By Keat Foong, Executive EditorRichmond, Va.—Here is one way to encourage sales in this market: Find properties with an assumable loan.  Jones Lang LaSalle closed the sale of a pair of student housing buildings on the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) campus in Richmond, Va., for ING Real Estate. Kanye Anderson Real Estate Partners purchased the two properties, RAMZ Hall, located at 933 West Broad Street, and Capital Garage, located at 1301 West Broad Street, for a combined $19.3 million. “When these assets went out in the market last summer, the debt markets were challenging, to say the least,” said Alex…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorBirmingham, Ala.–Grandbridge Real Estate Capital LLC recently closed a $3 million first mortgage loan secured by Feemstaer Lake Apartments in Tupelo, Miss. Senior Vice President John Segrest originated the fixed-rate, non-recourse loan. The refinance of the 112-unit apartment complex was funded by Grandbridge and sold to Fannie Mae under the DUS Early Rate Lock (ERL). Fannie Mae’s ERL feature lets borrowers manage interest rate risk by locking the interest rate up to 12 months in advance of funding.The transaction closed with an interest rate in the mid-six percent range and was based on a 10-year…

Boston and Atlanta–CWCapital LLC and Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) have formed ARA Finance—a joint venture of ARA and CWCapital. The national venture will provide a full range of mortgage finance services to ARA clients and will leverage CWCapital’s existing multifamily agency lending platform. Boston-based CWCapital is a licensed lender and servicer under Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (in select regions) and FHA.The venture marks the beginning of a new era for ARA which has, since its inception in 2003, focused solely on the brokerage of multihousing properties on behalf of an array of institutional, REIT, and private client sellers.“The formation of…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor Washington, D.C.–A person with a full-time job needs to earn an hourly housing wage of $17.84 to afford a two-bedroom rental home at the nation’s average Fair Market Rent (FMR), according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s (NLIHC) recently released annual Out of Reach report. The report provides data for every state, metropolitan area and county in the country showing how much a household must earn to afford a modest market-rate rental.According to the report, in 2009, the estimated median wage for workers in America is only $16.03. At the federal minimum wage…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorMcLean, Va.—Kettler Management Inc. has announced the expansion of its multifamily property management division, offering its property management and marketing services to clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.“Particularly in poor economic times, good managers are at a premium,” Cindy Clare, CPM, president of Kettler Management Inc., tells MHN. “There are new properties coming online that were not supposed to be apartments, and owners are looking for assistance with them.”This expansion, which marks the first time the company has expanded beyond its headquarters service area of Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., includes the addition of an apartment community…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorLos Angeles–NorthMarq Capital has arranged a $48.925 million first mortgage financing for Avondale at Warner Center (pictured), a 446-unit multifamily complex, located in Woodland Hills, Calif. Financing was based on a 10-year fixed term with a one-year floating option and a 30-year amortization schedule and was arranged for the borrower by NorthMarq through its seller-servicer relationship with Freddie Mac. Walker & Dunlop Closes $4.6M Acquisition Loan Ridgeland, Miss.–Walker & Dunlop provided a $4,578,000 acquisition loan for Parc at Ridgeland Apartments located in Ridgeland, Miss. The loan was structured with a five-year term and a 30-year…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorSan Jose, Costa Rica—Gensler, the global architecture, design and planning firm, recently organized a public conference on sustainable development in San Jose, Costa Rica, alongside the international engineering firm Buro Happold. “We wanted to focus on the vision of being able to give back to the communities we work in,” says Bob Balder, director of planning at Gensler, which has an office in San Jose.“San Jose: The Livable City” featured presentations by experts in multiple fields that focused on the sustainable growth of San Jose. At the forum—at which there were an estimated 400-500 attendees—a new…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor Greenwich, Conn.–Richman Property Services Inc. has introduced SureDeposit’s risk management and marketing program throughout its national property management portfolio, which includes 11,000 units.Richman now offers SureDeposit to all its residents in communities across six states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland and Texas. The Richman portfolio is comprised of conventional, affordable and senior housing properties.“Different companies use our program for different reasons; Richman wanted to increase occupancy across its communities,” SureDeposit President Richard Schreiber tells MHN. “The current economy has made our program even more compelling because property managers can successfully compete for residents in…