Pot chain grabbing new real estate

One of Denver’s pot barons is taking things a little more corporate.

Brian Ruden, co-founder of the Starbuds retail marijuana chain, is opening his first office space this week as the company prepares to purchase a new warehouse and its seventh store.

“Anyone who does work that affects all of our stores will work there,” Ruden said of the office. “We’re closing the deal on Wednesday, and we’ll have our first meeting on Thursday.”

Ruden, who was featured on the MSNBC TV program “Pot Barons,” is spending $500,000 to purchase the 4,500-square-foot office space off Interstate 70 and Quebec Street.

Ruden, a former tax lawyer, is also negotiating a deal to buy a 6,000-square-foot warehouse to increase Starbuds’ cultivation abilities. Ruden estimates it will allow him to grow an additional 50 pounds of pot per month.

Starbuds originally opened on Brighton Boulevard in August 2013.

The extra marijuana will go toward supplyingStarbuds stores opening in Pueblo and Adams County, along with another location in the works along the Denver-Lakewood border.

“It’s actually an existing medical dispensary now,” he said. “My game plan is to get a recreational license there.”

He declined to give the dispensary’s current name or location because the deal hasn’t been finalized yet.

Ruden will pay $20,000 in fees to transfer ownership of the medical location and then an additional $100,000 between remodeling the store and the grow warehouse.

“We’ll put in new paint on the walls, new flooring, and a lot of new finishes,” he said of the new store. “But the overall construction is there. It’s all being done through cash flow, through reinvesting profits.”

Ruden will convert the store’s existing medical license into a recreational one to serve a wider array of clientele.

“For people who are medical marijuana patients, we’ll honor medical prices. We pay their tax for them, and we give them a discount,” he said. “The people using it for recreational use, that’s the bulk of our business anyway.”

He estimates that between 80 and 85 percent of his clients are recreational customers.

Ruden expects the new store to be up and running in August. Starbuds’ currently operates shops in Louisville, Aurora, near DU and on Brighton Boulevard.

Bidding wars have broken out in hot US real-estate markets

Eager to buy your first home this spring? Already own, but want to trade up? Be warned: there’ll be plenty of competition.

Bidding wars have broken out in hot real-estate markets like Denver and Los Angeles, where there aren’t enough houses to meet demand. The lack of supply is a key reason home sales nationwide have yet to return to healthy levels following the housing collapse in 2008.

“Inventory is still fairly low in a lot of markets across the country,” said Skylar Olsen, senior economist at real estate data firm Zillow. “Buyers are not going to have the easiest time out there.”

Further tilting the market in favor of sellers are low mortgage rates, which have ratcheted up pressure on buyers to wrap up deals before borrowing becomes more expensive.

Then there’s the matter of price. While the overall rise in home prices has slowed this year, fierce competition in many cities and markets will make the cost of buying much harder this spring. Prices are peaking or coming close in roughly half the country. Seven states set highs in March, including Colorado, New York, Tennessee and Texas, according to real estate data provider CoreLogic.

Homebuyers this spring will need to pay attention to six major factors:

SUPPLY IS TIGHTThere just aren’t enough homes for sale in many parts of the country, and properties are moving fast. In March, one measure showed it would take fewer than five months to sell all the homes on the U.S. market. Normally, it should take six.

Among the toughest markets for buyers: San Jose, San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as Seattle, Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, Nashville and Boston, according to Zillow.

Homes in those areas are selling an average of 48 days faster than properties in markets where buyers have the edge.

“The same day the house gets listed, it’s not unusual to get four, five or six offers,” said Brian Callahan, an agent for real estate brokerage Redfin in Madison, Wisconsin, where homes take fewer than four months to sell, on average.

