The green movement in commercial real estate has caught on like wildfire and even with the recession having left most clutching their pocketbooks, it continues to spread. Now Columbia, Md.-based Enterprise Community Investment Inc. plans to take the trend to new heights with the kicking off its $4 billion Green Communities initiative, which is designed to propel the greening of affordable housing development across the country.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed green legislation over the weekend, as covered by CPE on Monday, but also nestled in the raft of bills that he signed were major overhauls of the rules governing residential mortgages. The thrust of the reforms was to help prevent some of the mortgage origination abuses that were rampant in the mid-2000s, and which did their part to inflate the housing bubble.

The Cornerstone Group has announced the delivery of the first building in the second phase of construction at Preserve at Boynton Beach, a 180-unit townhome and villa community.

The green movement in commercial real estate has caught on like wildfire and even with the recession having left most clutching their pocketbooks, it continues to spread. Now Columbia, Md.-based Enterprise Community Investment Inc. plans to take the trend to new heights with the kicking off its $4 billion Green Communities initiative, which is designed [...]

Major commercial real estate lender Capmark Financial Group Inc. and various subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which last month the company had warned was coming. The move will allow the Capmark to reorganize and, very likely, delay selling off some of its $20 billion-plus in assets at less-than-desirable prices.

Renters seek a safe haven when searching for an apartment. According to a national Apartments.com survey—conducted during national crime prevention month—96 percent of respondents said neighborhood crime rate influences where they choose to live.

New York–The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) recently closed on a $2.16 million permanent loan to refinance a newly constructed three-story rental building in the Parkville section of Brooklyn.

The property, located at 315 Foster Ave. between Seton Place and East 5th St., features nine, 1,005-square-foot two-bedroom units each with two bathrooms, separate dining areas, radiant heat and modern kitchens with granite countertops, hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances. Market rents are affordable to families at 110 percent of Area Median Income.

Whitman, one of New Jersey’s leading environmental and engineering management firms, has announced that the Somerville landfill redevelopment project has been designated a Brownfield Development Area (BDA) by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).

In testimony reminiscent of dogs getting credit-card applications approved back during the mid-2000s credit bubble, a Treasury Department inspector told Congress that kids as young as four years old have been able to receive $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credits. “Some key controls were missing to prevent an individual from erroneously or fraudulently claiming the credit,” J. Russell George told the House Ways and Means Committee’s oversight panel on Thursday.

Investors in U.S. REITs and other U.S. property companies should consider investing in publicly traded REITs and property companies abroad. Within developed markets globally, the aggregate equity market capitalization of this sector totals $600-plus billion, two thirds of which are outside of the United States. My team and I continue to identify very compelling investment opportunities in international markets and encourage investors to consider “going global” as part of their real estate allocations.