YES! Communities Wins Green Challenge

DENVER, Dec. 1 -- YES! Communities, a Denver based operator of manufactured home communities nationwide, recently won the 2009 Net Impact Challenge. YES! received this award by implementing several environmentally conscious programs at their corporate office. Net Impact is an international nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, and equip individuals to use the power of business to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world. Spanning six continents, its membership makes up one of the most influential networks of professionals and students in existence today.

"We intend for our YES! Green program to be an integral part of our corporate culture and approach to property management. In our first year we created several strong green programs that both our corporate staff and employees across the country found engaging and easy to apply. As these programs expand, we hope to realize significant reductions in our company's and customers' energy costs and environmental impacts," explains COO Andrew Luter.

YES! Communities, which consists of 18,571 manufactured homes in 67 communities across the US, began a venture to reduce utility costs and environmental impacts in its office and manufactured home communities. Under the leadership of Jon Braun and Kim Kurz, YES! Green first developed projects at the corporate offices focused on waste reduction, energy conservation and The Green Commute to Work Challenge. The Commuter Challenge drew 63% office participation and accumulated over 21,000 miles by alternative methods of transportation. Through a new paperless accounts payable system, the company has saved 240,000 pieces of paper. The team then brought these practices to their communities through education, which includes several resident flyers that include tips to increase the energy efficiency of their homes and conserve water. Through these successful efforts, the team drastically increased awareness of sustainability actions in manufactured home communities and generated over $340,000 in savings on utility expenses.

Moving on from the success of its first year, the YES! Green program looks to expand to include more programs for residents of YES! Communities. Educational community wide events, as well as ventures into retrofitting its rental homes to increase energy efficiency, are just two of the many new projects YES! Green plans to complete over the next year. It is the hope that considerable utility cost reductions will greatly benefit their current and future residents.

CONTACT: Jon Braun of YES! Communities, +1-303-483-7179, jbraun@yescommunities.com

Yes! Communities Launches Web Site

http://www.yescommunities.com

GE Real Estate Provides $270 Million Loan for Acquisition of 67 Manufactured Home Communities in 12 States

GE Real Estate Provides $270 Million Loan for Acquisition of 67 Manufactured Home Communities in 12 States

Asset is One of the Largest Portfolios of MHCs in the Country

Irvine, CA, March 31, 2008 – GE Real Estate announced today it provided a $270 million loan to Yes! Communities, Inc. for the acquisition of a portfolio of 67 manufactured home communities (MHCs) from affiliates of CMH Parks-Clayton Homes, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company. With this acquisition, Yes! now has the one of the largest portfolios of MHCs in the U.S. with properties in 12 states, with concentrations in Texas (Dallas/Houston/San Antonio), Florida (Tampa/Jacksonville) and Tennessee (Nashville/Knoxville).

Yes! Communities is a joint venture between BaseCamp Capital of Denver, CO, a real estate private equity group with a focus on manufactured housing, and Stockbridge Real Estate Funds, a real estate fund group based in San Francisco, CA, which has invested over $5.5 billion in real estate assets. 

“GE Real Estate’s manufactured housing team has their pulse on the industry and proved to be a strong and dependable financial partner. The GE team worked closely with to get this complex transaction completed,” said Andrew Luter, Chief Operating Officer for Yes! Communities. “Given the recent economic downturn and the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis, we need affordable housing in this country now more than ever. Our company is committed to meeting this need with a positive housing value and a Yes! attitude for both existing and prospective residents.”

“Yes! Communities will benefit from its acquisition of an institutional quality portfolio located in primary markets,” said Art Tuverson GE’s director, Manufactured Home Communities. “Its experienced management team is well-positioned to drive cash flow growth by providing quality affordable housing.” 

GE Real Estate’s North America Lending division offers financing for retail, industrial, self-storage, multifamily, office, student housing, regional malls and outlet centers. North America Lending is also a provider of financing solutions for niche asset classes including affordable housing, golf, hospitality, vacation ownership, manufactured home and RV resort communities. 


