The Situs Companies - Trusted InSight into Global Real Estate

BERLIN (March 10, 2008) – Officials of The Situs Companies have announced the global commercial real estate advisory firm has expanded its geographic reach and range of service offerings in Europe with the recent opening of its Berlin office.

In addition to the firm’s established array of due diligence and loan underwriting services, which Situs has heretofore offered through its London office, the firm will now deliver real estate-related financial services to institutional investors, hedge funds, private-equity groups and high-net-worth individuals looking to expand or modify their commercial real estate investments across Europe.

Situs will also now offer surveillance reporting and other asset management services to existing holders of commercial real estate properties or portfolios, who may wish to reassess their investment positions as market conditions continue to evolve.

While these service offerings may be relatively new to the European real estate community, the firm has previous experience successfully implementing such services in the United States. It will leverage this experience with established European real estate professionals, whose diverse backgrounds include real estate finance, banking, accounting, valuation, brokerage and many others. According to Situs CEO Ralph Howard, the European markets are now ripe for such service offerings.

“As real estate markets across European continue to grow and develop, the need for increased asset management, financial services and greater transparency will become more and more apparent,” he said. “Situs is uniquely positioned to meet this need in a number of ways,” he added.

Privately held, The Situs Companies (www.situscompanies.com) employs more than 300 real estate professionals throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia to deliver commercial real estate services and business solutions to leading investment banks, institutional investors, private owners and various other commercial real estate debt and equity participants. In Europe, Situs has completed real estate and financial due diligence assignments in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden. The company also completed projects in Dubai, Qatar, India, China, Korea, Mexico, Panama and the United States.

ENGLISH CONTACT:
Nicolaus Harnack, Director
The Situs Companies
nicolaus.harnack@situscompanies.com
+44 (0) 20 7715 2902

GERMAN CONTACT:
Henrik Moritz, Vice President
The Situs Companies
henrik.moritz@situscompanies.com
+49 (0) 30 408 1791 111

HOUSTON (March 6, 2008) – Officials of The Situs Companies have announced the global real estate services firm has recruited David G. Stern as vice president of real estate consulting and due diligence. He will report directly to principals Bruce Nelson and Steve Powel.

Prior to joining Situs, Stern was vice president of commercial real estate finance at Zenta, where he was directly responsible for business development and client relationship management. He also helped oversee Zenta’s New York-based consulting services. Stern will have similar responsibilities at Situs, in addition to focusing on the firm’s temporary and permanent staffing business, which competes directly with Zenta. According to Stern, Situs has a slightly different approach to the staffing business in that it offers educational and training support to its consultants.

“We are thrilled to have David Stern join our management team,” said Situs CEO Ralph Howard. “We view the current market disturbance as an opportunity both to provide additional, diversified consulting services to our clients and to enrich our talent pool of junior- and senior-level staff,” he added. “David’s hiring is an indication of our commitment to providing the highest level of due diligence, underwriting and asset management services to Situs clients worldwide.”

Privately held, The Situs Companies (www.situscompanies.com) employs real estate professionals throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia to deliver commercial real estate services and business solutions to leading investment banks, institutional investors, private owners and various other commercial real estate debt and equity participants. The firm’s core service lines include due diligence and loan underwriting, asset management and surveillance, primary and special loan servicing, forensic accounting, staffing, outsourcing support and technology solutions.

Situs launches COMPASS e-library for centralizing commercial market
information, property data, facilitating decisions

HOUSTON (Jan. 04, 2008) – Officials of The Situs Companies announced the Houston-based global real estate services firm has released Situs COMPASS – a secure, online platform that centralizes proprietary commercial real estate property data as well as comprehensive market information and reports.

The e-library database application, which features a search engine and interactive digital mapping, allows subscribing companies to reduce the cost, time and effort to maintain and access relevant property and market information. Situs COMPASS catalogues global news and market reports along with proprietary information such as appraisals; extracted sales and expense comparables; site inspections; lease abstracts; rent rolls; cash flow models, and; subscription research and publications.

“Analyzing risk, feasibility, loan origination and underwriting requires immediate access to all available market data and resources,” said Situs COMPASS Partners Jennifer Bean and Mark Siebke, who lead development and will manage Situs COMPASS. “Situs COMPASS provides companies an efficient market-research platform and databases that allow market participants to focus on analyzing data rather than gathering data.”

COMPASS will substantially benefit multiple areas of real estate underwriting, asset management and surveillance, according to Situs COO Steve Powel. In addition to making COMPASS available to subscribers, Powel said Situs also will utilize COMPASS internally to centralize and manage client due diligence, asset management and loan servicing reports and information.

