News
Improving Building Energy Profiles: What It Will Take
By Doug Bibby, president, NMHCAs Multi-Housing News reports nearly every month, concern over global climate change and national energy security continues to grow. Moving beyond automobiles, policymakers are now looking to the built environment for a solution to ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Their reasoning is that “buildings are responsible for 70 percent of electricity use” and, therefore, by extension, 40 percent of carbon emissions.While it is true that electricity is consumed in buildings for a variety of purposes, the direct carbon emissions from buildings are much lower—around 9 percent—and these are associated with the direct combustion of fossil fuels for…
Q&A with Pam Monroe: To Remain Relevant IREM Must Have International Presence
Pam Monroe (pictured) is the president of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) as well as Community Realty Management Inc.’s senior vice president. She has overseen properties throughout the Southeast, in Texas, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and the Virgin Islands. She has managed all types of multifamily housing—including conventional properties, Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) housing, senior housing, condominiums and corporate portfolios.In 2003 Monroe was named “CPM of the Year” for IREM’s South Jersey Chapter No. 101. She is currently in Korea, where she is attending IREM’s six-year old chapter. Monroe talks to MHN Online News…
Avalon Morningside Park, Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine Team Up for Affordable Housing
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine’s housing mission fund recently contributed $200,000 towards 59 affordable housing units at the Avalon Morningside Park (pictured), a 295-unit mixed-income community located at 1 Morningside Drive in New York. Residents began moving in in July 2008. This is the first of 30 annual Cathedral contributions of $200,000 to help support the cost of the 59 affordable apartment units in the building. Over 23 million dollars have been spent for the construction of the affordable housing units at Avalon Morningside Park, and the annual rent subsidy for…
70,000 Affordable Housing Units to be Preserved with MacArthur Grants
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorChicago—In the last 10 years, two million affordable rental homes have been lost, whether sold, demolished or priced out, said Jonathan Fanton, president of the MacArthur Foundation, in a teleconference today. Now, in an effort to preserve affordable housing, the Foundation has announced its investment of $32.5 million—$9.5 million in grants and $23 million in low-interest loans—in 12 projects to preserve more than 70,000 affordable rental homes. This investment is expected to leverage more than $147 million in other funding. “The end of the housing bubble and a wave of foreclosures have underscored the importance of…
Snaidero USA Adds Line of Green Cabinets, Aims to Serve Eco-Friendly Multi-Housing Developers
By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor Los Angeles–Following the increasing demand for eco-friendly products in the furniture sector, Snaidero USA has added a whole line of “green” cabinets that meet the North-American criteria established by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). The new line is in addition to its existing E1/ISO 14001 certified products.LEED standards are used in a growing number of projects throughout the U.S. and North America to foster sustainable building development. Compliance with these regulations usually means that the project will receive LEED points towards achieving potential silver/gold/platinum certification by the USGBC.With greater knowledge of the needs…
MARKET SNAPSHOT: Lack of New Construction Helps When Vacancies are Increasing in Orlando, Fla.
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorOrlando—The lack of new construction in the Orlando market is not such a bad thing, according to Cole Whitaker, partner at Hendricks & Partners’ Orlando office. The downturn in new construction should help a softening rental market.“We, unfortunately, are sitting here with declining rent rolls due to increased concessions, so to have very little new construction is a good thing,” he says. Occupancy is sitting at approximately 90 percent, whereas the city normally enjoys levels of 92 percent to 95 percent, Whitaker tells MHN. While vacancies have increased only slightly, he affirms that concessions are rising….
TODAY’S DEALS: Arbor Closes $10,614,100 Fannie Mae DUS Loan, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorRoswell, Ga.–Arbor Commercial Funding LLC recently completed funding of a $10,614,100 loan under the Fannie Mae DUS ARM product line to refinance the 312-unit complex known as Kings Bridge (pictured) in Roswell, Ga.The seven-year loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule and carries a note rate of 6.41 percent.Meridian Capital Arranges Over $2M for 89-Unit Rental CommunityHarrisburg, Pa.–Meridian Capital Group recently arranged $2,700,000 in financing for the Quail Run Apartments located in Harrisburg, Pa. The property features a total of 89 residential apartments and is located at 4001 Rawleigh St. Meridian’s New Jersey office negotiated on…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Three Economic Plans in Eight Days
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorA whirlwind of actions under the new Obama Administration. In quick succession, in the space of a little more than seven days, we have seen the following developments: (1.) Feb. 10: The announcement by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner of the White House’s financial rescue effort, the Financial Stability Plan, that will involve using the remaining $350 billion from TARP, and the employment of as much as $2.5 trillion in total; (2.) Feb. 17: the signing by President Obama of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; (3.) Feb. 18: President…
NAR Foresees Increase in Home, Condo Sales by Summer as a Result of Very Favorable Buying Conditions; Inventory is Almost Back to Normal
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Existing-home sales declined in January with some buyers waiting to see how details of the economic stimulus package would affect them, according to the National Association of Realtors. At the same time, inventories fell to a two-year low.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says there was understandable hesitation by some homebuyers. “Given so much stimulus package discussion in January, some would-be buyers simply sat out for clarity and certainty on the nature of housing stimulus,” he says. Existing-home sales–including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 5.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of…
Rent Manager Partners with Paychex, Adopts Automated Payroll Import Feature
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorCincinnati, Ohio–London Computer Systems Inc. (LCS), developer of Rent Manager software, is partnering with Paychex, provider of payroll and payroll tax services, Human Resource services, 401(k) plans, insurance and time and labor solutions. The Rent Manager software was developed in 1982 to help property owners/managers more efficiently handle their properties, accounting, maintenance, utilities and prospects.The partnership between Rent Manager and Paychex has resulted in a feature that allows Rent Manager users to import their payroll data file (in .QIF, .IIF or .CSV formats) into Rent Manager, where it will automatically update in the general ledger….