a year and was working in a San Jose commercial real-estate office (Borelli Investment Company), also harbored a desire to write — a dream inadvertently inspired by her first husband.

“My ex didn’t think I had the ability to write books, so he kind of challenged me to do it,” she said.

A reader of romance novels, she decided to try writing one in 1996. Two years later she sold a historical love story and a career was born. Among her 15 books are titles such as “Cowboy Trouble,” “Seduced” and “Enchanted by Your Kisses.” Over the years, she also kept working on racing stories.

“But I couldn’t sell them to save my life because nobody on the West Coast knew what NASCAR was,” Britton said.

Then last year Harlequin published her stock car book “Dangerous Curves.” Britton encouraged the publisher to contact NASCAR about licensing a series of racing stories. NASCAR, which had expanded into unlikely areas such as women’s fashion and housewares, went lug nuts.

“In the Groove” follows the standard Harlequin formula of a plucky heroine and hunky guy who, in this case, meet when he literally drives into her. The cover, complete with NASCAR’s logo, disguises the fact that it’s a romance novel. (Hint: There’s no Fabio.)

“It looks like a guy book,” Britton said. “Now when you turn it over, you can see it’s a romance. But it has not stopped guys from reading this book.”

Britton said the romance novelists who find mainstream success attract some male readership. She believes her books do that with their accurate portrayals of the sport.

“The thing men like is that I get stuff right about the technical parts of racing,” she said. “I take pride in the fact that I can tell you what gear a car will be in coming off pit road into Turn Two at Dover. If I don’t know, I call up Doug.”

That would be Doug Richert, the crew chief for driver Greg Biffle. Britton and Richert, a Saratoga native who attended Lynbrook High School, have been friends for years.

“As she would get ideas for her books and tell me about them, I would say, `Well, I would do it like this,’ ” Richert said. “She really wanted to make sure it sounded like she knew what she was talking about. She was even in Charlotte with us at this past Coca-Cola 600 just sitting in the garage taking notes.”

Because Britton also has a growing number of teenage readers, she makes sure her NASCAR books are PG-13. The off-the-track action, so to speak, happens behind closed doors.

The romance novel idea has caught on so well in NASCAR that Edwards even has a cameo in an upcoming book written by another author.

“I don’t get the girl, but I’m helping the guy get the girl,” Edwards said.

Her own victory lane

What Britton got is a very nice lifestyle.

Outgoing with an easy laugh, she lives in the town of Cottonwood, near Redding, on a 15-acre ranch with her husband and their 5-year-old daughter. She hasn’t lost her drive — writing about 20 pages a day while sitting in a coffee shop.

Britton’s husband, Michael Baer, will chide her playfully not to get a big head when she travels in NASCAR country because now she is recognized. But back home, most people don’t know what she does.

If anyone speaks ill of the romance novel genre to her, though, they will probably get an earful.

“Whenever I get a question about writing `those’ books, I always ask if they ever watch `those’ movies, like `Sleepless in Seattle,’ ” said Britton, who will be signing books at Infineon this weekend. “Everybody likes romance, and I’m very proud of what I do.”

The novel she’s writing now is about an aerospace engineer who is thrown into the NASCAR world and falls for a team owner.

“But I’m halfway through, and I’ve really started to like the driver,” Britton said. “So now I’m thinking that maybe she should end up with him instead. He’s kind of a Kurt Busch type,” referring to one of NASCAR’s bad boys. “So I’m not sure yet.”

Either way, the motors will be revving.

Borelli Investment Company has announced that, after considerable behind-the-scenes work with the City of San Jose’s planning department and other city officials, both Junction Office Center in San Jose’s Golden Triangle and AirTech Office Condominiums in the highly desirable airport area have been approved for medical and dental uses.

This means that MD’s in a variety of specialties, as well as dentists, chiropractors, acupuncture specialists, and other health professionals can take advantage of the benefits of business property ownership at either of these office condominium complexes.