Homebuyers are likely to find more listings and pay less than asking price in Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Markets with a bigger inventory of homes tend to have weaker job growth and more construction. In cities with tighter inventory, job growth tends to be stronger.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bidding-wars-have-broken-out…

Bennet, Colleagues Unveil New Renewable Electricity Standard

National RES would pump nearly $300 billion into economy, create tens of thousands of jobs, help combat climate change

WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 12, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today joined Senators Tom Udall (D-NM), Edward Markey (D-MA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) to introduce a bill to create jobs, save consumers money and reduce pollution by creating a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES). The legislation, which would help the United States diversify its energy sources while establishing our leadership in clean energy production, would require utilities to generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.

The bill would create the first national threshold for utilities to provide a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable resources, including wind, solar, biomass and others. It would set an 8 percent requirement by 2016, followed by gradual and achievable increases thereafter to meet the 30 percent by 2030 goal. More than half of the states already have renewable generation standards with specific timelines and target standards, and the legislation would not preempt stronger standards already implemented by states.

“Colorado’s robust renewable energy standard has already helped spark entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation,” Bennet said. ”Across Colorado, small business owners and renewable energy companies are tapping into the potential of clean, renewable energy sources to create jobs across our state. This bill sets realistic goals that will boost Colorado’s clean energy economy and help protect our land, air, and water.”

An analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that a “30-by-30″ national RES would:

- Increase renewable energy generation 265 percent over current levels by 2030, helping to support and build upon the hundreds of thousands of jobs in the wind, solar, geothermal, and biopower industries today.
- Save consumers $25.1 billion in cumulative electricity and natural gas bills from 2015 to 2030.
- Drive $294 billion in cumulative new capital investments from 2015 to 2030 – $106 billion more than business as usual.
- Spur nearly $4.3 billion in additional annual operation and maintenance payments in 2030.
- Provide an additional $3.4 billion in new local tax revenues and wind power land lease payments to landowners through 2030, creating new economic activity in rural communities.

Leading environmental and energy organizations support a “30-by-30″ national RES, including the Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, American Wind Energy Association, and Solar Energy Industries Association.

“The American clean energy economy is already responsible for hundreds of thousands of American jobs, billions in investment, and power for millions of homes and businesses that don’t pollute our air, water, and climate,” said John Coequyt, Director of Federal Climate Programs for the Sierra Club. “The Sierra Club is proud to support Senator Udall and Senator Markey’s leadership to build on this success with legislation that will create even more jobs while protecting the health of our families and our communities from climate disruption.”

“We strongly support Senator Udall’s introduction of the Renewable Electricity Standard Act and applaud his leadership in promoting renewable energy nationwide,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of American Wind Energy Association. ”The establishment of a national renewable electricity standard will lower energy costs for consumers, drive new investment and job growth, and diversify our nation’s energy resources.”

- See more at: http://colorado.realestaterama.com/…/bennet-colleagues-unve…

CareTrust REIT, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2015 Operating Results; Updates Guidance

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., May 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – CareTrust REIT, Inc. (Nasdaq:CTRE) today reported operating results for the first quarter of 2015. Highlights included:

During and after the quarter, CareTrust deployed approximately $27.1 million to acquire two skilled nursing facilities, initiating two new net-lease tenant relationships in the process;
The company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.16 per common share to shareholders of record as of March 31, 2015;
Net income was $2.0 million, or $0.06 per diluted common share for the quarter ended March 31, 2015;
Normalized FFO or funds from operations was $7.6 million or $0.24, and normalized FAD was $8.5 million or $0.27 per diluted common share for the quarter; and
After the quarter, CareTrust exercised a portion of the accordion feature on its current secured term revolving credit facility, which remains undrawn, increasing its immediate borrowing capacity to $200 million.
$27.1 Million in New Investments Announced; More Under Contract

The company reported approximately $27.1 million in capital deployment since the first of the year. Greg Stapley, CareTrust’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, “Q1 was a modest quarter in terms of closings, but we have been busy vetting and putting several potential acquisitions under contract to lay the groundwork for a great year.” He noted that although pricing in some segments of the health facilities and seniors housing markets remains high, CareTrust’s “by operators, for operators” investment philosophy is producing a steady pipeline of potentially accretive opportunities.

