$167.5 Million Construction Financing and Joint Venture Equity Secured by HFF for Student Housing Project at USC in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced today that it arranged a construction loan and joint venture equity totaling $167.5 million for University Gateway, a luxury student housing and ground-floor retail project adjacent to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

HFF senior managing director Paul Brindley and associate director John Crump worked exclusively on behalf of Urban Partners, LLC, Real Estate Capital Partners and Blackstone Real Estate Advisors (BREA), an affiliate of The Blackstone Group LP, to secure the fully-underwritten construction loan through Wells Fargo's Merchant Banking Group. RCG Longview Equity Fund, L.P. provided the equity.

Due for completion in summer of 2010, University Gateway will have 421 one- and two-bedroom units, more than 78,000 square feet of ground-floor neighborhood and community serving retail space including restaurants, and a nine-level, 770-space parking garage. The eight-story property is located at the northwest corner of Figueroa Street and Jefferson Boulevard adjacent to USC and the new Galen Events Center.

"University Gateway is one of the most highly anticipated projects to be underway in the USC area in years, in part due to the nearly 7,000 bed shortage the University is facing for student housing," said Brindley. "It is anticipated that 1,600-bed University Gateway will become the preeminent place for students to live, shop and dine."

Urban Partners LLC is a downtown Los Angeles-based real estate planning, investment, development and management firm whose principals include Paul Keller, Dan Rosenfeld and Matt Burton. Urban Partners also operates an affiliate project delivery and construction management firm, Keller CMS.

Real Estate Capital Partners, L.P., is a leading real estate investment advisor. Since its inception, the firm has invested approximately $8 billion in U.S. real estate on behalf of high net worth families and European institutions. RECP has a staff of 64 acquisition, development, management and financial control specialists with offices in New York, Dallas, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Frankfurt, Germany.

Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, LP is an affiliate of The Blackstone Group, LP. Since 1992, its real estate business has been a diversified, global operation, with investments in a variety of sectors and geographic locations. Blackstone has managed six general real estate opportunity funds and two internationally focused real estate opportunity funds; a third international fund is currently being raised. Its real estate opportunity funds have made significant investments in lodging, major urban office buildings, residential properties, distribution and warehousing centers and a variety of real estate operating companies.

RCG Longview Equity Fund L.P. is an investment platform formed to carry out the real estate investment activities of Ramius LLC and The Feil Organization.

Wells Fargo Real Estate Merchant Banking offers a broad range of flexible financing to experienced real estate owners, developers, and investors in all property types for the acquisition, refinancing or development of income-producing properties. With offices across the country, Wells Fargo's commercial real estate professionals deliver sound financial products in all major markets and they understand the importance of flexibility, consistency, trust and building lasting relationships with their customers.

HFF (NYSE:HF) operates out of 18 offices nationwide and is a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services to the U.S. commercial real estate industry. HFF offers clients a fully integrated national capital markets platform including debt placement, investment sales, structured finance, private equity, note sales and note sale advisory services and commercial loan servicing.