“We have suites starting from as small as 750 square feet,” said Ralph Borelli, CEO of Borelli Investment Company. “This puts ownership within the reach of practices of almost any size. Medical professionals can purchase the real estate through their practice or as an individual—whatever they and their CPA deem is most favorable for their individual financial situation.”

Two Outstanding San Jose Locations

Borelli’s latest office condominium complex is Junction Office Center—a two-building, 77,404 square foot complex at 2051 – 2055 Junction Avenue in San Jose. The buildings are located in the heart of the famous Golden Triangle, formed by the intersections of I-880, Hwy 101, and Hwy 237. This prime location puts a practice in the middle of a busy office and industrial area, with high-traffic retailers such as Fry’s Electronics close by. In addition, the office staff will enjoy easy commutes via the major transportation arteries or light rail, a few blocks away.

Junction Office Center offers 52 office condos in total, with nearly 60 percent of Phase I already sold or in escrow. The two-story buildings have benefited from $10 million in renovations and upgrades, including new elevators, all new interiors, new windows, with new offices & doorways, large high tech-equipped common conference room, the latest heating and air conditioning systems, large multi-stalled restrooms with showers, extensive landscaping improvements, ADA accommodations, a new roof, and high-speed Internet service. Patients will enter through an impressive formal lobby with polished granite floors and high ceilings. Ample parking is right at the door.

AirTech Office Condominiums is a two-story garden office complex, with 42 condo units and nearly 56,000 square feet of space total. Fully 90 percent of the offices are sold or in escrow, so buyers need to hurry. More than $3 million in improvements made by Borelli Investment Company include a high-speed T1 line for Internet service, large high tech-equipped common conference room, individual temperature-adjusted suites, a high-speed elevator, large multi-stalled restrooms, a full seismic upgrade, new roof, and attractive landscaping improvements.

Both office condominium complexes provide the built-in backbone infrastructure required for customized medical and dental offices.

“As sophisticated as most medical professionals are, many don’t realize that the significant tax advantages of business ownership are so readily available,” Borelli commented. “These advantages include a special IRC Section 179 write-off of up to $105,000 in the first year, accelerated depreciation from cost segregation, and other deductions for taxes and interest. Plus, SBA financing requires as little as ten percent down.”

Medical Uses Create Healthy Market

There has been a healthy amount of interest in medical usage of office condominiums for some time, so Borelli expects the market to come to life quickly.

“Office condominiums represent an ideal investment for smaller medical practices,” noted Borelli. “Legitimate deductions can be applied to reduce taxes on high earnings, and at the same time, a practice can control its long-term occupancy costs while capitalizing on potential value increases. It really makes so much sense that a broad range of individuals and practices can benefit.”

For more information, contact Larry Bengiveno  for Junction, or Buddy Parsons for AirTech, or call (408) 453-4700. Or interested parties can visit the property development web sites by clicking on the logos at the bottom of this page.

Tom Purtell Named Chief Operating Officer of Borelli Investment Company

Will handle day-to-day operations-from technology systems to accounting

San Jose, Calif., June 14, 2006 — Tom Purtell has been promoted to chief operating officer of Borelli Investment Company, a leading San Jose-based provider of commercial real estate services, it was announced by Ralph N. Borelli, CEO. Previously asset manager and director of information services for the firm, in his new role Purtell will oversee all day-to-day operations for Borelli.

The company provides a wide range of services for commercial real estate including property management, sales and leasing, land sales and repositioning, syndicated real estate investments, property development, construction management, asset management, and court-appointed receiverships. “We are involved in an unusually diverse set of activities,” said Borelli. “This creates unique operating challenges on a daily basis. We are fortunate that Tom possesses a special combination of skills that will allow him to deal effectively with whatever challenges we might face.”

Purtell first joined Borelli Investment Company’s accounting department in 1995. His responsibilities soon expanded to include management of technology systems—including Borelli’s first web site and e-mail system, property management responsibilities, and project development. Most recently, Purtell developed Borelli Investment Company’s Junction Office Center, a 77,400 square foot office condominium project currently for sale in North San Jose’s Golden Triangle.

