MARKET SNAPSHOT: The Little Gem Known as Salt Lake City

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor  Salt Lake City—For those buyers looking for distressed assets in Salt Lake City’s multifamily market, don’t get your hopes up.“We are seeing people waiting on the sidelines for distressed properties to come to market. In Salt Lake City, that’s not what you want to be doing,” advises Richard Bird, regional…

Read More

Condo/Co-op Prices Rise in April Due to Increased Sales of Foreclosed/Distressed Properties

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Existing-home sales—including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops—increased 2.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million units in April from a downwardly revised pace of 4.55 million units in March, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Despite the increase, the number is 3.5 percent below…

Read More

‘The Green Picture’ with Erika Schnitzer: The Government’s Greening Initiatives

The USGBC recently released its “Top Ten Ways to Use Recovery Funds for Green Buildings.” In its introduction, the report notes that local governments have begun to think “holistically about how to use recovery dollars to advance sustainability in the built environment,” rather than basing change on a “project-by-project” basis. This is pretty evident in…

Read More

COUNTDOWN TO SAN DIEGO: Multifamily Conference Offers Advice on Circumventing Credit Crunch

Construction financing is still attainable, if you know where to look. Learn about obtaining and nenegotia ting for debt financing—including construction, acquisition and refinancing—in today’s difficult environment at the upcoming Multi-Housing World Leadership Summit 2009. The conference, which is produced in conjunction with Multi-Housing News magazine by Nielsen Business Media as part of the Nielsen…

Read More

TODAY’S DEALS: NorthMarq Capital Arranges $28.64M Sale and $23.599M Financing for 486-Unit Rental Community, and Other Transactions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew Britain, Conn.–NorthMarq Capital’s Capital Services Group East and NorthMarq Capital’s Miami office recently arranged both the sale of and first mortgage financing for Pebblebrook Apartments (pictured), a 486-unit multifamily property, located in New Britain, Conn. The property was purchased for $28.64 million. The financing of $23.599 million was based…

Read More

Slim Cooktop from Gaggenau Ideal for MF Kitchens

Ideal for an urban space or unusually shaped kitchen, Gaggenau’s slim CE 490 electric cooktop measures 36-in. wide and 13.5-in. deep. The rectangular-shaped unit opens up valuable counter space, while providing powerful cooking capabilities, a feature that makes it ideal for small multifamily kitchens.The cooktop features four ergonomically placed cooking areas and frying sensor technology…

Read More

Columbus Square’s First Phase Will Include One of NYC’s Largest Solar Panel Arrays

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorNew York—Stellar Management and the Chetrit Group’s Columbus Square, a green mixed-use community comprised of five buildings, 710 apartments and 300,000 sq. ft. of retail space, is set to open two of its buildings this summer.The 15-story, 100-unit 801 Amsterdam Avenue and the 29-story, 359-unit 808 Columbus Avenue are slated for…

Read More

After Lull in Sales, Auction Helps Condo Community Sell 43 Units

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAtlanta–An auction held at the Cosmopolitan at Buckhead helped the condominium project sell 43 units in two hours. Over 250 people attended the event. The 244-unit Cosmopolitan has been on the market since early 2007, but after the credit crisis hit and the economy started slowing down, demand for the…

Read More

Freddie Mac Launches New Finance Product for Multi-Housing Sector

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorMcLean, Va.–Freddie Mac has launched Series K-003 Structured Pass-Through Certificates (“K Certificates”), multifamily mortgage-backed securities that provide a new vehicle for the agency to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the multi-housing market in the U.S.The K Certificates are backed by approximately $1 billion in multifamily mortgage loans originated through…

Read More