“We are only as good as our market data and our ability to analyze that information,” said Powel. “Situs COMPASS and the team of professionals that support it are experts in the field of market research, and this has yielded Situs positive results even during the testing and implementation phase of the data base/application development. There simply isn’t anything available in the market today like it.”

According to Powel, Situs COMPASS enables Situs to provide clients greater information in an easily digestible format. He cited, as an example, that the firm can now provide its due-diligence clients with in-depth profiles for major tenants, quarterly global market overviews and a thrice-weekly newsletter, The Situs INSIGHT, which provides the latest market information segmented by property type and geographic region.

Bean said client-data security and integrity are top priorities. Situs COMPASS manages all information and documents via dedicated servers for each subscribing company at CSI WEBHOST, a 24/7 monitored hosting network supported in two U.S. cities. According to Bean, the hosting system incorporates comprehensive security features including SSL secure client interaction, redundant power, processors and Internet connections, dual Cisco firewalls and intrusion-detection systems. The system undergoes annual third-party security audits, and all data is backed up nightly with remote storage.

Privately held, The Situs Companies (www.situscompanies.com) employs over 300 real estate professionals throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia to deliver commercial real estate services and business solutions to leading investment banks, institutional investors, private owners and various other commercial real estate debt and equity participants. The firm’s core service lines include due diligence and loan underwriting, asset management and surveillance, primary and special loan servicing, forensic accounting, outsourcing support and technology solutions.

Situs’ second acquisition in 30 days provides tech solutions for CRE appraiser

HOUSTON (Dec. 5, 2007) – Marking its second acquisition in the past 30 days, officials of Situs Companies announced today the Houston-based global real estate services firm has acquired an equity interest in Snapwire, a business-process management firm based in Austin, Texas.

Snapwire is best known for developing ReportBuilder 2.0, a report-writing software designed for commercial real estate appraisers and brokers.

The Snapwire relationship closely follows Situs’ October 29th announcement that the firm had taken an equity position in CLOSER, a web-based loan-origination and pipeline-management system developed by Franklin, Tenn.-based Conjunction Consulting, LLC.

COO and Principal Steven Powel said Situs has a long-standing dedication to developing and exploring commercial real estate technology and these acquisitions represent end-to-end technology solutions that will provide greater efficiency and cost savings.

“Commercial real estate professionals want to see and touch things,” said Powel. “But in an era where the capital markets and commercial real estate companies have to produce more and do it faster, technology is the obvious solution for making substantive gains in saving time and money. Snapwire and CLOSER can revolutionize the transparency, efficiency and speed of not only aggregating but also reporting data.”

According to Snapwire Senior Partner and Co-founder Corey Smith, Situs’ global presence and real estate relationships built over the past 22-plus years will be instrumental in making significant inroads with commercial real estate appraisers.

Smith said the 4-year-old company currently has ReportBuilder users in North America, Mexico, Greece, New Zealand and Puerto Rico. He sees significant upside potential in domestic markets as turnaround time, standardization and electronic transmittal are increasingly an issue with lenders even while the market is dictating less manpower.

“ReportBuilder morphs the typical two- to three-week timeframe down to a matter of days,” said Smith.

When drafting a new appraisal, Smith said appraisers typically use a previously completed appraisal as a template and replace the old data and comparables using Microsoft Word’s find/replace and copy/paste options. He said this manual process is time consuming and lends to human error and increased cost. Snapwire automates this process, thus increasing the productivity and efficiency for the appraiser while simultaneously benefiting the lenders via electronic capture and transmittal of critical underwriting data points.

“We’re not replacing the appraiser,” said Smith. “We are enabling the appraiser to focus on the analytics instead of being clerical experts in Word and Excel.”

Smith said Snapwire is customizable to the particular needs and interests of a company and that data can be securely stored online by the customer so that it is accessible for searching and data capture when away from the office.

HOUSTON (November 15, 2007) - Officials of Houston-based Situs Companies announced today that the global real estate services firm has brokered three land sale transactions in the Greater Houston area.

Wayne Culver, Robert Culver and David Sidewell have purchased 3.62 acres at East Sam Houston Parkway South near Vista Rd in Pasadena, Tex., from the M M Feld Estate. Thomas Nelson of RE/MAX Northeast represented the buyer and Martin Bronstein and John Wall of Situs, Inc., represented the seller.

Archway Properties, L.P., has purchased 2.5 acres on Hughes Lane near I-45 and FM 517 in Dickinson, Tex., from Ralph Howard, trustee. Martin Bronstein of Situs, Inc. negotiated the transaction on behalf of the seller. Archway will be constructing a regional distribution center for Mrs. Baird’s Bakery.

