FAMECO REAL ESTATE OPENS OFFICE IN WOODBRIDGE TO EXPAND PRESENCE

IN CENTRAL & NORTH JERSEY

     PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA.—Fameco Real Estate has opened an office in Woodbridge, N.J. to accommodate the growth of its clientele in northern and central New Jersey, it was announced by Brandon Famous, founder and CEO of the retail real estate  firm based in Plymouth Meeting, PA.

     Famous said,  “Fameco’s commitment to the growing number of shopping center owners and retailers it represents in central and northern New Jersey requires a greater presence in the market and the kind of hands-on treatment that only seasoned, professional brokers can provide.” The office will be initially staffed by Mike Horne, one of Fameco’s existing top producers whose focus has historically been central and northern New Jersey, and industry veterans Steven Winters and Carlo J. Caparruva.  Michelle Merkel, another Fameco headquarters veteran, will lead the office’s administrative team. The new office is located at Woodbridge Towers, 555 Highway U.S. 1 South, Suite 400, Iselin, NJ.  According to Michael Levin, Fameco’s COO, “our clients continue to request our expertise in these markets. For example, one of our salespeople, Perry GraBois (who will also spend considerable time in the Woodbridge office), has successfully turned several Delaware Valley assignments into regional ones covering central and northern New Jersey.  Such opportunities have spurred our desire to open an office in this market.”  Fameco anticipates taking additional space as the Woodbridge office continues to “staff up.”  It is expected to include eight to 12 salespeople and property managers by 2009.

      Fameco Real Estate currently has more than 3 million s.f. of landlord leasing, disposition and management assignments in the central/northern New Jersey market, including such premier properties as ITC Crossing North and South, Dover Mall and Hazlet Plaza. Disposition clients include Genuardi’s, Pep Boys and Lonestar Steakhouse.  It is also the exclusive tenant representative for such retailers as Staples, Chipotle, Aldi Supermarkets and Bank of America. In addition, through its RAS division, restaurant assignments include PF Chang’s, JB Dawsons, Bennihana, Ra Sushi, and the Darden Restaurant Group concepts, among others in this market. 

     Larry Zipf, who heads Fameco’s Management Services Division, noted that the firm has received “numerous calls from interested landlords and developers” since word of the new office got out.  He said the firm’s reputation and its explosive growth in all sectors of the business in recent years have attracted many new retail clients and owners. 

     Horne brings extensive expertise in both retailer representation and landlord leasing.  In a career spanning more than 20 years in retail real estate, he has negotiated deals involving many of the nation’s foremost retailers including Staples, Barnes & Noble, Panera Bread, Rite Aid, Old Navy, Burlington Coat Factory, TGI Friday, IHOP and Pier 1 Imports. He has completed landlord assignments on behalf of SCI Real Estate Investments, Stavola Realty and Lightstone Group, among others.

      Winters and Caparruva bring more than 30 years of retail real estate experience to Fameco, representing shopping center developers, owners and tenants in central and northern New Jersey.

     Winters functioned as Director in Retail Brokerage Division of The Schultz Organization for more than 16 years, and for the past year served as Vice President of Acquisitions at Pyramid Property Partners, LLC, a related company.

     Caparruva was formerly managing director and a principal of Fidelity Properties, LLC, whose portfolio included approximately 5 million s.f. of Class A retail properties from Connecticut to Florida, with a concentration in the tri-state area.

     Merkel’s previous experience includes providing administrative, marketing and research support to  Fameco’s partners and several of the firm’s top producers.  She also oversees the  administration of the Landlord Group.

        The largest retail-oriented real estate brokerage firm in the Delaware Valley, Fameco Real Estate represents 100 shopping centers encompassing more than 17 million s.f. of retail space in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and beyond. Its management portfolio currently exceeds 10 million s.f. and includes a diverse mix of shopping center types from power centers, to supermarket anchored shopping centers to unanchored strip centers.  Fameco exclusively represents more than 75 retailers expanding in the Delaware Valley, including Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Best Buy, Sonic, Five Below and Dick’s Sporting Goods.   Fameco's Investment Sales Team has completed transactions in excess of $1 billion.

          Fameco Real Estate is the ChainLinks member shareholder in the Delaware Valley. ChainLinks is the nation's largest retail-only real estate provider with 62 regional brokerage firms in the U.S. and Canada.

June 6, 2008