Archive for April 2008

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorRichardson, Texas–Winston Capital Corp. and L&B Realty Advisors recently broke ground on Brick Row, a $140-million mixed-use, transit-oriented development located adjacent to the DART Spring Valley Light Rail Station in Richardson, Texas. Located across 30 acres at the northwest corner of Spring Valley Road and Greenville Avenue, Brick Row features…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSanta Ana, Calif.–Evidence suggests that the United States is now at the beginning of a recession, but the apartment industry is best positioned to weather the downturn, according to Bob Bach, senior vice president and chief economist, Grubb & Ellis Company.There is fair amount of investor demand in the multifamily…

Newcastle–Shares of Newcastle-based Barratt Developments Plc–Britain’s second-biggest homebuilder by volume–fell by 6.1 percent in London trading after HBOS Plc, the U.K.’s biggest mortgage lender, said Thursday that home prices showed their biggest drop since 1992 last month, Bloomberg reports.Other builders also saw declines. Bellway Plc fell as much as 4 percent; Taylor Wimpey Plc dropped…

Chicago–The Federal Home Loan Banks of Dallas and Chicago ended their merger talks, first announced in August,  due to questions about the Chicago bank’s mortgage securities holdings.The halt  in negotiations is another indication that financial institutions are still suffering from mortgage market troubles. Increased defaults and dropping home prices have cut market home loan values,…

By Katelyn McWatter, Editorial InternStamford, Conn.–Ceebraid-Signal, the developer of Highgrove—Stamford’s first ultra-luxury condominium development—is bringing art to southern Connecticut, not only through creating elegant architecture, but funding museum exhibitions. Ceebraid-Signal has made a donation in support of the Bruce Museum’s upcoming 20th Century American Prints from the Bruce Museum Collection. The exhibition will highlight the…

Chicago–Pending U.S. home sales hit their lowest level in February since the National Association of Realtors’ index began–indicating the housing slump is far from over.The NAR seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes declined from a revised January reading of 86.2 to 84.6, according to the New York Times. Because of a one-…

Santa Monica, Calif.–Coastal properties in Southern California–including parts of Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach and Long Beach–are holding value better than mainland homes, according to the Los Angeles Times.In general, beachfront home prices have fallen slightly, but they so far haven’t seen the huge property value drops other areas of Southern California have experienced. The average…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorMissouri City, Texas–In a joint venture with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Red Group LLC, and Seattle, Wash.-based Leisure Care, Opus West Corp. recently broke ground on a mixed-use project to be built on 24.7 acres in the Houston suburb of Missouri City, Texas.The Colonial Lakes Village project includes a 222-unit independent senior…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorCharlotte—To help develop its sustainability initiatives, Crosland LLC, a Charlotte-based real estate company involved in residential, retail, office, land development, and general contracting, has named Jenny Vallimont sustainable manager.Vallimont, a LEED Accredited Professional since 2006, Vallimont leads Crosland’s sustainability team, which is comprised of 16 professionals in multiple business capacities. Vallimont’s…