Borelli Investment Co. Leads Team Effort to Keep
Approximately 175 Jobs in San Jose

Business and government cooperation results in clean approval for the sale of a warehouse used for textile rentals and commercial laundry services in North San Jose industrial park area.

San Jose, Calif., July 11, 2006 — The owner of a 53,760 square foot warehouse on Junction Avenue in San Jose was ready to move. Part of a national company that specializes in uniforms and other branded identity apparel programs and services, managers of the local facility felt the time was right to relocate its operations to another building in San Jose.

Brokers from Borelli Investment Company quickly identified a potential buyer—Alsco. Alsco is a global leader in a similar line of business, with service centers in more than 120 locations and ten countries worldwide. Every day, the privately owned company picks up, cleans and delivers millions of flat linens, uniforms, chef’s outfits, cleanroom garments, dust control items, and more. Equipped with a Class One clean room—and located near Highways 880, 101, and 680, as well as Mineta San Jose International Airport—the building was a perfect location for Alsco’s proposed San Jose service center.

The challenge was the transaction needed to close quickly. And posing a major obstacle was the fact that the City of San Jose had rezoned the area around the warehouse for industrial park uses. This made the textile rentals and commercial laundry services performed in the warehouse a nonconforming use under the city’s code.

“Obviously, the existing business could continue to provide its services after the rezoning, as long as it occupied the facility,” explained Tom Zolezzi, one of two brokers from Borelli Investment Company who worked on the transaction. “But to facilitate the sale to Alsco, we needed to get a ruling from City of San Jose Planning Department that because Alsco’s operations would be nearly identical to the selling party’s, this was a legal, nonconforming use.”

Dealing with the Spin Cycle

At first, the challenges appeared to be difficult, with much uncertainty spinning around the sale. Business timetables for both Alsco and the seller required a short contingency period and quick close. If that did not occur, both businesses would be forced to seek alternate sites outside of San Jose, costing the city the 75 jobs at the present facility, plus 75 to 100 jobs at the new San Jose facility the seller planned to occupy.

The initial reading of the zoning ordinance from the City of San Jose Planning Department caused timing concerns—with the department requesting 30 to 45 days or more to review the application before issuing a decision that might or might not allow the sale to proceed.

But Tom Zolezzi and Chris Anderson of Borelli Investment Company—along with Gerry DeYoung from planning and engineering consultant Ruth and Going—worked closely over a very short timeframe with the staffs of both the City of San Jose Redevelopment Agency and the San Jose Planning Department, and a solution was found.

“With everyone on the same page, we were able to address the San Jose Planning Department’s concerns and prove that Alsco’s business represented a legal, nonconforming use,” said Zolezzi. “Contingencies were removed, and escrow proceeded, with the transaction closing on May 19th. We negotiated a good price for Alsco, and met both companies needs to move in a timely manner.”

The transaction involved not only the Junction Avenue warehouse with its nine dock doors, two grade-level doors, clean room, and large parking and truck area—but also 5.32 acres of prime land in North San Jose, perfect for future expansion, if needed. Selling price was approximately $5 million.

“The city’s vision and cooperative efforts accelerated the process and ensured we could meet Alsco’s timetable,” Zolezzi remarked. “This truly saved the 150 to 175 jobs that would have gone elsewhere, making it a clean win for the City of San Jose, as well as the buyer and seller.”

View Alsco Corporate website
Having celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, Borelli Investment Company is one of the oldest commercial real estate firms in the Santa Clara Valley.  The company provides a full range of commercial real estate services-from development and construction management to land sales and consulting for sales and leasing. More information about Borelli Investment Company’s services may be obtained by calling (408) 453-4700 or visiting www.borell-inv.com.

Contact: Ralph Borelli, CEO Borelli Investment Company 1770 Technology Dr. San Jose, CA 95110 Ph: 408.453.4700 Fax: 408.453.4636 E-mail: ralph@borelli.com

http://www.borelli.com

Borelli Enters Strategic Alliance with GD Commercial Real Estate

GD Commercial named the exclusive broker to the Asian marketplace for
hot business condominium category.

