By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDetroit — The Northern Group has announced that it will acquire Lafayette Towers, the two 22-story-building complex in Lafayette Park, just east of downtown Detroit.Designed by Mies van der Rohe, the Lafayette Towers are part of the larger 78-acre Lafayette Park, which includes the largest collection of Mies van der Rohe buildings in the world.Lafayette Towers joins New York-based Northern Group’s already-substantial Detroit portfolio with Alden Park Towers apartments on the Detroit river, east of downtown, and “The Downtown Collection” of office buildings.“We have invested in Detroit for the last five years and continue to…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington D.C — The National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and National Apartment Association (NAA) filed a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this Wednesday asking the court to repeal the FCC’s regulations banning “exclusive access” agreements between cable providers and apartment owners announced in October last year.Before the regulation was announced, apartment building owners could utilize exclusive access contracts as a bargaining tool to negotiate lower rates, better product availability and enhanced service standards for their residents, according to the NMHC and NAA.Exclusive access agreements, they argue, also enable smaller video firms to gather…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorOakland, Calif. — The Ellington sales center will officially open with a ceremony today at 130 Webster St. in Oakland.The Ellington, now under construction, is a 6-story residential community featuring 134 condominiums located at 2nd and Broadway in Jack London Square. It has one- and two-bedroom condominiums and two-story penthouse suites. The building is slated to open in the summer this year. The one-bedroom condominiums are tentatively priced between $500,000 to $700,000 and the two-bedroom condominiums between $700,000 to $900,000.The Ellington’s building amenities include 24-hour attended lobby, electronically controlled access to lobby, concierge services, 50-ft….

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington D.C. — The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has decided to rescind a notice published in October last year that would have increased the mortgage insurance premium (MIP) on a number of multifamily programs. The current mortgage rate is 45 basis points while the proposal was to increase it to 61 basis points, a 35.6 percent increase.“HUD did not reveal the exact reason for its decision to rescind the notice, but the bottom line was that there was a lot of pressure from the Congress as well as the industry,” David…

Kent, Wash.–Phoenix-based Hendricks & Partners recently facilitated the sale of a 382-unit apartment community in Kent, Wash., for $38,281,300, or $100,213 per unit.Bascom Centrestone Kent, LLC of San Francisco sold The Avante complex to the Longwell Company of Bellevue, Wash. Kenny Dudunakis of the Seattle Hendricks & Partners office negotiated the transaction on behalf of the seller and buyer. The Avante sale is the second property transfer in the past two months from Bascom Northwest to Longwell Company.Constructed in 1978, The Avante consists of 34 two-story residential buildings situated on more than 17 acres. Bascom recently directed a comprehensive upgrade…

By Keat Foong, Executive Editor Boca Raton, Fla.–Economists speaking at the National Multi Housing Council’s (NMHC) Apartment Strategies Conference, being held here in Boca Raton, Fla., today warned that the U.S. economy is likely to tip into recession this year.  “As to the question of whether there will be a recession, frankly, I don’t see how that can be avoided,” said Mark Obrinsky, vice president of research and chief economist at NMHC. Obrinsky cited the housing downturn and the turmoil in the financial markets as major causes of any recession that will occur in 2008. He said the financial markets are “in…

New York–JPMorgan Chase announced Wednesday that its fourth quarter earnings fell 21 percent due to subprime exposure, The Financial Times reports.Following a $1.3 billion subprime-related writedown, the New York-based financial services firm’s earnings dropped to $3 billion from $3.9 billion last year. Causing concern that the U.S. economy is slowing down even more, JPMorgan also said it saw higher credit costs in the quarter. The credit loss provision in the retail financial services division was $1.1 billion, compared with $162 million the year prior.JPMorgan’s credit costs include a $395 million increase in the allowance for home equity loan losses, the…

San Francisco–Wells Fargo & Co.–the nation’s second-largest mortgage lender–said Wednesday that increased home equity loan losses dragged its fourth quarter profit down 38 percent, The Washington Post reports.The decline is Wells’ first in more than six years. Wells Fargo’s net income dropped to $1.36 billion from $2.18 billion a year ago. Revenue, however, was up 8 percent to $10.21 billion. Charge-off loans, which Wells doesn’t expect to be repaid, hit $1.21 billion, up 67 percent from last year. Wells forecasts that charge-offs will rise this year.Although the decline was less than expected, it shows how even conservative mortgage lenders such…

New York–Real estate value is no longer growing at the brisk pace of recent years–and city spending may decrease as a result, The New York Times reported Wednesday.Last year, values increased 18 percent. But when the city conducts its annual valuation of all property in May, its early estimations place value at only 1.44 percent more than the last assessment.Long insulated from the national housing decline, New York appears to now be feeling some of its effects. According to data from the tentative annual assessment roll–which basically determines taxes for the fiscal year beginning in July–decreasing values of small homes…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPhiladelphia, Pa– BPG Properties, Ltd., a private equity real estate fund manager, announced late yesterday that it has completed the second-largest multifamily transaction in BPG’s history with its acquisition of Boston Capital Real Estate Investment Trust (BCRE), a publicly owned real estate investment trust, for $13.30 per share in an all cash transaction. The 11-property acquisition has a real estate value of approximately $260 million.This multifamily portfolio totals 3,098 units located in Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Dallas and Jacksonville.Seven of the assets in the BCRE portfolio are located in Seattle, Portland and Salt Lake…