Addressing the company’s near-term growth, Mr. Stapley added, “While yields across some of our target asset classes and markets remain fairly compressed, we continue to source deals at attractive, if not compelling, risk-adjusted returns.” He reported that the company currently has approximately $33.3 million in additional acquisitions under contract and in various stages of diligence.

Financial Results for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2015

Discussing financial results for the quarter, Chief Financial Officer Bill Wagner reported that the Company generated normalized FFO of $7.6 million or $0.24 per diluted common share, and normalized FAD of $8.5 million or $0.27 per diluted common share. Net income was $2.0 million, or $0.06 per diluted common share. Addressing quarter-over-quarter comparisons, Mr. Wagner cautioned that CareTrust’s revenue stream, expense structure and other factors changed markedly when the company was spun off from its former parent in June 2014, making prior-period comparisons difficult at best.

Current Liquidity

Mr. Wagner reported that, as of March 31, 2015, the Company had approximately $13.5 million in cash on hand. He also reported that CareTrust recently exercised a portion of the accordion feature on its senior secured term revolving credit line, which remains undrawn, increasing its immediate borrowing capacity to $200 million. The documentation for the increase included provisions that allow the company to temporarily exceed certain covenants during periods of high acquisitions, including the right to provide otherwise-required collateral subsequent to drawing for significant acquisitions.

Dividend Declared

The company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.16 per common share to shareholders of record as of March 31, 2015. Mr. Wagner noted that, on an annualized basis, the amount of the quarterly dividend represented a payout ratio of approximately 59% based on the midpoint of 2015 FAD guidance. “We believe that our current payout ratio places CareTrust among the most conservative of our industry peers, and provides meaningful assurances of our ability to pay a steady dividend over time,” he added.

Acquisition Pipeline

Since January 1, 2015, CareTrust closed two separate transactions, deploying approximately $27.1 million at a blended average initial cash yield of 9.59%. The investments were all made using cash on hand, and included:

Bethany Rehabilitation Center, a 170-bed skilled nursing facility in Lakewood, Colorado, for $17.95 million. CareTrust entered into a triple-net lease with Eduro Healthcare, LLC, a small but growing and well-regarded Utah-based skilled nursing and home health operator, which took over operations effective February 1, 2015. The Bethany investment provides an initial cash yield of 9.65% on EBITDAR lease coverage of 1.30x, producing initial annual lease revenue of $1.7 million.
Mira Vista Care Center, a 94-bed skilled nursing facility located in Mount Vernon, Washington, for $9.1 million. CareTrust entered into a triple-net lease with Five Oaks Healthcare, LLC, which took over operations effective April 1, 2015. The Mira Vista investment generates an initial cash yield of 9.50% on EBITDAR lease coverage of 1.26x, producing initial annual lease revenue of just over $865,000. The lease has an initial term of 15 years with two five-year extensions and CPI-based rent escalators.
Management reported that it has additional acquisition opportunities either under contract or bid out under competitive term sheets that collectively represent over $400 million in potential transactions for 2015. Management affirmed that the Company is actively working with a variety of owners, operators and brokers to source compelling opportunities to extend the CareTrust footprint nationwide.

Existing Portfolio

Management also reported that CareTrust’s portfolio with its principal tenant, The Ensign Group, Inc., which portfolio is comprised of approximately 80% skilled nursing and 20% seniors housing assets, has reported lease coverage through the fourth quarter of 2014 at 1.94x, on an EBITDAR basis. This represents an improvement from the approximately 1.85x coverage in place at the time of the spin-off.

CareTrust’s growing portfolio includes 104 properties in twelve states. Of the 104 properties CareTrust owns, 94 are net-leased to Ensign, seven are net-leased to other operators and three independent living facilities are operated by CareTrust subsidiaries.

