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New Scholarship Instituted by Arcus Lending and Bridgette Akunal Helps High …

Fri, 31 May 2013 23:28:30 +0000

San Jose Mortgage Broker and Saratoga Real Estate Agent, awarded $2000 in scholarship monies to deserving students of Santa Clara High School via The Akunal Arcus Lending Scholarship.

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) May 31, 2013

Arcus Lending, a San Jose Mortgage Broker and Bridgette Akunal, a Residential Real Estate Specialist with Intero Real Estate, have teamed up to institute a scholarship for deserving Santa Clara High School, California students to help enroll into college.

Based on an essay competition, The Akunal Arcus Lending Scholarship was awarded to three selected graduating seniors who are enrolled full time at Santa Clara High School with a minimum GPA of 3.0 and have been accepted to a Junior or Four Year College.

“At Arcus Lending we believe in giving back to the community. Schools are a great way for us to make a positive impact on the community we operate in”, said Shashank Shekhar, CEO of Arcus Lending, Amazon.com Best-selling author and among the top 1% loan officers in the country.

“This generous scholarship is open to all graduating seniors and is based on academic standing and college readiness. I cannot express my gratitude enough to Akunal and Arcus Lending Team for this donation and their willingness to support our students in their ongoing academic endeavors.” said, Dave Grissom, Principal, Santa Clara High School.

“As a Residential Real Estate Specialist serving the San Francisco Bay Area for the last 13 years, I highly embrace this great opportunity to be a resource to young adults. By assisting in their education and personal empowerment, they can make a difference for a better future,” said Bridgette Akunal, one of the leading professionals in the real estate industry and an active member of many Silicon Valley Organizations.

First place winner was honored $1200, second place winner $500 and third place winner $300 towards their scholarship tuition at the Santa Clara High School Graduation Ceremony on May 29, 2013.

About Arcus Lending:

Arcus Lending (NMLS 1035734) is a mortgage broker offering home purchase and refinance loans in the state of California. The company plans to expand its operations on the East Coast this summer by offering home loans to residents of those states.

More information about Arcus Lending can be found by calling at 855.644.5626, by emailing at info(at)arcuslending(dot)com or by vising their website at http://www.ArcusLending.com

About Bridgette Akunal :

Bridgette Akunal (DRE-01297423) is a real estate consultant specializing in residential and investment properties in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. More information on Bridgette Akunal and Intero Real Estate Services can be found by calling 408.973.9800, by emailing at bakunal(at)interorealestate(dot)com or by simply visiting http://www.360SiliconValleyRealEstate.com

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebArcusLending/Scholarship/prweb10602484.htm

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/New-Scholarship-Instituted-by-Arcus-Lending-and-4564522.php

A chat with commercial real estate broker Phil Mahoney

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 05:52:42 +0000

When a megadeal lands in Silicon Valley, there’s a decent chance veteran Bay Area commercial real estate broker Phil Mahoney had a hand in making it happen.

Google’s 715,000-square-foot lease in Sunnyvale. The 600,000-square-foot campus for LinkedIn in Sunnyvale. A Sunnyvale lease for 600,000 square feet for a new campus to be occupied by Amazon unit Lab 126. The just-concluded 100,000-square-foot deal for Softbank affiliate Starburst in San Carlos. Mahoney, an executive vice president with the Santa Clara office of Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank, helped guide all of these to a successful conclusion.

Each year, Mahoney kicks off the Cornish Carey annual forecast for the commercial property sector in the South Bay. This newspaper recently spoke with him about his outlook for the Silicon Valley commercial property sector. Mahoney’s comments have been edited for length and clarity.

Q How do you see the Silicon Valley market in 2013?

A There is no way that 2013 will repeat what occurred in 2011 and 2012. Those were incredible years, and there was so much space leased that it was not sustainable. We never expected that this year would be like either of those years. The market is taking a bit of a breather in that tenants have absorbed millions of square feet. Much of that square footage that was leased the last year is now being retrofitted for occupancy.

