Insurers are Beginning to Recognize Green Building… But what Makes a Building Green?
By Robert Mittleman, Riemer Insurance GroupAs we begin this New Year, the housing and real estate industry is turning its attention to the potential environmental risks and challenges associated with “green” compliance. The insurance industry has always been a leader and advocate for both the education about, and eventual reduction of, foreseeable risks. Recently, insurers have extended their aspiration of improving standards in the direction of the environmental arena, with a major focus on global warming.This challenge to increase both awareness and compliance will create significant opportunities in 2008. Green building practices represent a significant step toward minimizing the destructive…
Case Study: Learn Fire Safety Lessons Before Disaster Strikes
By Jeff Hendrickson, Silent KnightAtlantic City, N.J.—In September 2006, a service call was made to Fire Alarm Maintenance Company (FAMCO) of Aston, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. The call came from the Plaza Condominium, a 14-story high-rise on the Atlantic City boardwalk. The Plaza’s fire alarm system had failed and required urgent attention.Upon arriving on site, FAMCO technicians determined that the panel had self-destructed. And despite every effort to restore the control panel to normal operation, it was completely unsalvageable. “It was an outdated system, one that had been out of production for about 15 years,” said Ken Scott, president…
Looking for Solutions: How Do We Get Workforce Housing Built?
By David Senden, KTGY Group, Inc.While we in the housing industry cringe at recent falling home prices, there are large groups of people for which prices can’t fall far or fast enough. Over the past decade, as the rising cost of housing has priced more and more people out of the market, the term “affordable housing”—often associated with low-income housing—is being replaced by the term “workforce housing” to better reflect that it isn’t just “poor” families that can’t afford to buy a home or pay escalating rents.The lack of affordable workforce housing continues to be a chronic concern to communities…
DEAL OF THE DAY: $114.4 Million Loan Secured for The Tower Residences at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas
Dallas–Commercial real estate company Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.’s Dallas office recently arranged a $114.4 million, non-recourse construction loan for The Tower Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Phase II of the Ritz-Carlton’s luxury hotel and condominium development in Dallas.Holliday Fenoglio Fowler Executive managing Director Scott Galloway, Senior Managing Director Trey Morsbach and Associate Director John Ahmed worked on behalf of Fort Worth, Texas-based Crescent Real Estate Equities to secure the 36-month, adjustable-rate loan through Societe Generale, headquartered in Paris.Upon completion in 2009, The Tower Residences will include a 23-floor tower with 96 units and four exclusive townhomes that will be separated from…
NMHC: Roundtable Addresses Apartment Development Issues
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorBoca Raton, Fla.–Developers at a roundtable at the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) annual meeting here suggested a diverse range of approaches to overcoming common development and redevelopment challenges. Value engineering, community relations, consumer needs and green building were some of the topics covered at the session entitled “Roundtable: Construction Challenges with Development and Redevelopment.”John Doherty, practice leader of the development consultant FMI Corp., moderated a panel that consisted of Paul Hutchinson, president of Lane Construction LLC; Gregory Lamb, executive vice president and regional managing partner at JPI; Guy Poux, director of construction at The Laramar…
D.C. Real Estate Investment Company To Build Mid-Rise Rental Apartment Complex in Atlanta
Atlanta–Perseus Realty Partners, headquartered in Washington, D.C., recently entered into a joint venture with Atlanta-based J. Tucker Development Partners, Inc. to develop Ashton Hills, a new 225-unit, mid-rise rental apartment community in Atlanta.”We saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of the strong Atlanta apartment market,” says T.J. Hofheimer, Director of Perseus Realty Partners. “We liked this specific site because of its access to major interstates and its location next to the Embry Village shopping center.”Ashton Hills will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging from 673 to 1,366 square feet. The development also will have a swimming pool,…
UBS Announces Revamp of Investment Banking Division
Zurich–Swiss bank UBS, headquartered in Zurich, will overhaul its investment banking business because of massive U.S. subprime mortgage-related losses, CNNMoney.com reported Friday.In an internal memo, Chief Executive Marcel Rohner said the bank could cut jobs and will decrease its riskier strategies, which included ceasing its U.S. proprietary credit operations.UBS’ credit market business will be reduced and the bank has formed a real estate ” workout group” that will gather the bank’s mortgage-backed securities and credit default obligations, along with UBS’ asset-backed securities.”This team will be primarily responsible for developing exit strategies for our existing portfolio through market alternatives and innovative…
More Than 370,000 Homeowners Dodge Foreclosure in Second Half of 2007
New York–A group of mortgage counselors, lenders and servicing companies said Friday that more than 370,000 homeowners avoided foreclosure in the last six months of 2007, The New York Times reports.The Hope Now alliance said that the amount of homeowners who received help–as mortgage servicers tripled the rate at which they eased loan terms from the third quarter to last quarter–is “significantly higher” than originally thought.With guidance from the U.S. Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Hope Now said servicers made 120,000 loan modifications and settled new repayment plans for an additional 250,000 homeowners.
Appraiser Files Lawsuit Against WaMu Over Home Price Estimates
Sacramento–A California appraiser filed a lawsuit against Washington Mutual Inc., claiming she was blacklisted after reporting lower home prices, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.The suit, filed in state court in Sacramento, also named two appraisal-management companies and alleges the lower home evaluations made it difficult for the bank to get loans approved.The appraiser, Jeniffer Wertz, says she found prices were dropping in a neighborhood last May during the appraisal process and marked a box in one of her reports to show the decline. Marking that box typically causes a lender to cut loan amounts and ask for a greater…
U.K. Surveyors Say Home Prices Dropped Sharply in December
London–British property prices haven’t declined at their current rate since the early 1990s, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).Data from the group showed that 49.1 percent more chartered surveyors recorded a drop in home prices in December–the sharpest increase since November 1992, Forbes.com reports. In November, 40.6 percent more surveyors reported a home price decrease.London’s traditionally strong housing market also saw severe declines starting in December. In addition, the RICS said 25 percent more surveyors saw a drop in buyer inquiries.RICS data is an indicator of future home prices and is closely watched by the Bank of…