News
12-Story White Glove Condo Hits Park Slope Market
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–500 Fourth Avenue, a 12-story white glove condominium in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn is now open for sales. It is expected to be complete by late fall this year. The project will feature 156 studio-, one-, two- and three-bedroom residences ranging in size from 539 to 1,456 square feet and priced from $342,000 to $1,077,000. The building will also feature an approximate 3,000 square-foot duplex townhouse priced at $1,426,000, providing a unique opportunity to own a new-construction townhouse in this historic Brooklyn neighborhood. All homes will benefit from a 15-year, 421-A tax…
Q&A with Adrienne Albert: Marketing 101 for Multifamily Companies
Adrienne Albert (pictured) is the founder and CEO of The Marketing Directors Inc. Albert was most recently inducted as a Legend of Residential Marketing by the National Sales and Marketing Council of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The Marketing Directors, Inc., has conducted over $60 billion in residential sales including single-family homes and high-density multi-use developments. She is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, Urban Land Institute, Institute of Residential Marketing, and she sits on the Board of Governors of the Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York (ABO). She talks to Online…
Automating Multifamily Building Management
By David Demarest, Architecture Demarest (Click here for Part 1, The Benefits of Building Information Modeling.)More than a new design tool, BIM (Building Information Modeling) is a technology that can revolutionize the way multifamily owners manage properties, maintenance, expansions, renovations and brands. Once the project is commissioned, the BIM model becomes an as-built model quite different from traditional two-dimensional as-built drawings. Unlike CAD designs that show so many different views that it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for people untrained in reading blueprints to understand and visualize what they are looking at, BIM requires no imagination. A BIM model is a three-dimensional…
TODAY’S DEALS: Alliant Arranges Over $10M for 351-Unit Apartment Community, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorClinton Township, Mich.–Alliant Capital LLC recently arranged the $10.2 million refinance of Eastwood Village, a 351-unit apartment community located in Clinton Township, Mich., on behalf of Paragon Properties Co. Alliant Capital utilized the Fannie Mae DUS Extended Rate Lock program and locked the interest rate six months prior to closing the loan. By delaying the closing for six months, Paragon was able to avoid a prepayment penalty to the original lender and obtained a lower rate than would have been available at closing. Eastwood Village was built in 1987 and boasts an occupancy rate…
Willco Closes $100M Fund Targeting Distressed Properties
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPotomac, Md.–Willco Cos., a commercial property development and investment firm, will soon close the $100 million Willco Fund I LP. This fund, the first in the firm’s history, is targeting equity and debt investments in commercial office, multifamily residential, and industrial income-producing properties in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. “Given the distressed nature of the marketplace, there are a number of fund players and public players selling assets to de-leverage their portfolios,” says Chief Operating Officer Jason Goldblatt. “This situation provides the opportunity to acquire undercapitalized assets in need of repositioning or reinvestment. By modestly leveraging…
SPECIAL REPORT: Top Mistakes to Avoid in a Tough Economy
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorLas Vegas—There are a number of mistakes multi-housing companies should identify and try to avoid, particularly in today’s recessionary environment, according to Bill Nye, PhD, Bill Nye Training, who spoke at last week’s National Apartment Association Conference and Exposition in a session entitled, “The Dirty Dozen: 12 Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make in a Tough Economy.”The first so-called mistake, identified as “Making a silk purse out of a pig’s ear,” is cutting your educational budget and expecting to reach your goals. Tough times require better-trained employees, noted Nye, an idea that resonated throughout the conference—whose…
INSIDE THE DEAL: Walker & Dunlop Makes $53M Acquisition Loan for Property in Florida
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorSebring, Fla.—Is you asset located in a Fannie Mae “pre-review state”? Here is one property that is, but it was in a very good position to obtain financing. Walker & Dunlop provided Tanglewood Manufactured Housing Community with a $53 million acquisition loan under the Fannie Mae DUS program. The 10-year fixed-rate loan is interest-only for the first two years. According to Will Baker, vice president, Multifamily Finance, at Walker & Dunlop, the lender normally makes loans to manufactured housing that are not less than three to five stars, and Tanglewood was a five-star property. “This is…
Edgewater Project Lowers Prices to Attract Buyers
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorEdgewater, N.J.–The Peninsula at City Place condominiums in Edgewater, N.J., which has been a rental building for nearly 10 years, is now in the process of condo conversion. Given the economic conditions, the developer has lowered prices by about 3 to 5 percent and the results have been favorable.“Part of the reason for improved demand is the drop in prices, low interest rates and the low common charges and Edgewater’s low property taxes,” said Angela Ferrara, vice president of sales at The Marketing Directors, which is handling sales of the Peninsula.Of the 201 units, 125…
TODAY’S DEALS: Meridian Capital Arranges Acquisition Financing of Over $9M, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorCamarillo, Calif.–Meridian Capital Group has arranged acquisition financing of $9,750,000 for Mountain View Apartments, located at 659 N. Las Posas Road. Meridian’s Los Angeles office negotiated the non-recourse, 6.36 percent fixed interest rate for 10-years via a Freddie Mac Program/Plus Lender utilizing its Capital Markets Execution (CME) program. Built in 1980, Mountain View Apartments offers 106 units in a two- and three-story garden-style community. Arbor Closes $2,400,000 Fannie Mae DUS LoanPhiladelphia–Arbor Commercial Funding LLC recently completed funding of a $2.4 million loan under the Fannie Mae DUS Loan product line for the 68-unit property known…
Creating Amenities Residents Can get Excited About
By Susan Knowles, Connexion TechnologiesWhen it comes to managing the needs of apartments residents, it can be nearly impossible to find solutions that please every resident all of the time. People take for granted the benefits derived from property management and they consider rent a mandatory assessment. As a result, no one raves to family and friends about the amazing trash collection service their management has selected, or the quality of the new vinyl siding on the building. Of course, all of these things are critical to the functionality of the community, but no one wants to get out their…