News
Editor’s Note: The Government’s Greening Initiatives
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorThe USGBC recently released its“Top Ten Ways to Use Recovery Funds for Green Buildings.” In its introduction, the report notes that local governments have begun to think “holistically about how to use recovery dollars to advance sustainability in the built environment,” rather than basing change on a “project-by-project” basis.This is pretty evident in the ever-increasing news about city and state efforts to mandate building standards and/or provide incentives to buildings that include a certain green checklist, if you will.While most, if not all, of the USGBC’s Top Ten can be incorporated into multifamily, I find No….
MARKET SNAPSHOT: TOD in Beantown’s Urban Core Remains City’s Bright Spot
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorBoston—The bright spot in the near term of Boston’s multi-housing market will be the “urban core Class B product,” predicts Greg Willett, vice president of research and analysis at M|PF Yieldstar.Willett predicts the city’s transit-oriented development will outperform other building types. Meanwhile, he anticipates that “the struggles will be when you get to the suburbs, where you have new product coming online and you have competition from the single-family market.”Most of the new supply that is coming online in the Boston metro market—approximately 5,000 units—is concentrated in the suburbs, Willett tells MHN.Occupancy in the metro is…
25,000 Apartment Units Set to Be Green With $250M in Government Funds
By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor Washington, D.C.–How will 25,000 apartment units become more energy efficient in the next two years? With the help of approximately $250 million in grants and loans being offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This money is being made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), which was recently signed into law by President Barack Obama. It is designed to create thousands of “green collar jobs” as workers retrofit older federally assisted multifamily apartment developments with the next generation of energy-efficient technologies.”HUD will begin to accept…
Energy Management is Tomorrow’s Green Apartment Amenity
By Diana Mosher, Editor-in-ChiefThe green movement has many of us rethinking everything from the fibers in the clothes we wear to the way we transport our groceries back from the supermarket. Now President Barack Obama has called for a new national standard for fuel efficiency that’s as strict as the California program and will set limits on climate-altering gases from cars and trucks. The rules—which would create a car and light truck fleet that’s 40 percent cleaner and more fuel-efficient by 2016—would go into effect in 2012. Click here for more details.In the meantime, apartment companies continue looking for ways…
TODAY’S DEALS: 132-Unit Apartment Community Sells Out of Receivership, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAnderson, Ind.–Tikijian Associates has arranged the sale of Hilltop Apartments (pictured), a 132-unit community in Anderson, Ind. The listing price was $2,250,000 but sales price was not disclosed.Hilltop Apartments was formerly owned by Wextrust Capital LLC, a Chicago-based real estate investment firm that purchased the property in 2000. In 2008 the two principals of Wextrust were arrested on federal fraud charges for allegedly conducting a $225 million Ponzi scheme and were later indicted on charges of securities fraud and conspiracy. Both men remain in jail. Indianapolis-based apartment owner and manager, Buckingham Cos., was named as…
Two Multi-Housing Industry Leaders Launch Company to Acquire, Renovate 7,000 Units
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorEnglewood, Colo.–Jeff Adler, former chief property operations officer at AIMCO and Jack Kern, former investment research director at Archstone-Smith and vice chair of the NMHC Research Committee, have formed a new multifamily investment vehicle, Sanctuary Multifamily Advisors. The asset management firm, one of Sanctuary Group’s companies, which Adler formed in October 2008 after departing AIMCO, plans to initially acquire and renovate 5,000 to 7,000 units in Denver, San Diego and Orange County, Calif.“Our concept all along has been to marry a solid quantitative foundation in investment analysis with moderate leverage and a passion for the…
TODAY’S DEALS: NorthMarq Capital Arranges $13.11M Mortgage for 240-Unit Rental Property, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorChapel Hill, N.C.–NorthMarq Capital recently arranged first mortgage financing of $13.11 million for The Pointe at Chapel Hill, a 240-unit multifamily complex, located in Chapel Hill, N.C. Financing was based on a five-year interest-only term and was arranged for the borrower, a Chicago-based apartment owner and manager, by NorthMarq through its affiliate AmeriSphere Multifamily Finance, a Fannie Mae DUS lender.Love Funding Closes $5.56M Loan for 40-Bed Assisted Living Property Leesburg, Va.–Love Funding recently utilized LEAN processing to close a $5,560,000 refinance loan for Meadow Glen of Leesburg, a 40-bed assisted living facility located in Leesburg,…
INSIDE THE DEAL: Private Co. Moves Ahead on $70M Acquisition in Southern Calif.
By Keat Foong, Executive Editor Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.—Has the apartment market bottomed? Here is one company that is currently in acquisitions mode for conventional apartments. The Newport Beach-based Stoneridge Capital Partners purchased the Class A, 498-unit Avila Apartment Homes here from The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company for $70 million. According to Greg Merage, CEO of Stoneridge Capital Partners, the company is able to move forward on this transaction because it has patient, internal, capital that invests for the long-term. Also, the company believes in the long-range fundamentals for multifamily in Orange County, especially in south Orange County where…
New Solatube Series Provides Daylighting in Residential Applications
Solatube’s Brighten Up series is designed to make daylighting easier and more affordable for most interiors. It features an energy-efficient design that minimizes heat loss and gain between the interior space and outdoor environment.The Raybender 300 Technology lens directs low-angle light down from the tube for enhanced performance during the morning and afternoon. It also deflects sun rays in the middle of the day, providing consistent lighting levels. The LightTracker Reflector works in conjunction with the lens to increase light performance by up to 100 percent.The Energy Star-rated series is available in two models: the Solatube 160 DS Daylighting System,…
Villas of Hillcrest Becomes First Affordable Housing Project to Win McSam Award
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDallas–The Villas of Hillcrest (pictured first from top), designed by Humphreys & Partners Architects L.P., is the first affordable housing development to win a McSAM Award in the 30-year history of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas’ annual competition. The project, located in North Dallas, won the “Best Multifamily Rental Community” category.”Incorporating affordable housing into an established neighborhood is no easy task,” says Jenny Lynn of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas. “The Villas of Hillcrest is a prime example of the role that design plays in overcoming the challenges of adding affordable…