News
Paradise Village Seniors Housing Project Forges on Despite the Challenging Economy
By Lisa Iannucci, Contributing EditorSan Diego—It’s been a difficult few years for the housing market and the economy, especially in California. Many residents have lost jobs, homes and a large chunk of their retirement plans due to the faltering economy. It might sound like a logical business decision to put any new projects on hold. But Generations LLC, the development company that’s building Paradise Village, a $130 million, 497-unit independent living senior retirement community just south of the San Diego city limit, disagrees.Portland, Oregon-based Generations LLC is forging ahead with its project, excited about what the new development will bring…
Online Auction Platform Aims to Improve Bidding
By Tonie Auer, Contributing CorrespondentTaking advantage of a new platform to create more interest from buyers in auction-sold properties, Sperry Van Ness/Guardian launched the MarketMaker auction platform to sell REO, bank ordered and developer close-out properties.The firm will test the platform for the first time in a July 30 auction as a way to accelerate sales for the region’s most motivated sellers of commercial properties. MarketMaker is designed to be a new distressed real estate liquidation platform.“The last market run-up for commercial real estate was between 2005 and 2007 and a lot of what drove pricing was the abundance of…
TODAY’S DEALS: Hendricks & Partners Arranges $14M Sale of 106-Unit Community, and Other Deals
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Camarillo, Calif.—Hendricks & Partners recently arranged the sale of Mountain View Apartments (pictured), a 106-unit community, for $14 million. This represents the first sale transaction of over 100 units in Ventura County in 2009, and the first in the City of Camarillo in the past several years.Camarillo Mountain View LLC acquired the community from Essex Portfolio Properties and plans to invest in minor upgrades to the 30-year-old property.Dean Zander and Vince Norris of Hendricks & Partners reported the locally based investor offered the highest certainty of closing, due in part to its close ties with the…
SPECIAL REPORT: Modest Recovery Will Take Place in Apartment Market from 2011 to 2013
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDallas—“Last year the apartment markets looked fuzzy, and this year, it’s still a fuzzy picture,” Greg Willet, VP of research at MPF YieldStar, said at a session titled “U.S. Apartment Markets Outlook” at the RealPage User Conference held from July 13 to 14 in Dallas. “There is a lot happening; there’s a lot of contradictory data and things are moving in different directions. While the economy is still deteriorating, we are seeing signs that things are going to be okay. The apartment market is still on the downward slope, and recovery depends on what happens…
NWP Agreement with Waste Reduction Consultants Provides Waste Expense Management Solution
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Irvine, Calif.—NWP Services Corporation has announced an agreement with Waste Reduction Consultants Inc. to provide a total waste expense management product to NWP clients. While the two companies are “complementary in some areas,” in others, “we felt we could put our synergies together and make the value greater for our customers,” notes Jim Charles, senior vice president of product management and engineering at NWP.NWP will integrate its utility management product, UtilityPay Manager, with Waste Reduction Consultants’ waste expense management solution for multifamily.“We traditionally look at gas, electric, water and sewage as the areas we try…
‘Seattle Times’ Launches NWhomes.com on Adicio Platform
Seattle-The Seattle Times online network recently launched NWhomes.com on the Adicio Real Estate platform from Adicio Inc. Already on the Adicio Careers platform since 2003, The Times migrated its real estate and automotive platforms from another vendor this year.The Times uses Adicio’s new community and amenity search options to create a new-homes section where prospective buyers interested in new developments can easily narrow their search results. Buyers can access builder information, community details and amenities, and extensive searching tools.”Having worked with Adicio on their Careers platform for many years, we knew they would be a partner we could rely on…
INSIDE THE DEAL: Apt. Property Sells Quickly in Market Where ‘Rents Can Only Increase’
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorWest New York, N.J.—Apartment properties appear to be still moving relatively well in some markets. One such market may be West New York, N.J., where a sale marketed by The Kislak Co., Inc. closed in three months. Under rent laws in Hudson County, owners can increase rents to market by initiating capital improvements when residents vacate units. This offers the opportunity for an attractive value-add proposition with many of the apartment properties in the area. “The sale of these properties illustrates the continued strength of multifamily investment properties in both West New York and Hudson County,”…
REthink’s Inaugural Project is Greenest, and Most Musical, Multi-Housing Community in The Golden State
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorLos Angeles—REthink Development, a Culver City, Calif.-based real estate development and consulting company, is about to complete its inaugural project, the Lofts @ Cherokee Studios, a sustainable 12-unit live/work loft development in Los Angeles. REthink Development was founded by Steve Edwards, a real estate entrepreneur, and Greg Reitz, previously a Green Building Advisor for the City of Santa Monica, where he established many of the city’s green building programs. Edwards’ background in software, coupled with his experience in commercial real estate, led him to recognize that the “key is differentiation and the speed to market and…
Gerber’s Maxwell Dual Flush Toilet
Gerber Plumbing Fixtures LLC’s Maxwell Dual Flush is the company’s latest high-efficiency toilet (HET). According to the EPA, using a HET product (in place of a standard 1.6 gallon per flush toilet model) can save a minimum of 20 percent in annual water usage. Designed in an elongated front bowl, round front or ErgoHeight model, the Maxwell Dual Flush HET comes with a two-button actuator to identify between the 1.1 and 1.6 gpf flushing options. The Maxwell toilet is engineered with a large water surface and Gerber’s syphonic front jet flushing action, which properly cleans the bowl with a single…
Accessibility…ASAP!
By Julian Gordon, AmrampOver 54 million Americans—roughly 19 percent of our country’s population—have some sort of disability, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And with that number growing every day with seniors, veterans and individuals recovering from surgery, managers and developers of multifamily residential communities are searching for ways to safely accommodate and appeal to disabled residents. These projects often need to be turned around as quickly as possible to avoid violation of the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act, meaning traditional wood or concrete ramps must be substituted in favor of modular steel ramps that can be…