Before joining Borelli, Purtell was involved in the expansion of Hollywood Video, establishing a strong presence in Northern California with the opening of 11 stores. Prior to his work at Hollywood Video, Purtell also gained work experience in banking and finance.

Purtell holds a degree in accounting from San Jose State University. He is a member of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and the Aircraft Operators and Pilots Association (AOPA). He resides with his family in Gilroy.

Borelli Investment Company is one of the oldest commercial real estate firms in the Santa Clara Valley, with more than 50 years of experience.  The company provides a full range of commercial real estate services-from development and construction management to land sales and consulting for sales and leasing.  More information about Borelli Investment Company’s services may be obtained by calling (408) 453-4700 or visiting www.borelli.com.

Contact: Ralph Borelli, CEO Borelli Investment Company 1770 Technology Dr. San Jose, CA 95110 Ph: 408.453.4700 Fax: 408.453.4636 E-mail: ralph@borelli.com

http://www.borelli.com

Borelli Restructures

By Katherine Conrad, San Jose Mercury News, June 13, 2006 in the Commercial Real Estate Section, Spaces and Places column.

Longtime commercial real estate company Borelli Investment has restructured its management team, freeing Ralph Borelli from day-to-day responsibilities so he can handle land development deals, and making Buddy Parsons president. Borelli, who took over in 1977 for his father, founder Nelo Borelli, remains the CEO.

“We decided that having Ralph micromanaging is not the best use of his time,” Parsons said. “He is heavily invested in land transactions. That’s a huge amount of responsibility on his plate.”

The restructuring also allows Borelli Investments to beef up its current portfolio of 4 million square feet in the valley and San Joaquin County. Parsons is ambitious — he wants to double that figure.

About half of the company’s business is devoted to third-party property management, despite the fact that Borelli Investments has not sought out such accounts. Still, it has managed to build a sizable portfolio for a company with fewer than 30 employees, Parsons said.

 

Driven by Silicon Valley’s seemingly endless high-technology engine, millions of square feet of commercial space were constructed in Silicon Valley in the 1970s and 1980s. Much of this space consisted of large, one or two-story industrial and R&D buildings, built as part of sprawling campuses for high tech manufacturers and fabricators. But over the past decade, a lot of manufacturing jobs have moved elsewhere, to lower-cost areas in Texas, Oregon, or Massachusetts—or overseas. This has left a glut of vacant industrial buildings with functionally obsolete space on the market, with few prospects to fill it up.

At the same time, the San Jose metropolitan area’s rapidly growing population continues to put tremendous strain on the area’s housing supply. Prices have increased month after month, year after year, to levels that some analysts worry are too high.

With a drastic oversupply of industrial space and undersupply of residential space, it didn’t take long to identify the answer: Silicon Valley real estate’s own version of “recycling”.

16 Million Square Feet of Conversions

According to local brokerage firm Commercial Property Services (CPS), nearly 16.4 million square feet of commercial space at 150 sites are at some stage in the process of being converted to residential offerings.

With less than 3.2 million square feet already converted, the vast majority of that space will be transformed into much needed housing over the next few years. Almost 6.5 million square feet of space is under contract in the entitlement phase. Another 1.9 million square feet should soon be added to that, once an issue or two has been resolved with city planning departments.

“This movement from industrial to housing promises to reshape the Valley’s landscape,” says Ralph Borelli, president and CEO of Borelli Investment Company. “The 16 million square feet of space represents more than one-quarter of the vacant industrial space in the Valley, according to some estimates. The shift will be good for commercial rents—firming the market a bit—and also good for housing, cooling off what has been an overheated marketplace.”

A number of big-name builders are active participants in the conversion of industrial to residential space. For example, Southern California-based Shea Homes plans to demolish the longtime Underwriter Labs R&D facility in Santa Clara, replacing it with high-density housing. Shea is also looking at other potential conversion sites, from Mountain View to San Jose.