GE Contact: 
Bernhard Klein Wassink
203/750-3317
bernhard.kleinwassink@ge.com

HLB Communications, Inc.
Pamela Flores
312/649-0371
pflores@hlbcomm.com

Notes to editors:

About GE Real Estate
GE Real Estate (www.gerealestate.com) is one of the world's premier commercial real estate companies with more than US$79 billion in assets and a presence in 32 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. Backed by GE's AAA rating, GE Real Estate offers a comprehensive range of capital and investment solutions including equity capital for acquisition or development, as well as fixed and floating rate mortgages for new acquisitions or re-capitalizations of commercial real estate. With a 28% compound annual growth rate since 1993, GE Real Estate is one of the world's fastest growing and most profitable real estate enterprises. This extraordinary record of success grows out of a reputation for collaboration and partnership; a depth of knowledge and experience and a history of building relationships, finding opportunities and opening doors for more than 5,000 owners, builders, borrowers and brokers worldwide.

GE Commercial Finance (www.gecommercialfinance.com) offers businesses around the globe an extensive array of financial products and services. With more than US$310 billion in assets and expertise in the middle-market, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs and innovative structured capital to help customers grow. Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, GE Commercial Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of GE (NYSE:GE), a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.

DENVER-BASED REAL ESTATE PRIVATE EQUITY GROUP TO PURCHASE LEADING MANUFACTURED HOUSING PORTFOLIO

Agreement reached with the nation's number one retailer of modular and manufactured homes

DENVER (July 30, 2007) – Today, BaseCamp Capital LLC, a Denver-based private equity incubator specializing in real estate ventures, announced that it has entered into a contract to purchase the community assets of CMH Parks, Inc. of Maryville, Tenn. CMH Parks, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Clayton Homes. BaseCamp will partner with Stockbridge Real Estate Funds of San Francisco on the transaction.

The portfolio consists of 65 manufactured housing communities in 11 states throughout the country. It is BaseCamp's intention to continue operations of the more than 18,000 individual home sites. The BaseCamp management team has more than 100 years of combined experience operating similar portfolios, including that of Chateau Communities of Denver.

"We have known and worked with BaseCamp's principals for 20 years," says Kevin Clayton, CEO of Clayton Homes. "Our companies share the belief that communities thrive on the strength of relationships. Given this group's reputation in the industry, we know our residents and team members will be greatly valued."

According to Gary McDaniel, senior managing director of BaseCamp Capital, the company sees “this portfolio as a solid foundation to provide a truly affordable housing solution to the communities in which they are situated." BaseCamp is committed to growing and strengthening these communities for the benefit of current and future residents.

"We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with the principals of BaseCamp Capital,” said Terry Fancher, executive managing director of Stockbridge. “Their management team represents the ‘best in class’ in the manufactured home community industry and we believe that their broad experience will be a critical element to the success of this transaction."

No further details of the transaction have been released.

About BaseCamp Capital
BaseCamp Capital LLC (www.basecampcapital.com) is a Denver-based real estate private equity group focused on specialty real estate transactions. The company has been operating since 2004, and has a strong focus on the manufactured housing sector. The firm is headed by several former principles of Chateau Communities, a Denver-based manufactured housing REIT which operated in excess of 200 communities nationwide.

About Clayton Homes
Clayton Homes and its subsidiaries (www.clayton.net) make up a vertically integrated manufactured housing company with 41 manufacturing plants, distributing through 451 company-owned retail outlets, and more than 1200 independent retailers and owns and operates 13 subdivisions. Clayton and its subsidiaries also provide specialty financing and insurance products.

About Stockbridge Real Estate Funds
Stockbridge Real Estate Funds are a series of real estate partnerships capitalized primarily by public and private pension funds. Stockbridge is managed by Stockbridge Capital Group, LLC, a real estate investment firm with extensive experience in real estate acquisitions, development and management. Since 1994, the senior professionals of Stockbridge Capital Group have invested in more than $8.5 billion of real estate in a variety of property types. Stockbridge is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in Los Angeles and New York.

BaseCamp Portfolio Company to Restore Facade of Old St. Elmo Hotel

From the Denver Post

Mike Plante, of BaseCamp Capital portfolio company A.H. Root, plans to spend at least $1 million restoring the historic St. Elmo Hotel in Lower Downtown.

Plante paid $4.1 million for the 18,214-square-foot building at 1433 17th St. He bought it recently from the Cage Williams Abelman law firm, which will lease back the property until it determines where to relocate.

"They decided to put the property on the market to take advantage of some of the market conditions," said Darrin Revious, a broker with Frederick Ross who represented the firm.

Plante plans to restore the building's facade and list it on the National Register of Historic Places. He wants to start work in the next few months and finish the renovations by early winter.

"It's one of those quintessential buildings in LoDo that's unlike any other," Plante said. "It's a corner (17th and Market streets), and it's unique in its size and appearance."

