News

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorTinley Park, Ill.–NorthMarq Capital’s Chicago regional office has arranged first mortgage financing of $8.1 million for Edenbridge Apartments, a 309-unit mid-rise, garden and townhouse multifamily property, located in Tinley Park, Ill. Financing was based on a 10-year term with a 30-year amortization schedule and was arranged for the borrower, Edenbridge LLC, by NorthMarq through its affiliate AmeriSphere Multifamily Finance, a Fannie Mae DUS lender. According to NorthMarq, the borrower chose to prepay existing mortgage to lower the interest rate and secure long-term fixed-rate debt at very attractive interest rate of approximately 5.5 percent. Alliant Arranges…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor    Long Beach, Calif.—In today’s trying economic conditions, developers nationwide are finding it more and more difficult to sell their recently completed condominiums to interested parties. With the credit markets frozen, even those who use these units as investment opportunities are often unable to purchase them. While some developers have turned to a rental exit strategy, others have found that their contracts with their lenders make this rather complicated, if not impossible.In a recent ruling that found in favor of the developer, Gateway and 4th, an arbitrator banned the sale of Blu, an 82-unit, mixed-use condominium…

By Keat Foong, Executive EditorNew York—There is now a new showroom to help users apply DuPont Corian surfacing material in all kinds of ways. The material can be molded for countertops, flooring, bathtubs, sinks, vanities, and even headboards, radiator covers and seating for the kitchen, bath, and basically all areas of the multifamily home as well as common areas.   DuPont, surface solutions provider Evans & Paul and marketing distributor Dolan & Traynor are unveiling the flagship showroom, the DuPont Corian Design Studio, located in the Flatiron district in New York.  The 5,000 square-foot space is an interactive workshop where design…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–The bank stress tests are in and have provided some relief to Wall Street, the stock market has picked up a little—relative to early this year—and the constant barrage of bad news has given way to some good news. And even though every economic indicator for New York City was negative in the first quarter, the rate of decline slowed considerably from the fourth quarter of 2008.     However, nothing suggests that the overall climate is starting to improve: job losses have been steady and property sales volume declined for the seventh straight quarter….

By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor McLean, Va.– Freddie Mac recently purchased a $37.5 million loan from CBRE Capital Markets that helped provide financing for the borrower, Parc Pointe Investors LLC, to refinance the Parc Pointe Apartments (pictured) in Burbank, Calif. The transaction benefited from the Freddie Mac Capital Markets Execution (CME) pilot. Parc Pointe Apartments is an eight-building, 255-unit, three-story garden apartment complex.  The apartments were built in 1989-1990 and renovated in 2003. The property is located approximately 13 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. “This was the first CME deal for the Newport Beach office of CBRE Capital Markets,”…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorHouston—Tenanttxt.com recently launched a Website that allows multifamily property managers to send alerts to residents via text message or email.“The idea came from being an apartment renter,” Daniel Ellis, founder of tenanttxt.com, tells MHN. “I have been living in apartments my whole life and noticed the lack of communication between management and renter when community problems arise.”Property managers at communities of any size can send an alert informing residents of maintenance repairs, criminal activity, or community events.Messages can be sent out to residents, maintenance staff, office staff and potential residents, based upon which subscription plan a…

Raintree Partners, a Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based real estate investment company, has completed its first multifamily acquisition. CEO Jeffrey B Allen (pictured) formed Raintree Partners, a private real estate investment company, to pursue multifamily development and redevelopment opportunities, in December 2007. Shortly after its formation, Raintree secured a $200 million equity commitment from a major institutional investment management company. Prior to founding Raintree Partners, Allen was founder of J.B. Allen Realty Inc., a private real estate development company formed in 1999 and focused on mixed-use and multifamily residential projects in Southern California. Allen talks to MHN Online News Editor Anuradha Kher…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–President Barack Obama has signed into law the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009. The law expands the reach of the Administration’s Making Home Affordable Programs, improves the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Hope for Homeowners program and streamlines how the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) supports thousands of homeless support programs across America.   “This is another critical step forward in this administration’s effort to strengthen our nation’s housing market and help millions of American homeowners stay in their homes,” says HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.”Specifically, this law improves FHA’s Hope…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor New York–New York City’s multifamily market has been fairly buoyant through the downturn, but there has been a marked decrease in rents and a slowdown in the condominium market. Adjusting to these shifts, developer 119 Third Avenue Associates LLC has converted its for-sale luxury condo tower at 119th Street & 3rd Avenue to a rental property. The building offers studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units.“Every real estate market presents new opportunities, and clearly the shift to rental units is the best way for us to maximize the value of this amenity-rich residential property,” says Toby…