286-Unit Infill Rental Community in Houston Tops Out
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorHouston–Gables Residential Trust has recently topped out Memorial Hills, a 286-unit rental project located at the intersection of Scott and Jackson Hill Streets in Houston.The eight-story infill project is spread across 2.2 acres of land and is surrounded by hills and several parks. It is expected to be complete in the spring of 2009.“The location of this project is key,” Scott Ziegler, senior principal and principal-in-charge of the Living Place Studio at Ziegler Cooper Architects, which designed the project, tells MHN.“Lush green foliage makes the apartments off Memorial Drive a prime location for people wanting…
Post Properties Calls Off Sale, Pursues Other Strategies to Enhance Share Values
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAtlanta–After five months of actively pursuing a formal process to sell Post Properties Inc., the company has announced that it received no definitive acquisition proposals. All potential bidders have withdrawn from the sale process and, as a result, the Board of Directors has brought the process to an end. The Board has, however, reaffirmed its commitment to actively pursue other strategies to enhance shareholder value.“We conducted an open and thorough sales process, but conditions in the economy and the financial markets combined to produce a difficult transaction environment,” says David P. Stockert, president and CEO…
First Seattle High-Rise Under New Zoning Code is 95 Percent Sold
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorSeattle–The first building in Seattle developed under the city’s new zoning code has topped out. Developed by Minneapolis-based Opus Northwest LLC, the 440-ft., 38-story Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue is comprised of 143 condos.The city’s new zoning code, adopted by the city council in April 2006, allows for residential buildings over 400 ft. tall to be built based upon a number of criteria, including the size of the floorplate, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification and a contribution to affordable housing, Tom Parsons, senior vice president and general manager of Opus Northwest, tells MHN.With…
Coinmach/ASI to Exclusively Provide LG’s Energy-Efficient Front-Load Machines to Multi-Housing Market
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPlainview, N.Y.–Coinmach/ASI recently signed an exclusive distribution agreement with LG Electronics to provide LG laundry machines to its multi-housing customers across the United States.Coinmach/ASI laundry rooms, operating with LG’s new card and coin laundry systems, are expected to deliver greater efficiency and consume less water and energy than conventional washers.Coinmach/ASI has 80,000 customers and close to 800,000 installed machines in multifamily communities. The company plans to offer the LG machines through a phased-out process. It is expected that by the end of the year, all the U.S. markets will have access to them. “We are…
PROFILE: Architect Engineers Value into Projects
Luxury housing, even in New York CIty, can be designed and completed within a realistic construction budget, says architect Marvin Meltzer By Keat Foong, Executive Editor”More expensive” does not equal “better design,” says Marvin Meltzer, principal of Meltzer/Mandl Architects, P.C. (M2). “You do not need expensive materials to make the project look great. It doesn’t reflect on me as an architect.”Though it is focused on New York City, one of the marks of Marvin Meltzer’s firm is that it has designed all types of housing—from homeless housing to high-end luxury, from low-rises to high-rises, from woodframe stick construction to poured-in-place…
KB Homes Posts $255.9 Million Second Quarter Net Loss
Los Angeles–Due to continuing credit and housing problems, KB Home announced a fiscal second quarter loss of $255.9 million, The Wall Street Journal said Friday.The Los Angeles-based homebuilder posted a net loss of $148.7 million in 2007.The 2008 second quarter loss included writedowns of $201.1 million and a $98.9 million impact from reducing the value of deferred tax assets. Revenue fell to $639.1 million–a 55 percent decline.Because of a reduction in active communities, KB’s new home deliveries declined 41 percent to 2,810. Net orders also dropped, declining 42 percent to 4,200. “Persistently poor demand for new homes during the second…
Rebate Checks Give Consumer Income, Spending a Boost
Washington, D.C.–The tax rebate checks provided by the economic stimulus package raised consumer income and savings in May, according to the government. The roughly $50 billion worth of tax rebates–sent out in April and May–also increased consumer spending.However, without the rebates, income levels would have increased only a little, the New York Times said Friday. Wage growth did not keep up with inflation.After being adjusted for inflation and without counting the tax rebates, after-tax income rose 0.4 percent in May, according to the Commerce Department. Including the rebates, income increased 1.9 percent; after-tax income grew 5.3 percent.After declining 0.1 percent…
DEAL OF THE DAY: Arbor Provides $11.86M Refinance Loan to 200-Unit Alabama Rental Property
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorMontgomery, Ala.–Arbor Commercial Funding recently completed a funding of $11,866,000 refinance loan under Fannie Mae’s DUS program. The Woodmere Apartments is situated on more than 14 acres in Montgomery, Ala., and consists of 200 units spread over 27 garden-style apartment buildings.The 10-year loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule and carries a note rate of 6.08 percent, and also includes interest-only payments for the first five years. The proceeds from the loan will be used to pay off the property’s existing debt and cash out the borrower, as well.The loan was originated by Ronen Abergel, a…
Bank of England Governor Predicts Housing Market Will Be Slow
London–The U.K. housing market will be “extremely weak” but policy makers won’t “overreact” to inflation, according to Bank of England Governor Mervyn King.”We’re likely to see a period of extremely weak activity’” in the housing market, King told lawmakers during testimony to the Treasury Select Committee in London. In June, U.K. home prices fell by the biggest amount in 2008 when buyers stepped away from the market, Rightmove Plc said this week. According to HBOS Plc–Britain’s biggest mortgage lender–property values could decline 9 percent this year, Bloomberg reports.The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee cut interest rates three times in 2007…
Post Properties Calls Off Buyer Search
Atlanta– Atlanta-based multifamily builder Post Properties said this week that it had ended its five-month search for a buyer, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said.”We conducted an open and thorough sales process, but conditions in the economy and the financial markets combined to produce a difficult transaction environment,” Post President and Chief Executive Officer David Stockert said in a release.Several potential buyers–large conglomerates, public and private multifamily companies, foreign capital providers and pension funds–expressed interest, but no one gave a final proposal, according to Post. Post Properties currently is developing 535 condominiums and owns 22,437 apartment homes in 62 communities.