A New Breed of Condominiums

Besides residential condominiums and townhomes, there’s another type of condominium that is rising out of the dust created as old industrial buildings are recycled: business condominiums. Developers such as Borelli Investment Company, which has been at the forefront of the business condominium trend in Northern California, are actively searching for undervalued industrial properties to purchase, renovate, and convert to office condominiums.

For example, Borelli’s Junction Office Center was originally a vacant R&D complex on Junction Avenue just off Brokaw Road in San Jose. Borelli Investment Company purchased the two two-story buildings in 2005, investing nearly $10 million, and converting the space into 52 office condominiums ranging in size from 750 to 3,000 square feet—for a total of 77,400 square feet. Smaller companies, including medical and dental practices, can purchase office space at Junction and enjoy all the advantages of ownership, from tax benefits to potential appreciation

“The owners of the industrial buildings get a fair price for what had been a non-income producing investment,” Borelli explains. “And once the renovation is complete, companies that never dreamed of owning business property can afford to buy—putting an end to ever-rising lease rates. Recycling industrial space to business condominiums benefits everyone involved.”

The Space Race

There’s still plenty of demand for quality commercial space in Silicon Valley, as recent deals such as Adobe’s purchase of the San Jose Water Works acreage for future development in downtown San Jose suggest. Also, at some point, if millions of square feet of industrial space are converted to residential, there’s a danger of reaching a saturation point in the housing market.

But for now, it’s a case of spring renewal of a different kind, as industrial buildings with functionally obsolete space make way for a fertile crop of much-needed housing and other uses in Silicon Valley.

Buddy Parsons Promoted to President of Borelli Investment Company

Will handle day-to-day business development, client relations,
sales force management, and acquisitions

San Jose, Calif., June 5, 2006 — Buddy R. Parsons has been promoted to president of Borelli Investment Company, a leading San Jose-based provider of commercial real estate services, it was announced by Ralph N. Borelli, CEO.  In his new role, Parsons will be responsible for day-to-day activities in client relations, business development, sales force management, and acquisitions for the 50-year-old firm.  Borelli Investment Company provides a wide range of services for commercial real estate including property management, sales and leasing, land sales and repositioning, syndicated real estate investments, property development, construction management, asset management, and court-appointed receiverships.

Parsons has been with Borelli Investment Company almost continuously since 1978, when he started as a commercial leasing agent and property manager.  He left the company briefly in the mid-1980s for another career opportunity, but returned two years later-and has remained with Borelli ever since.  Most recently, Parsons was vice president of asset management. In the past few years, he has been involved in more than 500 lease transactions and helped close approximately $70 million in building sales.

“Buddy and I go back a long way, and he is well prepared to lead the company,” said Borelli.  “One of his greatest strengths is his focus on client satisfactions and meeting individual client requirements.  The company’s various clients, investors, and partners will be in very good hands with Buddy as president.”

Borelli Investment Company is one of the oldest commercial real estate firms in the Santa Clara Valley, with more than 50 years of experience.  The company provides a full range of commercial real estate services-from development and construction management to land sales and consulting for sales and leasing.  More information about Borelli Investment Company’s services may be obtained by calling (408) 453-4700 or visiting www.borelli.com.

Contact: Ralph Borelli, CEO Borelli Investment Company 1770 Technology Dr. San Jose, CA 95110 Ph: 408.453.4700 Fax: 408.453.4636 E-mail: ralph@borelli.com http://www.borelli.com

Borelli a Local Leader in Property Management Services

What comes to mind when you hear the Borelli Investment Company name? Do you think of Borelli as a leader in syndicated commercial real estate investments in Silicon Valley?

Or as one of the top land brokers in Northern California?

Or perhaps you are more familiar with Borelli’s reputation as a trendsetter in the hot business condominium segment?  Borelli Investment Company is indeed all of these things.

But what many people don’t know is that Borelli Investment is also a leader in providing high-quality property management services for commercial real estate-both for its own syndicated partnerships and for third-party property owners.