San Jose, Calif., July 6, 2006 — Borelli Investment Company, a long-time leader in commercial real estate services and a pioneer in the development of business condominiums in Silicon Valley, has announced that it has entered a strategic alliance with GD Commercial Real Estate to market its business condominium projects to the Asian marketplace.  The exclusive marketing agreement with GD Commercial covers two current Borelli business condominium projects — AirTech Office Condominiums, at 1754 Technology Drive in San Jose, and Junction Office Center, at 2051–2055 Junction Avenue in San Jose.

“Business condominiums have been a very hot category in Silicon Valley for several years,” said Ralph N. Borelli, chief executive officer of Borelli Investment Company. “The Asian community has shown a strong interest in our product from the beginning. We decided it was time to formalize our marketing efforts to this community, and when we were searching for a strong partner that knew the market, the GD Commercial name kept coming up.”

Borelli Investment Company and GD Commercial will work together to develop collateral material, web sites, and advertising in several Asian languages for Borelli’s existing business condominium projects. GD Commercial has well-established contacts not only in the Bay Area, but also with business owners and investors in China and other Asian countries, who want to open operations in the U.S.

View San Jose Mercury News article about this strategic alliance.

“There is a significant amount of interest in China right now in expanding to dynamic U.S. markets such as Silicon Valley,” explained John Luk, executive managing director of GD Commercial. “We have established relationships both here and overseas that we think can work to both Borelli’s and our benefit. Borelli develops high-quality business condominiums, available in spaces as small as 750 square feet. That makes its properties very marketable.”

AirTech Office Condominiums is a two-story garden office building with 40 office condos totaling 55,870 square feet. Borelli invested $3 million in the conversion and upgrade. Amenities include high-speed Internet access, a common conference room with large video screen, individual heating and air conditioning controls, full carpeting, and coffee bars in each suite. Down payments start as low as $41,000 — with only four suites left to sell.

Junction Office Center is a two-building, two-story office complex in North San Jose’s Golden Triangle. The 77,404 square feet of space is divided into 52 offices. Tenants and visitors enter through formal lobbies with polished granite floors and high ceilings. Amenities include carpeting and coffee bars in each unit, a common conference room with large-screen video, T1 fiber optic cable for high-speed Internet access, and showers in the bathrooms to use after a run or bike ride. Borelli invested nearly $10 million in the Junction conversion. Down payments start as low as $27,900.

“With rents beginning to rise, ownership makes a lot of sense now for businesses or professional practices of any size,” Borelli remarked. “Owners can lock in occupancy costs, and enjoy tremendous tax advantages and the potential for long-term appreciation. It really doesn’t make sense to lease if you can own.”

“We look forward to working with Borelli to market these two outstanding projects, and then continue to explore other projects in the future that provide mutual benefits,” Luk added.

Borelli Investment Company is one of the oldest commercial real estate firms in the Santa Clara Valley, with more than 50 years of experience. The company provides a full range of commercial real estate services—from development and construction management to land sales and consulting for sales and leasing. More information about Borelli Investment Company’s services may be obtained by calling (408) 453-4700 or visiting www.borelli.com.

GD Commercial is a leading, partner-owned US commercial real estate company comprised of real estate professionals including licensed brokers, financial analysts, research professionals, and marketing specialists. The company’s range of services includes office, industrial and retail leasing; tenant representation services; property acquisitions and dispositions; corporate advisory services; mortgage financing; and consulting and research. Visit www.gdcommercial.com or call (800) 939-8168.

Contact: Ralph Borelli, CEO Borelli Investment Company 1770 Technology Dr. San Jose, CA 95110 Ph: 408.453.4700 Fax: 408.453.4636 E-mail: ralph@borelli.com

 

http://www.borelli.com

Forging New Links

Asian-American broke represents a shif in valley’s business property marketplace.

By Katherine Conrad, San Jose Mercury News, July 4, 2006

Commercial broker John Luk, the force behind San Jose’s Pacific Rim Shopping Center and the Bay Area’s largest Asian marketplace, Milpitas Square, now has a new focus: selling business space to the Asian community.

In a deal he struck with San Jose-based Borelli Investment, Borelli builds the office condominiums and Luk finds the buyers. They are chiefly Silicon Valley professionals who like doing business with people they know, who would rather own than rent their offices, and who tend to be Asian.