Ashvin Gandhi has purchased 2.25 acres near the Intersection of I-45 and Pine Drive in Dickinson, Tex., from Ralph Howard, trustee. Martin Bronstein of Situs, Inc. negotiated the transaction on behalf of the seller.

HOUSTON (October 29, 2007) - Officials of Houston-based Situs Companies announced today that the global real estate services firm has acquired an equity interest in CLOSER, a web-based loan-origination and pipeline-management system developed by Franklin, Tenn.-based Conjunction Consulting, LLC.

Situs COO and Principal Steven Powel said Situs’ employees will be utilizing CLOSER in their daily due-diligence activities and assisting Conjunction Consulting in developing worldwide database solutions for the commercial real estate debt and equity markets. Powel said Situs also has committed to supporting Conjunction Consulting’s development of workflow features that adhere to “best practice” solutions for the real estate lending industry and lender implementations, domestically and globally.

“CLOSER fills a chronic void left by other programs in the industry,” said Powel. “Its ease of adoption, robust reporting features, intuitive interface for workflow management, web service integration for XML and ongoing customer support rivaled all others.”

According to Brett Williams, CEO of Conjunction Consulting, CLOSER offers the much-needed foundation for customized pipeline reporting, loan submission, underwriting, due diligence and data collaboration.

Williams said the latest 2.0 .NET version of CLOSER offers offline Microsoft Excel underwriting, which allows users to spread the numbers in their local version of MS Excel and then upload them to the system. He said it also offers a function-based document checklist and security for third parties to upload specific items.

The Situs Companies is a leading provider of commercial real estate services and consulting solutions for all property types to financial institutions, institutional investors, private owners and developers. Headquartered in Houston since its’ founding in 1985, the firm employs over 350 real estate professionals in offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. During 2006, Situs conducted due diligence assignments involving over 10,000 properties worldwide.

HOUSTON (June 27, 2007) – Officials of The Situs Companies have undertaken a five-city expansion, adding offices in Tokyo, Los Angeles and Atlanta and laying the groundwork to open locations in Delhi, India and Berlin before year’s end.

The expansion brings Situs’ base of operation to 11 cities worldwide. The firm, headquartered in Houston since its founding in 1985, added offices earlier this year in Little Rock, Ark., and Robbins, N.C., and more than doubled the size of its offices in London and Boca Raton, Fla.

According to CEO Ralph Howard, the Delhi office will provide asset management services for clients with investments throughout India. The Berlin office, he said, will offer financial due-diligence services to equity participants and investment banks, as well as, asset management services for firms buying real estate in Western and Eastern Europe.

The Situs teams in Tokyo, Los Angeles and Atlanta will primarily be focused on loan underwriting and real estate consulting services for undisclosed investment banking clients, according to Howard, and additional staff will be added to provide Situs’ full suite of commercial real estate services as the company’s footprint in the region is established.

“We are committed to excellence and motivated by service,” said Howard. “We are having tremendous success with our dedicated service platforms and look forward to expanding operations and opening new offices based on specific client demand. We will continue to strive in every way to be the real estate consultants of choice to the financial services and real estate industry.”

The Situs Companies is a leading provider of commercial real estate services and consulting solutions for all property types to financial institutions, institutional investors, private owners and developers. During 2006, Situs conducted due diligence assignments involving over 10,000 properties worldwide valued at $56 billion USD.

HOUSTON (June 18, 2007) – Houston-based Situs Asset Management has recruited James “Beau” Jones, Jr., as director of asset management, and Donna Teague as director of servicing.

Prior to joining Situs Asset Management in Houston, Jones was vice president at Atlanta-based TriMont Real Estate Advisors. Jones worked at TriMont (aka Hatfield Philips, Inc.,) for nearly 10 years, providing asset management services for institutional clients on condominium, land, office and retail assets valued at approximately $30 billion. From 2001 – 2005, he was based in London and led the launch of TriMont International Real Estate Advisors, serving as director for all European asset management and underwriting projects in addition to leading the development of a Tokyo-based asset management platform for an institutional client.

Also relocating from Atlanta, Teague previously worked for ING Investment Management in the company’s Commercial Mortgage Asset Management group where she managed the performance and risk management of a $10 billion portfolio. Prior to ING, she was vice president and servicing manager over a $500-million portfolio for 18 private lenders at Horizon Mortgage & Investment (aka Laureate Capital).