Q How long might this breather

last?

A We see 2014 returning to a very strong leasing mode when companies have digested what they took in in 2011 and 2012. Late 2013 and into 2014 should be very good.

Q What is driving the leasing?

A This is all underpinned by a strong economy, a good tech economy. The economy is strong enough to withstand problems, whether they be things such as North Korea or budget sequestration.

Q Is it helpful that there is a breather?

A If you are a property owner with a big empty building, now is not a good time to take a breather. But it is healthy in that it gives transportation infrastructure time to catch up to all the leasing that has occurred. And if you get into an overheated situation, you can get an overbuilt market, which isn’t good.

Q San Francisco’s mayor has said his city is the innovation capital of the world, which suggests San Francisco overshadows Silicon Valley. Is that assessment on target, or off target?

A I’d say the reports of San Francisco becoming the new Silicon Valley are overdone. Quietly, some of the larger tech companies are starting to push back a little bit on the whole San Francisco scene. There is a little bit of a wait and see about how it all works out. Some of companies have deferred major expansions in San Francisco and are doing it in the Santa Clara Valley proper instead.

Q Is the current surge in tech leasing like the dot-com boom that became a bubble, or is this the real deal?

A There is no comparison. This time there are no Pets.com, no Webvan. There is very little fluff we can see. These are real companies with real revenues and real profits. They don’t just depend on eyeballs looking at their websites.

Q How strong is the current crop of tenants?

A Never in my 30 years have I seen this number of creditworthy tenants in the market. Amazon, Google, Apple, LinkedIn, Facebook, Microsoft, Juniper, these are strong multibillion-dollar companies with healthy balance sheets.

Q This tech boom looks to be here for a while?

A This definitely has legs. We are probably in the middle innings of a recovery in Silicon Valley.

Contact George Avalos at 408-373-3556 or 925-977-8477. Follow him at Twitter.com/george_avalos.

Phil Mahoney
Age: 53
Birthplace: Cambridge, Mass.
Company: Cornish Carey Newmark Knight Frank
Position: Executive vice president
Residence: Los Altos Hills

Five things about Phil Mahoney
He was a lifeguard on Cape Cod while in college.
He is a former college football player, a starting defensive end with Stanford University and a teammate of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.
He has lived in England, in a small town on the Thames River as part of a Stanford overseas program.
He once skied in Scotland.
When he began his current career, he had three jobs: commercial real estate broker, a mover for a moving company, and a bouncer at a Palo Alto night club

Article source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23115274/chat-commercial-real-estate-broker-phil-mahoney

Zephyr Real Estate Launches Android App

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 06:29:03 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Aug 06, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –
Zephyr Real Estate just announced the debut of the Zephyr Real
Estate search app for Android. Following on the heels of the iPhone
app launch, Zephyr continues as the leader in technological acuity,
customer service and agent support. The new app is now available at
Amazon and Google.

With the new app, Android users can easily find all available
properties in San Francisco using Zephyr’s MLS-powered search. With
the GPS-enabled app, users can search for homes nearby, or enter
their own search parameters including searching by specific San
Francisco neighborhood, not just zip code. Full details on every
available property are accessible including a full-screen photo
viewer, full description and property features.

“Our marketing and technology team is committed to keeping our agents
well equipped and tech-forward in the marketplace,” commented Hud
Bixler, Zephyr’s Director of Technology. “New tools and services are
constantly under development, which is particularly critical in our
marketplace.”

Many additional features are obtainable by creating a free MyZephyr
account, such as accessing properties not listed on public websites,
getting details on pending and sold properties, receiving new listing
and price reduction email alerts, and the ability to create a custom
multi-property driving tour. All account information is fully
synchronized with website accounts, so saved information and searches
are easily accessed via app or on the web.

“Zephyr takes great pride in leading the pack by providing our agents
and clients with great service and all the resources necessary to
make their real estate experience not just positive, but enjoyable,”
commented Randall Kostick, Chief Operating Officer of Zephyr. “Our
team comes through once again.”

