Washington, D.C.–For the first time, two U.S. cities hold the top two spots on the list of global commercial real estate investors’ preferred cities, according to an Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) survey released Monday.New York and Washington ranked No. 1 and 2 on the list. Survey respondents said investing in commercial real estate in the U.S. was easier in 2007 because the credit collapse eliminated investors who used cheap debt to buy commercial properties, the Guardian reports.The Washington, D.C.-based group said global property investors still overwhelmingly prefer U.S. commercial real estate, despite the fact China is…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAlexandria, Va.–Kettler, one of greater Washington D.C.’s largest real estate development and property management companies, has been chosen to manage a new mid-rise apartment community called Monarch, located in Alexandria, Va.The 168-unit building, with rents ranging from $1,675 to $4,100, began leasing in January 2008. Monarch features apartments, penthouses and lofts with street-level retail shops, a salon and spa, a restaurant and a drycleaner. Monarch covers an entire city block, bordered by North Henry Street, Oronoco Street, Pendleton Street and North Fayette Street. The community is three blocks away from the Braddock Road Metro station…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor New York– Brack Capital Real Estate (BCRE), a global real estate firm, has finished remodeling 15 Union Square West, which served as the headquarters of Tiffany & Co. in the late 19th century.The renovated building, which used to be nicknamed the Palace of Jewels, now consists of 36 two- and three-bedroom luxury condominiums ranging from 1,763 to 3,164 sq. ft. Architect and designer Eran Chen of Perkins Eastman and interior designer Vicente Wolf worked on the original 1870 design by John Kellum. BCRE restored the five-story building’s historic cast-iron arches, wrapped it in a translucent,…

Newark, N.J.–In an initiative to increase affordable housing opportunities in Newark, a joint venture of Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Radiant Property Management, a Newark-based real estate company, has purchased nine rental properties in the Newark area for $43 million.“We are excited to welcome Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Radiant Property Management as our newest partners in Newark’s transformation,” Mayor Cory Booker said today at a press conference announcing the acquisitions today.Most of the nine properties, totaling 724 units and nearly 575,000 sq. ft., are located primarily in the Weequahic section of Newark and the surrounding area. Apartments include studios,…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSan Francisco–The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) Board of Directors has approved $9.6 million in long-term loans to Alexis Apartments, an affordable housing complex in downtown San Francisco. The loan will allow the owners of the building to maintain affordable rents and serve senior citizens with household incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). A vast majority of the seniors, who are currently and will continue to reside in the complex, have household incomes below 50 percent of the AMI.The money will go toward renovations of Alexis Apartments, which currently…

Miami–Miami-based homebuilder Lennar Corporation announced its largest quarterly loss Thursday–$1.25 billion in the forth quarter, the New York Times reports.Citing a decline in home prices and a writedown on company-owned land, Lennar also reported a $1.9 billion loss for last year. The company said it was trying to generate cash and cut inventory while taking heavy impairment charges because the market remained difficult.Lennar’s quarterly loss was $7.92 a share, compared with a loss of $1.24 a share–$195.6 million–in 2007. Revenue dropped 49 percent from $4.27 billion to $2.18 billion in the same period last year. Home deliveries declined 50 percent…

New York–The proposed U.S. economic stimulus plan announced Thursday will prevent foreclosures and make refinancing easier for mortgage seekers in high-cost markets, CNNMoney.com reports.If passed, the package will increase the dollar amount of the loans Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are able to purchase. Currently, the government-backed lenders only can guarantee secondary market loans of less than $417,000. Private lenders are happy to offer the larger jumbo mortgages–but, because there is no guaranteed secondary market for the loans, the lenders charge borrowers more for taking on additional risk. The plan suggests raising Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s limit to $625,000…

New York–A major auditor’s re-interpretation of bank loan tax treatments could offer homebuilders a new way of handling its assets, the Financial Times reported Friday.The debate involves accounting firm Ernst & Young’s new interpretation of the accounting rule FAS 109, which determines how to treat tax assets when a company sees an overall income loss for three consecutive years. An auditor will apply tests during the loss period to determine whether the company can handle its total tax asset and to reduce the amount of income taxes when the company is again profitable. If the auditor decides the company will…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Rockrose Development Corp., a New York-based real estate development company, has completed its condo conversion of the 67-year-old former office building at 99 John Street in New York’s financial district. Sales for the building have officially begun.Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, architects of the Empire State Building, designed the 99 John Street building back in 1933. Then Rockrose renovated it in 1999 to be a rental housing building.It now contains 442 lofts, mostly studios and one- and two-bedroom units, with some three- and four-bedroom apartments and penthouses ranging in price from  $530,000 to $3.3 million.The…