Mountain Real Estate Capital And L Star Acquire Brightleaf at the Park

Torrance, CA – February 7, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Mountain Real Estate Capital (MREC) and L Star Management (L Star) are proud to announce the acquisition of Brightleaf at the Park in Durham, N.C. As one of the premier master planned communities in the Triangle, Brightleaf’s proximity to Research Triangle Park (RTP) makes it highly sought after by both homebuilders and homebuyers. The acquisition is comprised of 900 residential lots with products ranging from townhouses to single-family lots, widths from 50 to 90 feet. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This is a great acquisition for our firms, as well as for the current and future homebuilders and residents of Brightleaf,” said Arthur Nevid, MREC’s chief investment officer. “The acquisition now brings financial stability to the community which will jumpstart the remaining sales program. The project has a great diversity of finished, partially finished and future lots of varying size, price and product type. We are exploring a variety of ways to creatively structure lot and home sales, including the sale of finished lots or improved pads, bulk cash purchases or takedown contracts, and even joint ventures for home construction. We are also thrilled to build upon our successful joint development platform with L Star, with whom we have closed four major projects in the last year totalling approximately 2,000 home sites throughout North Carolina.”

Drees Homes is one of the currently featured homebuilders in Brightleaf. Dave Hausfeld, its division president states, “The flexibility and financial strength of the new ownership has been refreshing to work with. We have been presented with a number of options and hope to be quickly reaching an agreement on several contracts that will incorporate the purchase of finished lots, partially finished lots that MREC and L Star will complete, and even some bulk pads for future development. This diversity will allow us to simultaneously target different penetrations of product and homebuyers.”

Located near the intersection of Highway 70 and Sherron Road in Durham, Brightleaf is planned for 2,866 units over 14 phases. Nearly 900 single-family and townhomes remain to be built. Within the community is The Brightleaf Club, a Tim Wilkison Signature private club, that includes a swim complex with a Junior Olympic Pool, a zero-entry beach pool, a toddler pool, 24-hour fitness center and an expansive tennis facility. A brand new elementary school also exists within the community.

Kyle Corkum, managing partner of L Star, added, “You can’t beat Brightleaf’s location. The community is less than five minutes from Research Triangle Park, less than 10 minutes from Brier Creek with all its shopping and restaurants and less than 15 minutes from the airport. With its wide selection of home styles and price points, it’s easy to see why Brightleaf is such a desirable community.”

“We are thrilled that Mountain and L Star have teamed up to acquire Brightleaf at the Park,” says Hausfeld. “Our sales and customer satisfaction at Brightleaf have been consistently positive even after the prior developer fell into financial difficulty. Now with the financial strength of Mountain Real Estate Capital behind the project, we are anxious to aggressively grow our platform as a lead builder within Brightleaf.”

For more information on Brightleaf, visit www.brightleafinfo.com.

About Mountain Real Estate Capital
Since 1993, Mountain Real Estate Capital has been a leading private capital source for real estate developers, builders and operators seeking to enhance value in their existing projects or to take advantage of new opportunities. MREC is currently focused on three types of investments: acquisition of bank REO and NPL portfolios; joint ventures with national and regional homebuilders to develop and sell residential lots and houses; and acquisition of opportunistic assets for its own account or in partnership with developers. It is capitalized with $1 billion to acquired distressed notes and assets, of which approximately $260 million has recently been invested assets comprising over 10,000 lots/homes and 9,000 acres with projected sales exceeding $1.2 billion, purchase from 30 different financial institutions in 10 states. MREC is headquartered in Charlotte, with origination and asset management offices in New York, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Richmond, and Newport Beach. www.mountainrecapital.com