A Chinese-born American, Luk represents a shift in local commercial real estate, a lucrative business that still relies heavily on inside knowledge and trust. Brokers typically have been white.

Now that’s beginning to change, as Silicon Valley’s diverse entrepreneurs play a growing role in the office market. Developers who want to sell to small businesses need a conduit.

“We don’t speak the lingo,” said Borelli, who leads one of Silicon Valley’s oldest commercial real estate and development firms. “And we hope to sell the condominium units faster.”

Luk, who speaks Mandarin, is one of just a few Asian-Americans selling commercial real estate full time in Silicon Valley, others in the broker community said. He has been carving a niche for himself since he opened GD Commercial Real Estate in Milpitas three years ago.

It seems a likely endeavor for the man, who sees himself as a builder of bridges between cultures, communities and even continents. Asians believe strongly in property ownership and know how to pool their resources, he said, but they need a broker to help guide them through the process.

“We deal with every buyer,” he said. “The big boys don’t take time to respond to the small guys — we are the small guys.”

Though there are many Asian-Americans in the residential real estate industry, commercial real estate has attracted few Asians, said Olivia Jang of California Best Investment Realty in Cupertino.

“I know John Luk,” Jang said. “I know him, since in the Chinese community, there’s not so many commercial agents. There’s only him, me and a few ABCs — that’s what we call American-born Chinese — a few younger guys.”

Jang said the commercial side is a tough field to break into, especially if you don’t fit the stereotype.

“Most commercial agents are white males,” she said. “So for the Chinese, even the first generation born here, it’s not so easy to get into this field. Commercial real estate is hard, it’s more complicated and you need more knowledge.” For example, she said, there are no easily accessible listings for office properties, as there are for homes. Brokers have to rely on connections to get business.

Luk, who came to the United States in 1975 as a nurse, broke into the industry while caring for flower growers in the emergency room. Many could not speak English, so Luk was their interpreter.

He discovered that they needed help, first to negotiate better business deals for fertilizer and seed and then to sell their property, as their fields of flowers made way for development.

Three years ago, he decided to launch GD Commercial, where 15 brokers with roots in China, Vietnam and India work to serve Asian investors. Depending on Luk’s mood, the GD in the name either stands for global domain or good deal.

Luk expects the strategic alliance he has formed with Borelli Investment will take his firm to the next level. Luk is already marketing the commercial condos to the Asian-American community here. But his ambitions extend all the way to China, where he recently opened an office in the southern city of Guangzhou to encourage Chinese investors to buy a piece of America.

In the next few weeks, Luk said, 10 Chinese investors will tour Borelli’s condo projects in Ringwood Business Center and Junction Office Center.

The Borelli name ought to be fairly well-known among Asian-Americans, since two-thirds of his condo buyers are either Asian-born or of Asian ancestry, Borelli said. But now that interest rates are rising, leading to a slowdown in commercial condo sales, he is interested in finding new buyers for his product.

“There’s 1.3 billion people in mainland China and 1 billion people in India, and a big segment want to come to the United States,” Borelli said.

Under a program Congress established in 1990, called the EB-5 visa, an investor willing to invest $1 million and hire 10 employees in this country can get a green card after about a year.

“It is a lot of work to be the bridge,” Luk said. “But China is the largest-growing economy in the world. Why not have them come and do business in San Jose?”

Borelli, Luk said, does not know China, but he knows the Asians are valuable to his business.

Borelli isn’t the only one. Danny Yu, a commercial broker with NAI/BT Commercial, said he, Tenny Tsai and Jim Kovaleski, all BT brokers, went to China in November to check out investment opportunities.

“The economy in China is growing and a lot of individuals are making money,” said Yu, a broker since 1983. “They like to invest outside the country. There’s still a trust issue between them and their government. The rules are changing every day and they don’t know when the government will flip.”

As Luk said, “There’s a lot of millionaires in China and most of the billionaires are in their mid-30s and early 40s. The timing is getting closer and closer to encourage them to go out of their country and internationalize. This is the land of opportunities and the land of immigrants.”

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Contact Katherine Conrad at kconrad@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5073.

 

To improve its responsiveness to clients and better address market opportunities, Borelli Investment Company has promoted two of its long-time executives—shifting appropriate job descriptions and responsibilities.