With these hires and others before, we have been consistent in attracting those with the highest levels of commercial real estate expertise,” said Stuart Miles, managing director for Situs Asset Management. “Having Beau and Donna on board will allow us to further our special servicing and asset management offerings for today’s highly complex loan structures while enhancing the high-touch, customized service our clients have come to expect of the Situs brand.”

Situs Asset Management, a division of The Situs Companies, has been designated a Select Commercial Loan Servicer by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) in the Primary and Special Servicer categories. The loan servicing group currently services fixed- and floating-rate loans totaling approximately $4.5 billion.

The Situs Companies is a leading provider of commercial real estate services and consulting solutions for all property types to financial institutions, institutional investors, private owners and developers. Headquartered in Houston since its founding in 1985, the firm employs more than 300 real estate professionals in offices throughout the United States and Europe. During 2006, Situs conducted due diligence assignments involving over 10,000 properties worldwide valued at $56 billion USD.

LONDON (May 1, 2007) – Situs Realty Services, Ltd., the three-year-old London-based affiliate of The Situs Companies, a U.S. based global real estate services firm, has nearly tripled the size of its office with a recent move into 6,000 SF on the 19th floor of 40 Bank Street in Canary Wharf.

According to Situs CEO Ralph Howard, Situs expects to employ 25 due diligence professionals in the London office by the end of the third quarter and plans to hire up to 150 additional employees worldwide within the next 18 months. Situs currently employs more than 300 in Europe and the U.S.

Howard said the firm simply outgrew its previous space in London, and has experienced similar growth companywide.

"We've experienced growth across-the-board in due diligence, loan servicing, asset management and all related services," said Howard. "Outsourcing these services to Situs helps clients increase their margins while receiving a level of service and expertise that would be difficult to hire internally."

The Situs Companies has been a leading provider of commercial real estate services and consulting solutions for all property types to financial institutions, institutional investors, private owners and developers. Headquartered in Houston since its founding in 1985, the firm has offices throughout the United States and Europe. During 2006, Situs conducted due diligence assignments involving over 10,000 properties worldwide valued at $56 billion USD.

Two former Capmark execs join Situs Asset Management

HOUSTON (March 29, 2007) – Two former Capmark Financial executives have joined Houston-based Situs Asset Management. Zaki Khan, previously with Capmark Finance, Inc., in Chicago, has accepted a position as vice president and group portfolio manager in which he oversees all asset management functions for a $3.6 billion portfolio of complex loan structures. Donald P. Nienas, a 19-year veteran of commercial mortgage banking and a former vice president with Capmark Financial, has been named vice president, portfolio manager, and will work out of Situs’ New York office.

Prior to joining Situs’ loan servicing and asset management group, Kahn was an assistant vice president in the Life Company Servicing Group at Capmark Finance, Inc. (formerly GMAC Commercial Mortgage). In addition to Capmark, Nienas has worked with New England lenders as a servicing management and development specialist at Fannie Mae. Previously, he held asset management positions with Meridian Mortgage, Coopers & Lybrand and Latimer and Buck.

Situs Asset Management, a division of The Situs Companies (www.situscompanies.com), has been designated a Select Commercial Loan Servicer by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) in the Primary and Special Servicer categories. The loan servicing group currently services fixed- and floating-rate loans totaling approximately $4 billion.

Situs opens Little Rock, Ark., office to land Webb

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (March 27, 2007) – Demonstrating a willingness to take extraordinary measures to hire top professionals, officials of The Situs Companies, a Houston-based global real estate services firm, have opened a Little Rock, Ark., office for the express purpose of hiring industry expert Cindy Seay Webb and other key personnel. Webb, who lives in the area, will serve as vice president and manage the office’s operations.

Since opening the office, Situs has hired 10 people and officials said they expect to have a significant presence in Little Rock. In total, Situs employs more than 300 employees in the U.S. and Europe.

According to Managing Director Steven Bean, Situs opened the office not because that’s where the clients are; rather, it was opened because they wanted to hire people who lived there. “With today’s technology, we have the flexibility to establish offices anywhere and build creative solutions for our clients around proven industry leaders,” said Bean. “At Situs, we put people first because we believe people deliver high quality services, not processes or technology -- which are important support items.”

Of the 10 Little Rock employees, half have 20 or more years in real estate due diligence and loan servicing experience.

“We have established a strong foundation in Little Rock by starting with an experienced staff bringing an incredible amount of industry knowledge. We now have the team in place to scale the operation,” said Situs CEO Ralph Howard.

The office will focus on performing commercial real estate due diligence and supporting components of commercial real estate loan servicing including insurance compliance review, reserve review, construction draws, site inspections and other due diligence projects. Additionally, on many assignments, the office may partner with Situs’ recently opened low-cost operation center in Robbins, NC.

