Sarasota Investment Community to have Access to Major Real Estate Transactions

Sarasota, FL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 10/13/2006 --Today, TRiTON Companies, a real estate development and investment firm with offices in Detroit and Sarasota, announced plans to launch the TRiTON Property Fund here. The TRiTON Property Fund is a Real Estate Investment Fund that will provide investors an alternative to stocks, bonds and other investment avenues.

“Our expertise at TRiTON has always been our ability to recognize real estate opportunities with great potential,” said Brent Virkus, president and CEO of TRiTON Companies. ”We’ve been very successful identifying deals that only a tiny fraction of the investment community is ever even aware of. These are high-worth transactions that close long before the general investor has any knowledge the opportunity even exists,” he explained. Virkus will channel that proficiency into the TRiTON Property Fund.

Prior to founding TRiTON Companies, Virkus managed high net-worth individuals’ investments at UBS Paine Webber and Merrill Lynch for a total of 10 years and developed many strong relationships with high net-worth individual and institutional investors along the way. Under his direction, TRiTON’s portfolio has grown an average of 300% annually.

“The focus of the Fund will be on real estate opportunities that feature waterfront or water view properties,” said Virkus. “Many of these investments will be in the Sarasota area so I thought it apropos to introduce the Fund here to give local investors a chance to realize the potential on projects that they normally wouldn’t have access to.”

Virkus is joined by some very high-profile Board members---financial heavyweights known for their world-class real estate expertise---who have joined not only in Principal and Advisory positions, but, said Virkus, “They’ve got skin in the game.”

Principal and Investment Board Member, Douglas A. Tibbetts, who also owns and manages Paradise Properties, L.LC., served as president and COO of Lend Lease Real Estate Investments (previously Equitable Real Estate) which was the nation’s largest and most diversified real estate company with $35 billion in assets under management. The company averaged over $10 billion in acquisitions, sales and financing each year. LLREI purchased ERE, a wholly owned and subsidiary of Equitable Life/AXA, in 1997 for $500 million.

Another principal and investment board member on the TRiTON Property Fund is Gary Sligar, Tibbetts’ partner in Paradise Properties. In 1989 Sligar founded, chaired and was CEO of COMPASS Management and Leasing. He sold the company to LaSalle Partners in 1998 and was named Vice Chairman. Upon the sale to LaSalle Partners, Compass had become a leading international property management and leasing company, operating in 400 cities on five continents with over 125 institutional investments, corporate and private clients with responsibility for more than 200 million square feet of space.

James B. Salter, C.C.I., C.P.M., who is president and CEO of CM&D is also a Principal and Investment Board Member on the TRiTON Property Fund. Salter’s career in the construction industry spans three decades. He is presently a building and development consultant for numerous redevelopment agencies throughout the western United States. CM&D provides exclusive construction and development project management to developers, architects, engineers, and municipalities with offices in six states and International experience from Antigua to Taipei.

TRiTON Companies purchased the Gold Bank Building property this spring and are building One Palm, an ultra luxury residential/retail project on the site in early 2007. They also recently purchased Sea Castles on Siesta Key. The property features 300 linear feet of private frontage directly on Crescent Beach. The Company currently has over $1billion in real estate assets in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii and Michigan---including Office, Retail, Hospitality and Residential developments---under management. For more information, visit www.TRiTONCompanies.com.

CONTACT:
Roxanne Joffe (941) 953-9191