In the restructuring, Buddy R. Parsons — who has been with Borelli for all but two years since 1978 — has been named president of Borelli Investment Company. Tom Purtell — who joined the firm in 1995 — has been promoted to chief operating officer. And while Ralph N. Borelli, son of founder, Nelo Borelli, has stepped down as president of the firm after nearly 30 years, he continues as CEO of Borelli Investment Company. The changes all take effect immediately.

In his new role as president, Buddy R. Parsons will be responsible for day-to-day activities in client relations, business development, sales force management, and acquisitions. Most recently, Buddy had been vice president-asset management, specializing in property and asset management, brokerage consulting services, and investment services. In the past few years, he was involved in more than 500 lease transactions and building sales for Borelli totaling approximately $70 million.

As chief operating officer for the company, Tom Purtell will oversee all day-to-day operations. In his more than a decade at Borelli, he has worked as a development partner, property manager, and an accountant. Before joining Borelli in 1995, Tom was district manager for Hollywood Video, helping to open that company’s first stores in California and direct its rapid growth phase.

Borelli Remains as CEO; Wins Awards

So, what will Ralph Borelli do after nearly 30 years as the sole person at the helm of Borelli Investment Company? Plenty. By freeing himself of much of the day-to-day decision-making, Ralph can focus on Borelli Investment Company’s longer-range vision, development projects, and the often-complicated land transactions that take place in Silicon Valley. This is a special area of expertise for both Ralph and the firm. In fact, Ralph was once again honored as the Association of Silicon Valley Brokers (ASVB) land broker of the year, repeating his win of the same award a year earlier.

The total value of Ralph’s transactions last year also earned him recognition as a CoStar Power Broker for 2005 by CoStar Group, a leading provider of information services to commercial real estate professionals nationwide. During the year, Ralph completed ten land transactions totaling nearly 504 acres and valued at $136.1 million—virtually all of that in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Bottom line — it’s the same great people at Borelli, only now we’ll be even better able to respond to your needs,” Ralph says. “We’ve always stressed the team concept at Borelli. Beyond Buddy, Tom, and me, we have a tremendous staff of commercial real estate professionals that together deliver the highest quality service in the Bay Area. These promotions better position the firm to keep meeting our clients’ requirements for years to come.”

Harlequin His the Racetrack

NASCAR Romances a Hit with Fans

By Mark Emmons, San Jose Mercury News, June 21, 2006

Let’s just say “In the Groove” is a racy novel.

Sarah is a former kindergarten teacher forced to take a job driving the bus of jet-setting and, predictably, super-sexy NASCAR driver Lance. She’s unimpressed with his fame but, according to the back cover, “whenever he comes near her she turns hot as race fuel.”

And, of course, the spark plugs fly.

Yes, the prose is overheated — but then that’s precisely the idea. The brainchild of Pamela Britton, a graduate of San Jose’s Pioneer High School, “In the Groove” is the first collaboration between NASCAR and Harlequin.

Welcome to romance in the pits.

“When they first told me that there was going to be a Harlequin romance novel about NASCAR, I said, `You’ve got to be kidding,’ ” said driver Carl Edwards, who will race in Sunday’s Dodge/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma.

“But I’ve since seen women at the racetrack, sitting there, reading these books. So if you’re going to be reading a romance book, you might as well read about auto racing.”

Somebody’s reading it. Released in February, “In the Groove” had a first printing of 200,000 copies. Britton’s second book, “On the Edge,” comes out in the fall, and she is working on a third. There are plans for about two dozen NASCAR romance novels by various authors.

Britton, 40, a longtime race fan and self-taught writer, also is a symbol of how successfully NASCAR has barreled into popular culture. Britton said she even signed more autographs than driver Jeff Gordon at this year’s Daytona 500.

“I’m just your average, ordinary, everyday person who got lucky in this publishing thing,” Britton said. “And to hear so many people talking about this just blows my mind. Women have embraced the book, and their husbands have, too.”

Macho NASCAR gearheads reading romance books? That, Britton believes, is the secret of her success.

Finding the right gear

Stock car racing and steamy romance stories ought to mix like, well, Chevys and Fords. NASCAR traditionally has been a mostly Southern male thing — a testosterone-fueled world of beer and motor oil.

