MacFarlane Buys SF Site for Apartment Tower
San Francisco–MacFarlane Partners has acquired a development site at 1844 Market Street in San Francisco on which it intends to build an eight-story multifamily residential building. According to the developer, which specializes in urban revitalization, the building will consist of 113 rental apartments–99 market-rate and 14 affordable units–along with 5,500 square feet of street-level retail and an underground garage with 81 parking spaces.
Economy Watch: Conference Board Employment Index Slip-Slides Away
In more unsettling employment news, the Conference Board said on Monday that its Employment Trends Index declined for the second month in a row in May to 99.7, down from April’s revised figure of 100.1. On the other hand, the May figure is still up 5.3 percent from a year ago.
Upper West Side Property Shifts Gears to Rental
New York–The nine full-floor residences at 208 West 96th Street, developed by Manor Properties Group LLC, are no longer for sale. Instead, according to Manor Properties, the three-bedroom, three-bath units will be for rent, with the decision to go rental made in response to feedback during the initial marketing stages of the property’s sales campaign.
Economy Watch: Jobs Numbers Disappoint, But Overall Employment Picture Unchanged
Anemic hiring in May meant, essentially, that it was more of the same for the economy during the month. That is, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a lot of labor indicators were “essentially unchanged”–unchanged from crummy, unfortunately.
New Jersey Mixed-Use Property Recognized for Brownfield Redevelopment
Stafford Township, N.J.–Brownfield Renewal magazine recently honored the developer of Stafford Park, a mixed-use development in Stafford Township, N.J., with a Brownfield Renewal Award at the 14th National Brownfields Conference held in Philadelphia. The Stafford Park development, which was undertaken by the Walters Group, has a major multifamily component in the form of Stafford Park Apartments.
Economy Watch: May Employment Growth Weak
According to the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday, the U.S. economy added 54,000 jobs during May, which was a weak showing indeed, and too close for comfort to the crummy numbers published by ADP earlier in the week. The question now is whether the May numbers are a big bump in the road to recovery–and that road certainly is bumpy–or the start of a more sinister trend.
Yonkers IDA Completes Incentive Packages for Four Multifamily Properties
Yonkers, N.Y.–The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency (IDA) has closed on financial incentive deals for 10 residential and commercial projects in that city last year, including a number of affordable housing projects. All together, the residential projects are expected to create 282 new units of housing.
Economy Watch: ADP Says May Employment Pace Lackluster Indeed
The equity markets were all atwitter–that is, stock-index futures plunged–after ADP Employer Services reported on Wednesday morning that U.S. employers added only 38,000 jobs in May, compared with a revised ADP figure of 177,000 in April, which is the smallest increase reported by the payroll specialist since last September. The May figure was drastically less than anticipated.
SoCal Mortgage Banker Sees Burgeoning Opportunity in Multifamily Finance
Marina Del Rey, Calif.–Q10/Dwyer-Curlett has arranged $31.8 million in equity financing for the development of the Shores, a 544-unit apartment project to be built in Marina Del Rey. The deal is the first foray into multifamily finance by the company, which is a mortgage banking firm with three offices in southern California, and a member of Q10 Capital LLC, which specializes in commercial real estate finance.
Economy Watch: Case-Shiller Calls a Housing Double Dip
The Case-Shiller indexes were down again during the first three months of the year, and the consensus among residential market observers is that the home-price “double dip” is here–the phrasing that Case-Shiller uses to describe the state of the residential market, in fact.