2015 Guidance

CareTrust updated its previously-released guidance for 2015, projecting revenues of approximately $63.9 million exclusive of tenant reimbursements, approximately $24.0 million in interest expense, and $6.2 to $6.9 million in general and administrative expense. The Company also projected 2015 normalized FFO, normalized FAD and net income of $0.98 to $1.00, $1.08 to $1.10, and $0.28 to $0.30 per diluted common share, respectively. This guidance assumes diluted weighted average common shares outstanding of approximately 31.6 million and no additional acquisitions or dispositions, and reflects the effects of non-cash incentive compensation only to the extent issued to date.

Mr. Wagner noted that the Company plans to continue updating guidance quarterly, primarily to account for completed acquisitions and financings from quarter to quarter.

Conference Call

A live webcast will be held on Wednesday, May 13, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (1:00 p.m. Eastern Time), during which CareTrust’s management will discuss the Company’s first quarter 2015 results. To listen to the webcast, or to view any financial or other statistical information required by SEC Regulation G, please visit the Investors section of the CareTrust website at

http://investor.caretrustreit.com/

. The webcast will be recorded, and will be available for replay via the website until 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday, May 15, 2015.

About CareTrustTM

CareTrust REIT, Inc. is a publicly-traded real estate investment company that is engaged in the ownership, acquisition and leasing of seniors housing and healthcare-related properties. With 104 healthcare and seniors housing properties in twelve states, 101 of which are net-leased and three of which are self-managed, CareTrust is pursuing opportunities nationwide to acquire additional properties that will be leased to a diverse group of local, regional and national seniors housing operators, healthcare services providers, and other healthcare-related businesses. More information about CareTrust is available at

http://www.caretrustreit.com

.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

This press release contains, and the related conference call and webcast will include, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical statements of fact and those regarding our intent, belief or expectations, including, but not limited to, statements regarding future financing plans, business strategies, growth prospects and operating and financial performance; expectations regarding the making of distributions and the payment of dividends; and compliance with and changes in governmental regulations.

Words such as “anticipate(s),” “expect(s),” “intend(s),” “plan(s),” “believe(s),” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “seek(s)” and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on Management’s current expectations and beliefs, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could lead to actual results differing materially from those projected, forecasted or expected. Although Management believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are not guarantees and the Company can give no assurance that their expectations will be attained. Factors which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s operations and future prospects or which could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to: (i) the ability to achieve some or all of the expected benefits from the completed spin-off and to successfully conduct the Company’s business following the spin-off; (ii) the ability and willingness of Ensign to meet and/or perform its obligations under the contractual arrangements that it entered into with the Company in connection with the spin-off, including the Ensign Master Leases, and any of its obligations to indemnify, defend and hold the Company harmless from and against various claims, litigation and liabilities; (iii) the ability and willingness of the Company’s tenants to (a) comply with laws, rules and regulations in the operation of the properties the Company leases to them, and (b) renew their leases with the Company upon expiration, or in the alternative, © the Company’s ability to reposition and re-let the Company’s properties on the same or better terms in the event of nonrenewal or replacement of an existing tenant and any obligations, including indemnification obligations, that the Company may incur in replacing an existing tenant; (iv) the availability of, and the ability to identify and acquire, suitable acquisition opportunities and lease the same to reliable tenants on accretive terms; (v) the ability to generate sufficient cash flows to service the Company’s outstanding indebtedness; (vi) access to debt and equity capital markets; (vii) fluctuating interest rates; (viii) the ability to retain and properly incentivize key management personnel; (ix) the ability to qualify or maintain the Company’s status as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”); (x) changes in the U.S. tax laws and other state, federal or local laws, whether or not specific to REITs; (xi) other risks inherent in the real estate business, including potential liability relating to environmental matters and illiquidity of real estate investments; and (xii) any additional factors included in this report and any included in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part II of the Company’s most recently filed Form 10-Q.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, whether in this press release or the related conference call and webcast. Except in the normal course of the Company’s public disclosure obligations, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is

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A Rustic and Modern Home Intended for Art

Location:

