By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDallas–Humphreys & Partners Architects launched a landscape architecture firm (HPLA) on the occasion of Earth Day, which was celebrated earlier this week.Humphreys LEED APs (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professionals) specialize in planning and design of sustainable outdoor spaces that are functional, cost-effective, visually pleasing and environmentally friendly. “The landscape design of a multifamily project is vital to its success, and research indicates that the quality of the landscaping represents a key factor in attracting and retaining clients,” Dan Erlandson, who runs the landscape architecture department at Humphreys & Partners, tells MHN. “If…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSanger, Calif.–NorthMarq Capital’s Los Angeles office recently arranged a $4 million first mortgage for Tangerine Hill Apartments, a 126-unit multifamily complex located in Sanger, Calif. Financing was based on a seven-year term and a 30-year amortization schedule and was arranged for the borrower by NorthMarq through its seller-servicer relationship with Freddie Mac. This transaction has a 4.77 percent start rate with a 7.10 percent lifetime cap and a flexible prepayment schedule.Arbor Closes $638,600 Fannie Mae DUS Small LoanSleepy Hollow–Arbor Commercial Funding recently completed a $638,600 loan under the Fannie Mae DUS small loan product line…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorSeattle—Opus Northwest LLC’s Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, a 38-story, 143-unit luxury condominium development in Seattle, has averaged one new sale per week since the beginning of the year and the building’s official grand opening. And it has closed more than half of the scheduled closings.“We worked very hard to identify and make sure that we weren’t selling our homes to speculators,” Tom Parsons, senior vice president and general manager of Opus Northwest, tells MHN. “Most of the people who signed up to buy three years ago always intended to live in the building,” he adds.Parsons expects…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Existing-home sales (including single-family, condos and townhomes) eased in March but first-time buyers are responding to low mortgage interest rates and tax credits, according to the National Association of Realtors. Existing condominium and co-op sales fell 4.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 470,000 units in March from 490,000 in February, and are 17.8 percent below the 572,000-unit pace a year ago. The median existing condo price was $177,600 in March, down 18.7 percent from March 2008. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the market appears to be stabilizing with modest monthly…

The Bozzuto Group recently hired Jamie Gorski (pictured) as senior vice president of corporate marketing, where she will run the marketing department and provide strategic marketing direction for each of Bozzuto’s six integrated companies. Gorski previously worked as senior vice president and chief marketing officer for KETTLER and as vice president of marketing for Archstone-Smith and for Charles E. Smith Residential. Gorski has won numerous marketing awards, including 30 Pillars of the Industry Awards from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).She talks to MHN Online News Editor Anuradha Kher about how marketing can be useful in surviving a recession,…

McLean, Va.–David Kellermann (pictured), acting chief financial officer and senior vice president of Freddie Mac, was found dead in his home in Reston, Va. early this morning. He was 41 years old. The Fairfax County, Va. police department said it was about 4:48 a.m. local time when his death was discovered and that there were no signs of foul play. Police officer Shelley Broderick said early reports from others in the department indicated Kellermann’s wife reported a suicide, though the cause of death hasn’t been determined.The two mortgage-finance companies, McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac and Washington D.C.-based Fannie Mae, were seized…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorBellingham, Wash.–Arbor Commercial Funding LLC recently completed funding of a $8,775,000 loan under the Fannie Mae DUS product line for the 171-unit complex known as Brampton Court Apartments (pictured) in Bellingham, Wash.The 10-year loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule and carries a note rate of 5.86 percent.Ginnie Mae Completes $756M Multifamily MBS LoanWashington, D.C.–The Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) has guaranteed its largest-ever multifamily construction loan issued by Prudential Huntoon Paige to help build Capital Health System (CHS), a state-of-the-art medical services facility in Trenton, N.J. The $756 million Ginnie Mae multifamily mortgage-backed security…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–The national mover rate declined from 13.2 percent in 2007 to 11.9 percent in 2008, the lowest since the U.S. Census began tracking this data in 1948.During this period, renters were five times more likely to move than homeowners. More than one-in-four people (27.7 percent) living in renter-occupied housing units lived in a different residence one year earlier. By comparison, the mover rate of people living in owner-occupied housing units was 5.4 percent, according to the bureau’s survey.In 2008, 35.2 million people one year and older changed residences in the U.S. within a year,…