“We actively manage more than four million square feet of space in a real estate portfolio worth nearly $1 billion today,” says Ralph Borelli, CEO of Borelli Investment Company.  “Over the past 50 years, we have evolved a number of innovative business systems and processes for managing commercial property.  These systems and processes-plus truly personalized attention from our experienced team-are what generate high occupancy levels, excellent tenant retention, and increased asset value for owners, as well as a positive experience for tenants.”

Better, More Cost-Effective Maintenance

When service is needed—on an air conditioning unit or because of leaky plumbing, for example—tenants and owners want pretty much the same thing. They want the problem fixed as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Borelli Investment Company is one of the only locally-based, boutique property management firm to use the Landport web-based property management system to organize and streamline service requests and work orders—so tenant problems are resolved quickly and cost-effectively.

Landport eliminates the confusion often created by a barrage of calls, faxes, and e-mails, enabling tenants to submit service requests with just a couple of keystrokes, and helping Borelli to manage and track work orders through to completion.

“Even though we have only recently implemented Landport, we’ve already seen a significant improvement in communications among owners, tenants, service vendors, and our staff,” says Buddy Parsons, president of Borelli Investment Company. “Tenants are better served and owners will ultimately save money and enjoy a more favorable lease renewal rate because of satisfied tenants.”

A Closer Accounting

Another tool Borelli has relied on for many years is the SKYLINE property management system that provides powerful capabilities including:

• Lease management
• Property management
• Accounting
• Operations reports
• Billing and collections
• Cash management

Silicon Valley Commercial Condo Cavalcade

There is a wave of commercial condominium construction and conversions washing over the Western real estate markets including Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. The question at hand is whether this is a trend related to the unrelenting frantic public pursuit of real estate or a permanent addition to the currency of commercial real estate.

Prior to the current condo boom, there had been just a handful of projects built over the years. In the late 70s and early 80s there was a brief but halted rush to response to the then tight leasing market. We still recall the lavish open house at the Humboldt Bank Building in San Francisco in 1980 promoting the launch of classic commercial condo ownership to be followed on at 311 and 351 California Streets. 2021 The Alameda followed in San Jose a few years later as did 28 North First Street in Downtown San Jose. Things went awfully quiet as the market was crushed by the 20% inflation busting prime rate enacted by the Fed in 1981 (the final blow to extreme inflation resulting from huge war expenditures and social program growth — good thing that can’t happen again!).

Along the trail since then, there have been a smattering of industrial and business park horizontal condo developments, but so few as to even talk of any trend. Think of Borelli’s De La Cruz development of 1991 and Jack Balch’s projects to name a few. Vertical office building conversions were rarer still

Well, rolling to tape forward, it seems as though we have had a perfect storm allowing for a new wave — low interest rates, voracious real estate appetites and the rise of the ethnic buyer community fueled principally by residential boom time equity.

The undisputed commercial condo king is Bob Eves of Venture Corporation out of Mill Valley (who knew?) who has certainly taken the most bullish position — $600 million in development in six western states, 600 sold or committed to date mostly in the Bay Area and San Diego. His view is clearly that we have a new permanent market for these hot sellers and he has found that any one ethnicity representing 15% of the population reflects in at least an 80% buyer base. This was the case in his Silicon Valley projects including a 100% Asian buyer community in Newark and an 80% Hispanic buyer demographic in his San Diego project. Ralph Borelli certainly comes in next at 184 horizontal units in Silicon Valley with buyers split three ways between Asian, Indo Asian, and Caucasian. Prices for these units all fall between a low of $240 to a high of $325 per square foot.

The more complex vertical office building condo conversion market is just starting to come to life, not the least due to the fact that there isn’t much land left to build new urban office structures. Key conversion projects in the market include 12 South First in San Jose (Old Bank of America Tower) and 114 Sansome in San Francisco, The Adam Grant Building. It will be very interesting to see how these go — so far so good as the San Francisco project opened escrow on six units in their first two weeks and the largest unit in the San Jose project is in escrow. 1879 Lundy in San Jose, a 56,000 square foot two-story office conversion available through Ritchie Commercial is getting a big early response with one escrow per week for units as small as 875 square feet. There is no question that the smaller the units the higher the demand. None of the developers see much interest over 5,000 square feet. San Francisco units are seeking $400-$500 per square foot with $200-$300 per square foot being achieved in San Jose.

