Archive for April 2008

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorHouston–Habitat for Humanity Northwest Harris County and Azorim, a Boymelgreen Holdings development company, have partnered to deconstruct the office building and low-rise commercial structures located at San Felipe Street and Woodway Drive, in Houston’s Memorial Villages area. In its place, Azorim will build a 223-unit LEED certified condominium project, which…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWest Orange, N.J.–The township of West Orange, N.J. Mayor John McKeon and redeveloper Prism Capital Partners recently unveiled Phase I of Edison Village, New Jersey’s largest non-waterfront adaptive reuse mixed-use project, at an event attended by more than 250 guests, including former N.J. Governor Richard Codey.Edison Village is situated on…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorPhiladelphia–The Falcone Group, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based company specializing in real estate, telecommunications and financial industries, is making history with the redevelopment of Two Liberty Place. The building–the second-tallest in Philadelphia–will now become the tallest residential building in the city, and will also afford people the opportunity to live above William…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorVernon Hills, Ill.–Opus North Corp., a Rosemont, Ill.-based division within The Opus Group, a Minneapolis-based full-service real estate development company, has begun its first move-ins at Port Clinton Place.Located along the Milwaukee Ave. corridor, Port Clinton Place, consists of 66 condominiums and four rowhome buildings with 20 units. It is a…

Washington, D.C.–As the start of the spring sales season kicked off, new home sales hit their lowest level in more than 16 years, the Commerce Department said Thursday.The median year-to-year new home price dropped by the biggest amount in nearly four decades, according to the New York Times. In March, sales of new homes fell…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorWichita, Kan.–Arbor Commercial Funding, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidy of Uniondale, N.Y.-based Arbor Commercial Mortgage LLC, recently funded two loans to refinance two Wichita, Kan. properties totaling 182 residences, Stratford East and Stratford West.The two 10-year loans, which totaled $4,100,000 under the Fannie Mae DUS 3MaxExpress product lines, are on a 30-year…

London–U.K. bank mortgage approvals last month fell to their lowest point in more than a decade, according to the London-based British Bankers’ Association.The figures indicate how stricter lending is reducing housing market action, the Financial Times said. Lenders in the U.K. have become more stringent about issuing loans–and also have increased rates and taken away…

Seattle–Starbucks forecast lower fiscal second quarter earnings on Wednesday and said the weak housing market has reduced demand for its product, the Seattle Times said.Seattle-based Starbucks said earnings will probably decline to 15 cents a share, a drop from 19 cents last year.Full-year earnings per share were also forecast to be “somewhat lower” than 2007’s…

Calabasas, Calif.–As the housing market continues to soften, two of the biggest U.S. homebuilders–Calabasas, Calif.-based Ryland Group Inc. and Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Pulte Homes Inc.–announced quarterly losses this week, CNNMoney.com reports. Ryland and Pulte released their first-quarter results after the closing bell on Wednesday. Ryland posted a first quarter loss of $29.3 million, after a…