New LEED Credential Expands to Canada
The Green Building Certification Institute, which provides third-party confirmation of LEED building certification and LEED professional credentialing, has launched the LEED Green Associate (Tier I) credential in Canada. According to the Green Building Certification Institute, the new credential–launched only in 2009–is its fastest growing, having been earned by about 4,500 people worldwide already.
Tactical Vs. Strategic Investments
Greystar’s Chairman and CEO Robert Faith talks to MHN about tactical vs. strategic investments, NOI, and more during the NMHC Apartment Strategies Conference in Boca Raton, Fla.
RCA Acquires Dr. Sam Chandan’s Real Estate Econometrics
Real Capital Analytics (RCA) has acquired Real Estate Econometrics (REE), a company founded by Dr. Sam Chandan in 2008 to offer strategic insight into policy and regulatory initiatives impacting commercial real estate, as well as commercial mortgage and equity investment surveillance.
Crescent Resources Multifamily Property Wins First-in-State LEED Certification
The 312-unit Circle at Concord Mills, a multifamily garden community, has earned this distinction of having the first building in Cabarrus County, N.C.–its clubhouse–to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. According to the developer, Charlotte-based Crescent Resources, the certification is also the first for any part of a multifamily garden community in the entire state.
Harkins Begins Construction on Six State-Funded Projects Within 45 Days
Harkins recently completed loan closings on six projects and has begun construction on all in a matter of 45 days. These projects, located in Pennsylvania and Maryland, are funded by a variety of programs, including the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), and the Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) and Section 1602 Exchange funds that are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
Most Multifamily Properties Won’t Need Refi Soon: MBA Report
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2009 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Survey of Loan Maturity Volumes released this week, the volume of commercial and multifamily mortgage debt maturing this year and during 2011 is only about one-fifth of the total. Of the $1.45 trillion balance of outstanding mortgages held by non-bank investors, only 13 percent of the total ($183.9 billion) will mature in 2010 and 7 percent ($99.8 billion) in 2011.
Michaels Organization Taps Sweeney for Michaels Military Housing
The Michaels Organization has named Bill Sweeney as director of facilities management for Prestige Renovations, one of the six companies that comprise Michaels. In his new job, Sweeney will oversee facilities management and renovations at the five military installations where Michaels Military Housing is currently developing and managing family housing under the Department of Defense’s housing privatization program.
National Multi Housing Council
A trade association representing apartment owners, managers, developers, lenders and service providers.
Bankruptcy Was Not an Option for Largest Failure in CMBS History
In a remarkable move, Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty, last week turned the 80-acre properties Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village back to its lenders. With investors in the project having defaulted and the properties now being valued at less that $2 billion, this seemed like the only option. Just three years ago, the two companies bought the 11,000-unit developments for close to $6 billion.
New Affordable Housing Comes on Line in Irvine, Calif.
The nonprofit Jamboree Housing Corp. has completed its latest affordable housing project, the Arbor at Woodbury Apartment Homes, a 90-unit, six-building property in the company’s hometown of Irvine, Calif. The development is designed to provide housing for families earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area’s median income.