By Mark Ritchie

Ritchie Commercial Real Estate

Ralph N. Borelli Chosen as CoStar Broker of the Year

CoStar Group names Borelli as 2005 Power Broker of the Year based on transactions representing 500 acres and more than $136 million in total value

San Jose, California, April 24, 2006 — It takes a special skill set to broker land transactions in densely populated, land-scarce Northern California . According to CoStar Group, Inc., a leading provider of information services to commercial real estate professionals, Ralph N. Borelli, president and CEO of Borelli Investment Company, has what it takes. Borelli has been chosen as a CoStar Power Broker regional winner for 2005 based on his completion of ten land transactions totaling nearly 504 acres and valued at $136.1 million — virtually all of that in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“It’s very flattering to be honored by an organization such as CoStar, which supplies critical information to brokers and developers throughout the U.S. and U.K.,” said Borelli, president and CEO of Borelli Investment Company.  “We specialize in putting together often complex land transactions for residential developers interested in providing much needed housing in the Bay Area.  It’s not uncommon for one of our land transactions to involve extensive entitlement work to obtain the permits and approvals necessary for a project to proceed.  Our considerable experience with land deals over the past five decades gives us an advantage on these kinds of challenging deals.”

One of Borelli’s most significant land transactions in 2005 was his brokering nearly 50 acres of surplus property owned by Santa Clara County near the Elmwood correctional facilities in Milpitas.  The county had originally purchased approximately 100 acres of farmland in 1884.  The Elmwood facilities were constructed in the 1960s, with the surplus land kept for future expansion.  When the county decided to sell the property, Borelli Investment Company worked closely with the three parties involved-Santa Clara County, the City of Milpitas (and its Redevelopment Agency) and the eventual buyer, KB Home—to broker a transaction that was a win for everyone.

KB Home will construct 800 single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums on the site.  In the meantime, the county will retain long-term leases on a portion of the property that will be occupied by automobile dealerships.  And the City of Milpitas will benefit from the significant boost in tax revenues.

Among Borelli’s other noteworthy land transactions in 2005 were:

• A 360-acre parcel in Oakley, purchased by KB Home to combine with an adjacent property for a large, master-planned new home community.  Because of a short escrow and significant entitlement work that needed to be done, Borelli Investment Company arranged for a short-term, land-development joint-venture partner.  This allowed the escrow to close as scheduled without violating KB Home’s corporate guidelines against purchasing property with unresolved entitlement issues.
• A ten-acre portion of the old Hacienda Gardens Shopping Center on Meridian at Foxworthy in San Jose, which well-known homebuilder Toll Brothers will use to build a 200-unit luxury townhome complex called Willow Glen Place.  Using a structured, orderly distribution process, Borelli Investment Company was able to significantly increase the value for the seller, while maintaining a fair market price for the buyer.
• The sale of almost 30 acres of land from the Guglielmo Winery in Morgan Hill to a well-respected local commercial developer.
• The repositioning and sale of a former 18-acre storage yard for Union Pacific Railroad on East Williams Street in San Jose to KB Home for a new home development.  Facing significant environmental work before the property could be sold, Borelli Investment Company helped find a company to guarantee the cost of the clean-up – mitigating the risk for the buyer, and allowing the sale to proceed.

The CoStar Group Power Broker awards (scroll to the bottom of their page), which are co-sponsored by Real Estate Forum magazine, recognize the top brokers in more than 45 major markets across the U.S. and the U.K.  Brokers are selected based upon information on billions of dollars in lease and sales transactions, which are tracked in the firm’s comprehensive brokerage database.