ROBBINS, NORTH CAROLINA (February 21, 2007) -- The Situs Companies, a Houston-based global commercial real estate consulting and services firm, has established Situs Outsourcing Solutions in Robbins, North Carolina to provide outsourced commercial real estate services, delivering significant cost advantages typically associated with offshore outsourcing.

Situs New York-based Managing Director Steven Bean, who grew up near Robbins, said the pressure to utilize offshore outsourcing can be remedied by turning to smaller U.S. communities that have been challenged by the increasing pace of job losses due to changes in the global economy.

“The lower cost of doing business in Robbins, coupled with the availability of a capable, under-employed workforce, makes our concept for onshore outsourcing extremely competitive in our marketplace and gives clients a viable and compelling alternative,” said Bean. “Additionally, our employees have been touching U.S. real estate their whole lives so our ability to ratchet up the quality of knowledge-based tasks will be greater simply due to the lack of cultural differences.”

According to Bean, who previously managed offshore commercial real estate outsourcing operations, offshore challenges frequently include high employee turnover (and thus loss of trained expertise), security issues, on-going wage inflation, disconnects with domestic business practices, as well as high overhead for vendor management, training, facilities and work process controls.

Situs CEO Ralph Howard stated that the new division is slated to employ over 150 people in Robbins in the first few years of operation. Howard said that even though Situs conducted minimum advertising, it received 200 applications for the positions with over 50 percent being qualified applicants. “In late January, we hired the first group of approximately 20 employees and placed them in our Situs University training program.”

“Outsourcing commercial real estate jobs to under-employed U.S. communities is gratifying and sound business,” said Howard. “By taking advantage of the strong work ethic and financial skills already present in this community, we will offer a higher level of outsourced services and bring displaced Americans back into the global economy.”

The Robbins-based Situs Outsourcing Solutions employees started work on January 29th in a 27,000 SF vacated factory. The previous occupant closed its manufacturing operations early last year due to offshore competition.

Situs is up-fitting the factory into professional office space with partial funding provided by the N.C. Rural Center through its Building Reuse and Restoration Grant Program. Additional significant training grants and support have been extended though the N.C. Workforce Development Board and the N.C. community college system.

“We’ve received tremendous support and assistance in moving this initiative forward,” said Bean.

According to Bean, establishment of the Situs division in Robbins represents a model case study of public/private teamwork and effort. Situs’ goals have been immediately and strongly supported by the Town of Robbins, Moore County Partners in Progress Economic Development Group, the N.C. Department of Commerce Workforce Development Board, the Moore County JobLink Career Center of the N.C. Employment Security Commission, Sandhills Community College, and the N.C. Rural Center as well as area political leaders and churches.

Situs promotes Tambuvala, Nelson to principals

HOUSTON (January 25, 2007) – Zenobia Tambuvala and Bruce Nelson have been promoted to principals at The Situs Companies, a global real estate services firm.

As principals, Tambuvala, who has been with Situs since 1997, and Nelson, who joined in 2000, will continue to co-manage the firm’s real estate consulting group. The group specializes in handling domestic and international due diligence assignments, loan workouts, and serving as a receiver for troubled assets.

According to Situs CEO Ralph Howard, Tambuvala and Nelson have attained one of the highest positions with Situs by demonstrating their long-term commitment to the firm and its clients.

“Aside from the years they each have invested with Situs, Zenobia and Bruce continually bring tremendous value to our service delivery and are highly recognized for their expertise,” said Howard.

Situs named Select Servicer by S&P

HOUSTON (January 5, 2007) – Officials of Houston-based Situs Companies announced today that the global real estate services firm has been named a Select Commercial Loan Servicer by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) in the Primary and Special Servicer categories.

Situs’ loan servicing and asset management group, recently renamed Situs Asset Management, can now support client servicing needs after loans are securitized, and seek CMBS and CDO servicing assignments for new funds and B-piece purchasers entering the market, according to Managing Director Stuart Miles.

“Obtaining these ratings will allow us to broaden the scope of services we already provide clients and maintain relationships throughout the life of the loan” said Miles.

He said the firm has been servicing loans since 1990 for investment banks, insurance companies and opportunity funds. Situs currently services fixed- and floating-rate loans totaling approximately $4 billion.

“It’s not about volume for Situs; it’s about relationships and providing a servicing alternative for clients who want high-touch, personalized service,” he said. “Our goal is to provide the highest level of surveillance and reporting available so that our clients have the market and concentration data needed to manage their investments.”

Miles said the firm has scheduled servicing reviews in January with Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investor Service.


	Home	Services	About Us	News	Careers	Contact Us