Russia Retail Property Wins Award for Developers Amstar & Renaissance

NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia, July 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Amstar announced that Aura Shopping Center in Novosibirsk, Russia, has been awarded the 2012 "Gold Brick" Award for Russia's "Best Large Shopping Centre" by Commercial Real Estate, Russia ("CRE") at the 2012 CRE Federal Awards in St. Petersburg. Amstar in partnership with Renaissance Development developed the property, which opened during 2011. In addition to the award, Renaissance was recognized as the "Best Regional Development Company" during the awards ceremony. The CRE "Gold Brick" award is commonly viewed as the most prestigious award in Russian commercial real estate.

"We are very pleased to have received this recognition for the quality of design, construction and tenant mix of Aura Shopping Center," said Amstar Global President Jason Lucas. "The success of this property, despite being constructed and delivered during the depths of the financial crisis, exemplifies the resiliency of the Amstar-Renaissance joint venture and our ability to execute in the most difficult of environments."

Aura, a 61,000 m2 (656,599 square feet) enclosed mall in Novosibirsk, the third largest city in Russia, was developed during 2009 and 2010. The property is in a premier city center location within a five-minute walk of Lenin Square and the City's main street, Krasniy Prospect.  In 2009, Amstar was able to source and secure one of the only Russian construction loans provided during the financial crisis, allowing construction of the project to proceed. Aura Shopping Center has been 99% leased since its March 2011 grand opening.

Aura Shopping Center earned the prestigious CRE award after being judged on a variety of design and construction criteria by a jury of approximately 300 investors, developers, architects, appraisers and commercial real estate lawyers. "The slogan for the 2012 CRE Awards, 'It's all just the beginning!' was a very fitting slogan, not only for the event, but also for Amstar's commitment to bringing high quality institutional real estate to undersupplied Russian cities," said Lucas.

About Amstar:
Amstar Global Partners Ltd. is a global investment manager focused on creating value for its clients through the implementation of sound real estate-related investment strategies. The firm is an affiliate of Amstar Group, LLC, a real estate investment manager with more than 25 years of experience in acquisition, development, and capitalization of office, hotel, multifamily, industrial, and retail properties within the major markets of the United States and select international markets.

Together, Amstar Global Partners Ltd. and Amstar Group, LLC, collectively referred to as "Amstar", have approximately $1.9 billion in assets under management. For more information on Amstar, visit www.amstar.com.

About Renaissance:
Renaissance Development is the investment branch of Renaissance Engineering and Construction of Turkey, the world's third largest international retail contractor and 18th largest international general building contractor. Renaissance, which has more than 2.8 million m2 of commercial space and 11 shopping centers in Turkey, was awarded "Best Real Estate Developer in Turkey" by Euromoney Magazine in 2011. For more information about Renaissance visit the company's website at www.rendvlp.com.