About Zephyr Real Estate
Founded in 1978, Zephyr Real Estate is San
Francisco’s largest independent real estate firm with $1 billion in
gross sales in 2011 and a current roster of more than 200 full-time
agents. In 2010, Zephyr launched its new website, which has earned
three web design awards, including the prestigious WebAward for
Outstanding Website from the Web Marketing Association. Zephyr Real
Estate is a member of the international relocation network, Leading
Real Estate Companies of the World; the luxury real estate network,
Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate; and the local luxury marketing
association, the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco. Zephyr
has six strategically located offices in San Francisco, a business
center in Marin County, and serves a large customer base throughout
the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit

www.zephyrsf.com .


        Contact:
        Melody Brown
        Zephyr Real Estate
        San Francisco, CA
        415.729.3555
        Email Contact

SOURCE: Zephyr Real Estate


http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=62F0A33432B83BD0

Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/zephyr-real-estate-launches-android-app-2012-08-06

Tech Hiring in San Francisco Bay Area Continues to Gain Momentum

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:03:09 +0000

The technology industry continues to grow, go public and fill out commercial real estate in the San Francisco Bay, California area. Technology jobs in the San Francisco Bay area tend to be higher income, thus driving growth in other sectors of the economy.

Technology giants with a market value of more than $100 million, including Google Inc., Apple Inc. and Amazon.com increased their work forces by at least 50 percent over the past two years, according to Bloomberg Inc. data.

According to the data, some small and mid-size businesses boosted payrolls by almost fivefold, underscoring the resilient demand for internet services, software and electronics.

Rohit Dhingra who was recently hired by a Silicon Valley company that produces computer gear said “A few years back, it just would have been a slam dunk that you want to do investment banking.” Dhingra who went to Columbia Business School in New York in the hopes of being hired by in a consulting job said, “The future of financial services does not seem as bright.”

Dhingra joins thousands of workers who switched to technology careers during the economic slump. While unemployment dropped in other sectors, technology companies continued to expand their workforce by at least 10 percent. That was more than any other industry group measured by Bloomberg.

Silicon Graphics International Inc., headquartered in Fremont, CA, increased its employment by 372 percent to 1,500.

Riverbed Technology Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, CA, increased its employment by 208 percent and Cupertino-based Apple Inc., which started with a larger employee base, grew 76 percent. That amounted to 26,100 new jobs.

Riverbed uses a team of 20 people who scour the country for new hires.

“We operate it like a search firm,” said Mike Guerchon, senior vice president of employee services at the San Francisco based network-equipment company. “It’s a tough battlefield for talent all the time.”

Technology hiring will not slow down any time soon. Amazon and Facebook Inc. each plan to add thousands of jobs in 2012. Tibco Software Inc., headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, is recruiting for their next decade of growth is also stepping up their hiring.

“We are hiring quite rapidly now, all in sales and service,” Tibco Chief Executive Officer Vivek Ranadive said recently at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in Davos, Switzerland. “It’s a good time to hire.”

Intel Corp. (INTC), the world’s largest chipmaker, increased its employment by almost 18,000 people in 2011. The hiring was driven by acquisitions and hiring in research and manufacturing.

High-tech giant Dell says it is looking to add more workers to its Santa Clara, CA location. The Company plans to add a second building to its current infrastructure to add an additional 600 jobs.

The company says it hopes to grow its Santa Clara location to employ 1,500 workers.

Hiring in the tech industry is gaining momentum and does not appear to be slowing down despite concerns of a second bubble.

Search recent job listings on Job Mouse!

Article source: http://thejobmouse.com/2012/02/06/tech-hiring-in-san-francisco-bay-area-continues-to-gain-momentum/

Biz Break: Bay Area, other big real estate markets: ‘No real hope’ for quick …

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:32:47 +0000

Today: The San Francisco metro area is one of 18 of the top 20 with year-over-year home value declines. Plus: Amazon launches its cloud music service. And: Former eBay (EBAY) CEO Meg Whitman is reportedly joining Kleiner Perkins.

