Archive for May 2008

Washington, D.C.–After three months in a row of contraction, the U.S. service sector grew last month, the Institute for Supply Management said Monday. The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing composite index grew to 52 from 49.6. A reading over 50 indicates expansion.The service sector’s growth may be an indication that increasing costs and reduced demand…

Washington, D.C.–The federal investigation of the mortgage industry has increased in recent weeks, the New York Times reported Monday.A task force created by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal division–which includes federal prosecutors in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas and Atlanta–is studying mortgages that were issued with minimal or…

New York–New York landlords want to raise rents for the city’s 1 million rent-stabilized tenants to offset higher energy and other costs, the New York Daily News reports.Landlords say they need a 10 percent minimum rent increase to fund higher heating oil, water and sewer bills and the general cost of maintaining older buildings. Roughly…

Taipei–Real estate in Taiwan is booming due to expectations that money from mainland China will soon spread to the area.Once considered one of Asia’s poorest investment opportunities, the Nationalist Party’s win in the March 22 presidential election helped buoy Taiwan’s markets, The Wall Street Journal reports.Incoming president Ma Ying-jeou has said he will open the…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Glory Capital recently acquired seven apartment buildings in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, for $18.3 million.Fort Greene is known for its historic, prewar buildings and the multitude of restaurant options along Fulton Street and DeKalb Avenue. Fort Green stretches from Park to Atlantic avenues, between…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNewton Square, Penn.–Balfour Beatty, a London-based international engineering, construction, investment and services group, recently acquired GMH Military Housing, the former military housing division of GMH Communities Trust, for $350.5 million.The military housing business of the company will now be managed under Balfour Beatty Communities, and will continue providing military housing.…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPortland, Ore.–Opus Northwest recently broke ground on Park, a mixed-use, 101-unit apartment building in the historic Alphabet District of Portland, Ore. The 94,727-sq.-ft. project will feature studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, 2,600 sq. ft. of retail space and 63 below-grade parking spaces.Located at 1830 Northwest Hoyt St. and 510 Northwest…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Catholic Charities Progress of Peoples Development Corp., the housing developer of Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, in conjunction with Enterprise, the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) recently completed the full rehabilitation of 10 affordable senior…