Plante will present his plans to the LoDo Design Review Board on April 5.

When it was built in 1896, the St. Elmo Hotel joined a plethora of small hotels clustered in LoDo to serve railroad travelers. It remained a hotel well into the 20th century, then stood vacant for a number of years.

When it was renovated in the 1980s, the building's first-floor facade was removed and garden- level windows were built in. Over the years, it has housed oil firms, small businesses and law firms.

Plante also has completed historic renovations on Platte Street, including the A.H. Root Building, home to Sushi Sasa, and the Zang Building at the base of the new Highland Bridge.

Collective Intellect Launches Next Generation of Media Intelligence

Collective Intellect Launches Next Generation of Media Intelligence,

a Comprehensive Media Research Tool Targeted to Financial Community

BOULDER, Colo., March 12, 2007 – Collective Intellect, Inc., (CI) an innovative provider of solutions enabling executives to obtain highly-relevant and critical pieces of information from unstructured online data sources, announced today the availability of the next generation of its Media Intelligence service, a comprehensive media research solution targeted to institutional investors, hedge fund traders and the broader financial community.

“We have added many important features to our solution, based on feedback from traders and analysts who are eager to refine their research strategies by receiving more targeted and relevant information quickly,” said Don Springer, chief executive officer of Collective Intellect. “Collective Intellect’s ability to take unstructured data, filter it and deliver only the most relevant information makes it a ‘must have’ research tool to complement other services used by the investment community, such as Bloomberg.”

CI’s filtering approach includes three phases. First, CI creates TopicNets for all content areas that are of interest to institutional investors. A TopicNet is a collection of content sources which are related to a single topic. With its TopicNet algorithm, CI can identify and rank the most credible sources of information, which is a critical part of CI’s differentiation from other tools that attempt to filter unstructured data. Second, CI’s technology eliminates irrelevant, duplicate, or splog-sourced information. Finally, each individual posting is ranked for relevancy using an adaptive, multi-factor algorithm which incorporates feedback from end-users through a content voting system. This approach ensures that individual users receive content that is most relevant for their own investment research requirements.

"There is a great deal of highly relevant, and often untapped, information about companies, products, consumer trends and hot button issues to be found in the unstructured text in blogs, message boards and other types of new media”, said Fern Halper, Partner at analyst firm Hurwitz & Associates. “Solutions such as those offered by Collective Intellect cull this unstructured text and can provide traders, analysts and others with targeted and relevant information that they can use in their decision making process

Principal features of Collective Intellect’s new solution include:

• Real-time feeds of blogs, message boards and other types of unstructured data, combined with traditional news media
• Simple, easy-to-read user interface that gives traders an immediate view into what’s happening now with the stocks, sectors and industries they track
• Minute-by-minute refreshes of content
• Intuitive methods for refining searches about tickers and themes
• Hosted desktop and email delivery

About Collective Intellect

Collective Intellect, Inc. specializes in comprehensively tracking, filtering and ranking media content for the largest Wall Street trading firms and the Fortune 500. The company’s management team has worked in business intelligence for a combined 50+ years, creating tools to solve the challenge of filtering unstructured information. The company’s breakthrough technology helps analysts and portfolio managers in financial services, and a wide range of executives within enterprises uncover valuable, relevant nuggets of information that reside in the vast amount of unstructured data available today, including blogs, message boards and chat rooms as well as traditional media.

Customers include some of the largest trading desks on Wall Street, Fortune 100 consumer goods manufacturers and Fortune 100 pharmaceutical companies. Collective Intellect is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, and is funded by Appian Ventures and other investors.

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Avid4 In the News

There was a great article in this weekend's Denver post about David Secunda and our portfolio company Avid4 Adventure.

An excerpt:

"Before kids, you threw your tent and cooler in the back of the car, strapped your bike on top, made a quick stop at King Soopers and Applejack Liquors on your way out of town - and you were gone, baby, gone.

And then the kids came along. With each new child, the amount of gear, planning time, cleanup time, cargo space and negotiation skills required for an outing increases logarithmically.

So now your idea of an exciting weekend activity is Saturday at Target, am I right?

You have to take three days off work to prepare for a weekend skiing trip and another three days afterward to recover.

David Secunda saw a market opportunity four years ago among people who came to Colorado for the outdoor lifestyle, then settled down and started a family."

The entire article can be found here