Real estate update

Real estate values in much of the San Francisco Bay Area are continuing to decline, according to the latest Standard Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price report released today.

Home

values in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area — which includes San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Mateo counties — dropped 1.9 percent in January from the month before and were down 1.7 percent year over year, according to the report.

San Francisco was one of 18 of 20 metro areas with year-over-year declines. The only areas with gains were San Diego, at 0.1 percent, and Washington, D.C., at 3.6 percent. Eight metro areas — Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle and Tampa — had year-over-year drops of 6.7 percent or more.

“Keeping with the trends set in late 2010, January brings us weakening home prices with no real hope in sight for the near future,” David M. Blitzer,

chairman of SP’s index committee, said in the report.

Pointing to a potential “double dip” for the nation’s real estate market, 11 cities — Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle and Tampa — reached new lows from the market’s peak in 2006 and 2007.

“The housing market recession is not yet over, and none of the statistics are indicating any form of sustained recovery,” Blitzer noted. “At most, we have seen all statistics bounce along their troughs; at worst, the feared double-dip recession may be materializing.”

Although San Jose is Northern California’s largest city, it’s not included in the Case-Shiller indexes because its metro area is not one of the nation’s 20 largest.

Earlier this month, however, DataQuick Information Systems reported that the median sale price for existing single-family homes in Santa Clara County was $495,000 in February, down 3 percent year over year.

The Case-Shiller indexes are intended to track the values of typical single-family homes in a region.

Amazon’s cloud music services

Seattle online retail giant Amazon has launched two consumer “cloud computing” products: Amazon Cloud Drive, which allows users to store as much as 5 gigabytes of music for free, and Amazon Cloud Player for the Web, which plays back that music on Macs, PCs and devices running Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system.

(Yes, conspicuous by their absence on that list are Apple’s (AAPL) ubiquitous “i” devices — the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.)

“We’re excited to take this leap forward in the digital experience,” Bill Carr, Amazon’s vice president of movies and music, said in a news release. “The launch of Cloud Drive, Cloud Player for Web and Cloud Player for Android eliminates the need for constant software updates as well as the use of thumb drives and cables to move and manage music.”

According to numerous news stories — including a report Sunday by the Merc’s Mike Swift — Apple and Google are working on cloud-based streaming music services.

According to an Associated Press report today, Amazon’s service is intended to help the company sell more online music. Amazon will provide 20GB of storage to customers who buy an MP3 album — and won’t count MP3s purchased from Amazon against storage limits.

More tech news

Venture capital: Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman — the Republican candidate for California governor last year — is joining Silicon Valley VC powerhouse Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers as a strategic adviser, Fortune magazine’s Postcards blog is reporting today.

Whitman, you might recall, lost the election, but has landed on the boards of Palo Alto tech pioneer Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), car-sharing service Zipcar and consumer-products giant Procter Gamble.

Zynga: D’oh! We forgot to write about Lady Gaga.

It was such a busy tech news day yesterday we neglected to note that the pop star has teamed up with San Francisco social games upstart Zynga — the company behind titles such as “FarmVille” and “CityVille” — to raise $1.5 million to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Today — speaking of “FarmVille” — Zynga is celebrating a new version of that game, “FarmVille English Countryside,” by parading sheep in London and New York.

Silicon Valley tech stocks

Up: Apple, Google, Oracle (ORCL), Cisco Systems (CSCO), eBay, VMware, Gilead Sciences (GILD), Yahoo (YHOO).

Down: Intel (INTC), Hewlett-Packard.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index: Up 26.21, or 1 percent, to 2,756.89.

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average: Up 81.13, or 0.7 percent, to 12,279.01.

And the widely watched Standard Poor’s 500 index: Up 9.25, or 0.7 percent, to 1,319.44.

Check in weekday afternoons for the 60-Second Business Break, a summary of news from Mercury News staff writers, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and other wire services. Contact Frank Russell at 408-920-5876. Follow him at Twitter.com/mercspike.

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/60-second-business-break/ci_17726157