But the sport now has a wide, and growing, audience. NASCAR’s annual foray to Infineon Raceway is Northern California’s biggest one-day sporting event. The TV ratings are second only to the NFL’s, and among its 75 million fans are 30 million women.

From Harlequin’s perspective, the women of “NASCAR Nation” represent an untapped market.

“I know people think this is funny, but we’ve had love stories set in hospitals, in war time, and all over the world,” Harlequin spokeswoman Marleah Stout said. “So why not in NASCAR, too?”

That’s an idea Britton had been pitching for years.

She always loved racing, competing in BMX as a kid and later graduating to drag racing (she reached speeds of more than 120 mph in her 1967 Camaro in local events). She also worked as a scorer for NASCAR truck races.

But Britton, who had attended college for just a year and was working in a San Jose commercial real-estate office (Borelli Investment Company), also harbored a desire to write — a dream inadvertently inspired by her first husband.

“My ex didn’t think I had the ability to write books, so he kind of challenged me to do it,” she said.

A reader of romance novels, she decided to try writing one in 1996. Two years later she sold a historical love story and a career was born. Among her 15 books are titles such as “Cowboy Trouble,” “Seduced” and “Enchanted by Your Kisses.” Over the years, she also kept working on racing stories.

“But I couldn’t sell them to save my life because nobody on the West Coast knew what NASCAR was,” Britton said.

Then last year Harlequin published her stock car book “Dangerous Curves.” Britton encouraged the publisher to contact NASCAR about licensing a series of racing stories. NASCAR, which had expanded into unlikely areas such as women’s fashion and housewares, went lug nuts.

“In the Groove” follows the standard Harlequin formula of a plucky heroine and hunky guy who, in this case, meet when he literally drives into her. The cover, complete with NASCAR’s logo, disguises the fact that it’s a romance novel. (Hint: There’s no Fabio.)

“It looks like a guy book,” Britton said. “Now when you turn it over, you can see it’s a romance. But it has not stopped guys from reading this book.”

Britton said the romance novelists who find mainstream success attract some male readership. She believes her books do that with their accurate portrayals of the sport.

“The thing men like is that I get stuff right about the technical parts of racing,” she said. “I take pride in the fact that I can tell you what gear a car will be in coming off pit road into Turn Two at Dover. If I don’t know, I call up Doug.”

That would be Doug Richert, the crew chief for driver Greg Biffle. Britton and Richert, a Saratoga native who attended Lynbrook High School, have been friends for years.

“As she would get ideas for her books and tell me about them, I would say, `Well, I would do it like this,’ ” Richert said. “She really wanted to make sure it sounded like she knew what she was talking about. She was even in Charlotte with us at this past Coca-Cola 600 just sitting in the garage taking notes.”

Because Britton also has a growing number of teenage readers, she makes sure her NASCAR books are PG-13. The off-the-track action, so to speak, happens behind closed doors.

The romance novel idea has caught on so well in NASCAR that Edwards even has a cameo in an upcoming book written by another author.

“I don’t get the girl, but I’m helping the guy get the girl,” Edwards said.

Her own victory lane

What Britton got is a very nice lifestyle.

Outgoing with an easy laugh, she lives in the town of Cottonwood, near Redding, on a 15-acre ranch with her husband and their 5-year-old daughter. She hasn’t lost her drive — writing about 20 pages a day while sitting in a coffee shop.

Britton’s husband, Michael Baer, will chide her playfully not to get a big head when she travels in NASCAR country because now she is recognized. But back home, most people don’t know what she does.

If anyone speaks ill of the romance novel genre to her, though, they will probably get an earful.

“Whenever I get a question about writing `those’ books, I always ask if they ever watch `those’ movies, like `Sleepless in Seattle,’ ” said Britton, who will be signing books at Infineon this weekend. “Everybody likes romance, and I’m very proud of what I do.”

The novel she’s writing now is about an aerospace engineer who is thrown into the NASCAR world and falls for a team owner.

“But I’m halfway through, and I’ve really started to like the driver,” Britton said. “So now I’m thinking that maybe she should end up with him instead. He’s kind of a Kurt Busch type,” referring to one of NASCAR’s bad boys. “So I’m not sure yet.”

Either way, the motors will be revving.