Bernardsville, United States

Price: $5,195,000

This 11.5-acre New Jersey property was home to art enthusiast and benefactor David Teiger, who made the entire home a place to showcase his collection. Featuring stone, wood and other natural materials throughout, the expansive home has a rustic air with a modern twist. –Erin McCarthy

Reasons for Morgan Gust’s Shares Sale of CoBiz Financial Inc (NASDAQ:COBZ)’s Stock

Reasons for Morgan Gust’s Shares Sale of CoBiz Financial Inc (NASDAQ:COBZ)’s Stock

Morgan Gust Insider Sell TransactionThe director of CoBiz Financial Inc (NASDAQ:COBZ) 11.75 -0.06 -0.51%, Morgan Gust has made an unexpected deal in the Colorado-based Cobiz Financial Inc that is having a total value $11,720 US Dollars. As shown in the U.S. SEC report filed on 12/05/2015, Morgan unloaded 1,000 shares based on an average price per share of $11.7. Right now, Morgan Gust owns 5,050 shares which are equivalent to roughly 0.01% of Cobiz Financial Inc’s total market capitalization.

Cobiz Financial Inc Stock Rating, Sentiment and FundamentalsFor 2015 the company’s equity analysts are projecting $0.76 earnings per share. This would give it a 15.55 PE ratio. They suggest EPS growth rate of not more than 10.00% YOY. It is difficult to make conclusions about Cobiz Financial Inc’s future just from Morgan Gust’s sale because in this filing, the insider also revealed option transactions. In the form, it was reported that Morgan exercised options for 1,000 shares with average price 11.3, worth 11,260.

Volume Active Stocks Buzz: InterCloud Systems, (ICLD), salesforce.com, (CRM), Prologis, (PLD)

On Monday, Shares of InterCloud Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICLD), surged 12.37% to $4.45, as the networks solutions company continues its gains from Friday.

On Friday, InterCloud declared a new contract with a major auto parts dealer. The company said that its cloud team was hired by a “large east coast auto parts distributor” to design, migrate, and implement a cloud solution to house a web services infrastructure, centralized point of sale, and inventory data across all store locations.

The company said its solution will comprise “development, quality assurance, production and disaster recovery environments, and will employ industry leading storage and delivery technologies.”

The value of the contract was not revealed.

InterCloud Systems, Inc. provides end-to-end IT and network solutions to the telecommunications service provider and corporate enterprise markets through cloud platforms and professional services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Applications and Infrastructure, Professional Services, and Cloud and Managed Services.

Shares of salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), declined -1.66% to $71.20, during its last trading session.

salesforce.com, declared that Salesforce will host a press event in San Francisco on May 12, 2015. Sage CEO Stephen Kelly and Salesforce Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff will host a fireside chat to talk about the partnership between the world’s #1 small business accounting company and the world’s #1 CRM solution and enterprise cloud platform.

salesforce.com, inc. provides enterprise cloud computing solutions, with a focus on customer relationship administration to various businesses and industries worldwide. The company offers enterprise cloud computing apps and platform services, counting Sales Cloud for sales force automation, which enables companies to store data, access accurate customer and prospect information, track leads and progress, forecast opportunities, and collaborate around any sale on desktop and mobile devices; Service Cloud that enables companies to connect address customers service and support needs; and Marketing Cloud, which enables companies to map customer journeys to digital marketing interactions through email, mobile, social, Web, and connected products.

Finally, Prologis, Inc. (NYSE:PLD), ended its last trade with -0.76% loss, and closed at $40.44.

Prologis, declared recently that its operating partner Prologis, L.P. has priced an offering of €700 million aggregate principal amount of notes due May 13, 2021, that have an annual coupon rate of 1.375% and were priced at 99.112% of the principal amount. The notes will be senior unsecured obligations of the Operating Partnership and will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Prologis, Inc. The sale of the notes is predictable to close on or about May 13, 2015, subject to customary closing conditions. The offering has been made following an effective shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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