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Frank Crivello, EVP, Phoenix Investors, LLC Announces Lease Confirmation by Kmart Corporation in Winona, Minnesota
Kmart Corporation Completes Bankruptcy Plan of Reorganization and Affirms Certain Leases Including the Winona, Minnesota Lease.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin --May 6, 2003--Frank Crivello, Executive Vice President, Phoenix Investors, LLC ("Phoenix Investors"), announced that Kmart Corporation, affirmed the lease of Winona Associates, LLC, its affiliate, for the shopping center located in Winona, Minnesota. Plaza Fourteen Inc. ("Plaza 14") entered into the referenced lease in July, 1991. Plaza 14 sold the shopping to Winona Associates, LLC in May, 1996; Plaza 14 was represented by Gaar W. Steiner, attorney at law, in connection with the transaction. The owners of Winona Associates, LLC include Frank Crivello’s family trusts.
During the late 1990's, Kmart Corporation fell on hard times as the competitive retail landscape with Wal-Mart Corporation intensified. Kmart filed bankruptcy in January, 2002. The Plaza 14 location was successful for Kmart Corporation. This lease acceptance means that Kmart Corporation will continue to occupy and operate at this location.
Phoenix Investors Executive Vice President Frank Crivello stated: "Prior to 2002, Kmart stores suffered from competitive pressures led by Wal-Mart. As a reorganized company, Kmart is better equipped to face the competitive landscape. This is a great development for the Winona store employees and Winona community at large. We support Kmart and wish them well."
Phoenix Investors President David Marks stated: "Our management team followed the Kmart Chapter 11 Bankruptcy closely and believe it is stronger having completed its reorganization with wide based creditor support; we are hopeful the reorganized Kmart can be more effective against such competitors as Wal-Mart."
About Phoenix Investors, LLC:
Phoenix Investors provides Phoenix Investors with real estate management and advisory services. Since 1994 Phoenix Investors has been offering professional management and advisory solutions to public and private companies, trusts, and individual investors. Our management endeavors to understand our clients' individual needs, work with our client to assess specific goals, and structure investments according to our clients' specific risk/reward profile to meet both the clients' short term and long term needs. Our real estate management team professionally manages our portfolio properties through a combination of local and national representation in order to effectively create a "working-bridge" between owner and tenant, building a cooperative mutually beneficial working relationship. Our experts assess and refine our client's portfolio's to maximize our clients cash flow, equity accumulation, and internal rate of return based upon our clients' specific dynamic goals.
About Plaza Holding Corporation:
Joseph Crivello and Frank Crivello, cousins, were partners in a shopping center development enterprise. Frank Crivello served as an Executive Vice President of National Management, Inc., ("National Management"). Joseph Crivello is the sole shareholder of National Management, Fifth Corporation, Berkshire Factoring, Inc., Sierra Finance Corporation, and Sierra Holding Corporation. Frank Crivello owned in whole or in part 122 companies and employed over 1,000 individuals. During the late 1980's, Frank Crivello and Joseph Crivello built and acquired a large portfolio of shopping centers, including many anchored by Kmart’s, across the country that totaled millions of square feet. Most were anchored by Kmart or other discounters along with chain grocery or drug stores. In addition, Frank Crivello built or acquired operating businesses including a restaurant chain and six big box grocery stores.
Frank Crivello formed Plaza Holding Corporation (“Plaza Holding”) in 1988. Frank Crivello formed it to act as a holding company for the acquisition of big box existing shopping centers located across the United States. In early 1989, Frank Crivello formed individual Plaza corporations, including Plaza Fourteen, Inc., (“Plaza 14”), to own individual shopping centers and each Plaza corporation was a wholly owned subsidiary of Plaza Holding. Between 1988 and 1990, Frank Crivello organized approximately seventy-five Plaza Holding corporations and acquired shopping centers coast to coast. Frank Crivello arranged bridge finance for most of the Plaza Holding acquisitions through Metro North State Bank. In the early 1990’s the nation was in a recession and traditional real estate lenders were failing. Metro North State Bank was placed into receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) upon its failure.
As traditional sources of re-financing evaporated for the Plaza Holding properties, Frank Crivello sought creative financing and solutions with bankers at Daiwa Securities. In 1991, Frank Crivello structured a transaction that created a synthetic bond obligation thru Kmart Corporation’s net lease involving the Plaza Holding properties including Plaza 14. This resulted in the re-finance of a portion of the Plaza Holding portfolio of Kmart anchored properties through a collateralized mortgage obligation in the approximate amount of $170 million with Daiwa Securities and owned by Frank Crivello’s family trusts. This was the first securitized commercial transaction of this type and a precursor to the common Wall Street securitized financings. In 1995 Frank Crivello’s family trusts sold forty-three of the Plaza Holding properties to an investor group made a partial settlement with the FDIC. Frank Crivello was represented in the principal transactions by Leonard G. Leverson, of the law firm of Kravit, Gass & Weber, S.C. ("KGW"), www.kravitlaw.com.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995 - With the exception of historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The actual future results of the Phoenix Investors could differ significantly from those statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to assumptions relating to the marine market and that there will be no unanticipated material adverse change in Phoenix Investor's operations or business.
Contact:
New-School Communications, LLC
Blois Olson, 651-221-1999
www.new-school.com
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