“Our expertise in land sales is something we take great pride in,” Borelli remarked.  “We go beyond what the typical real estate broker does, drawing upon our extensive experience to bring transactions to a successful conclusion for all parties.  This award helps to further validate the uniqueness of our offerings to land owners and residential developers.”

Borelli Investment Company is one of the oldest commercial real estate firms in the Santa Clara Valley with more than 50 years of experience. The company provides a full range of commercial real estate services — from development and construction management to land sales and consulting for sales and leasing. More information about Borelli Investment Company’s services may be obtained by calling (408) 453-4700 or visiting www.borelli.com.

Contact: Ralph Borelli, CEO Borelli Investment Company 1770 Technology Dr. San Jose, CA 95110 Ph: 408.453.4700 Fax: 408.453.4636 E-mail: ralph@borelli.com

http://www.borelli.com

Ralph N. Borelli Named Land Broker of the Year — Again

Borelli follows 2004 ASVB honor by closing seven transactions representing 117 acres and more than $118 million in total value, earning him his second consecutive win.

San Jose, Calif., March 29, 2006 — Ralph N. Borelli, president and CEO of Borelli Investment Company, has been named the 2005 Land Broker of the Year by the Association of Silicon Valley Brokers (ASVB).  Borelli, who was also the 2004 ASVB Land Broker of the Year, closed seven land transactions in Silicon Valley in 2005, totaling nearly 117 acres and valued at $118.7 million.  This earned Borelli the 2005 ASVB honor in a landslide, putting him at nearly four times the value of his nearest rival.

One of Borelli’s most significant land transactions in 2005 was his brokering of surplus property owned by Santa Clara County near the Elmwood correctional facilities in Milpitas.  The nearly 50-acre parcel had been held by the county for possible expansion of the jail for many years.  Facing a significant budget shortfall in 2002, the county made the decision to sell.  Borelli Investment Company helped bring all the parties together – Santa Clara County, the City of Milpitas and its Redevelopment Agency, and winning homebuilder KB Home.  The property will support nearly 800 single family homes, townhomes, and condominiums from KB Home, worth approximately $500 million at build-out.  In addition, the county has retained a long-term ground lease on part of the property, which will support three large automobile dealerships – generating a substantial amount of lease revenue for the county and sales tax revenue for Milpitas.

“I’m very honored to receive this award from the ASVB for the second year in a row,” said Borelli, president and CEO of Borelli Investment Company.  “I’ve always enjoyed the creativity required to complete land transactions in Silicon Valley.  A lot of parcels have multiple owners or need repositioning or entitlement work before a deal can be closed.  We have always made land sales an integral part of our business, giving us valuable experience in completing complex deals.”

Borelli’s other noteworthy land transactions in 2005 included: a ten-acre section of the old Hacienda Gardens Shopping Center on Meridian at Foxworthy in San Jose, which Toll Brothers will use to build a 200-unit luxury townhome complex called Willow Glen Place; the sale and joint venture development of approximately 66 acres of land from the Guglielmo Winery in Morgan Hill to create the largest retail complex in Morgan Hill – with 700,000 square feet of space; and the repositioning and sale of a former 18-acre storage yard for Union Pacific Railroad on East Williams Street in San Jose to KB Home for a new home development.

“Land brokerage is one of the specialties of our firm,” Borelli noted.  “With so little vacant land in Silicon Valley, we enjoy the unique challenges each transaction presents.  And we don’t mind ‘getting our hands dirty’ to bring the buyer and seller together and obtain a good deal for each party.”

Borelli Investment Company is one of the oldest commercial real estate firms in the Santa Clara Valley, with more than 50 years of experience.  The company provides a full range of commercial real estate services-from development and construction management to land sales and consulting for sales and leasing.  More information about Borelli Investment Company’s services may be obtained by calling (408) 453-4700 or visiting www.borelli.com.

Contact: Ralph Borelli, CEO Borelli Investment Company 1770 Technology Dr. San Jose, CA 95110 Ph: 408.453.4700 Fax: 408.453.4636 E-mail: ralph@borelli.com

 

http://www.borelli.com