News
KTGY Recognized for Planned Affordable Urban Infill Senior Community
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorLos Angeles—KTGY Group Inc., Architecture and Planning has been awarded the 2009 Best of 50+ Housing Gold Award by the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) in the category of “Best Multifamily Rental 50+ Community (Affordable)-On the Boards” for its design and planning of Echo Park. The property is a 90-unit affordable urban infill senior apartment community that is designed for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification. KTGY has been awarded with at least one Best of 50+ Housing Award annually since 2004. Last year, KTGY received the Best of 50+ Housing Gold…
Greening the Middle Class
adjunct professor at CUNY Brooklyn College, where he teaches real estate courses and a newly launched Green Business Course
Expansion of TALF to Cover CMBS and Loans Gets Praise from Industry
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–The Federal Reserve’s Term Asset Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) has been expanded to cover commercial real estate backed securities (CMBS) and loans. In addition, the loans provided to investors under TALF to purchase the securities will have five-year terms, which better match the needs of CMBS investors. Previously, the loans were only for three years and were aimed at consumer credit, such as car loans and credit cards. The five-year loans for CMBS purchases will begin in June, and the Fed will extend up to a total of $100 billion in such loans….
85-Year-Old Project Opens with New Childcare Center After Renovations
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Move-ins have begun at the 27-unit Ontario Court Apartments where the Jubilee JumpStart Early Childhood Development Center has also been built. Located at 2525 Ontario Road, NW, in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. the newly renovated $9 million redevelopment project is the result of a public-private partnership with the federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program, the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Jubilee Housing, Jubilee JumpStart, PNC Bank and Enterprise Community Investment Inc. (Enterprise). The 85-year-old Ontario Court Apartments will continue being an affordable housing project,…
Editor’s Note: Can Social Responsibility Increase NOI?
By Diana Mosher, Editor-in-ChiefThe debate continues about whether apartment residents will pay more for green living, but clearly demand is growing within certain demographics and interest is quickly spreading to others. And it’s on all of our minds. Recently NMHC’s Kim Duty shared an interesting article “Green Renting: Tenants Desire Eco-Friendly Digs” with members of our newly launched MHN Forum at LinkedIn.In the meantime, the number of properties offering a nod to green living keeps growing. So much so that the National Apartment Association hosted a new niche conference devoted to this topic last week. One attendee, a small property…
INSIDE THE DEAL: HFF Arranges Sale of Performing Loans
By Keat Foong, Executive Editor Chicago—Some developers are contemplating getting ready for the purchase of distressed loans. Here is an example of a sale transaction of performing loans. The Loan Sales group of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP) completed the sale of four performing first mortgage commercial loans for $31 million on behalf of Nationwide Life Insurance Co. HFF Senior Managing Director Stuart Salins and Associate Director Thomas Gerfin represented the seller in the transaction. The four loans range in size from about $3.95 million to $10 million, with an aggregate face amount of approximately $31 million. The loans were…
Top 10 Rules for Green Success
t has been nurturing a long list of sustainable initiatives from the recycling of carpets to the use of organic pesticides and cleaning products. Energy savings and water conservation are also top priorities at Post. For example, the company recently instituted an internal energy-savings awards program, and the results were dramatic.Twice a year, the company’s Ancillary Services Group looks at energy-saving opportunities across all their properties, which include garden, mid-rise and high-rise buildings. Last year’s winner cut electrical consumption in its leasing and common areas by 18.6 percent.“All we had to do was educate and encourage people, and we got…
ApartmentBids.com Launches Website to Simplify Matching Managers with Renters
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorChicago—ApartmentBids.com has launched a new Website to connect property managers and residents based on information in prospective renters’ profiles.“We provide information about properties and surrounding neighborhoods and we provide managers with qualified information about renters,” Nirav Patel, co-founder of ApartmentBids.com, tells MHN. “The key to quality leads is that the profiles of renters are very detailed; we provide a lot of detail to make it easier to convert leads into leases,” Patel says. In addition to contact information, potential renters also fill out information on employment and credit history.The prospective renter completes a detailed profile and…
TODAY’S DEALS: Boston Capital Closes Tax Credit Fund With $120M Equity, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorBoston–Boston Capital recently closed the Boston Capital Tax Credit Fund XXXI, a nationally diversified portfolio of 30 affordable apartment properties in 12 states with total equity invested of $120 million. With this closing, Boston Capital has invested $640 million in equity since January 2008. “At a challenging time for the U.S. economy and the credit markets, we are very pleased to close a fund consisting of high quality assets and strong investor interest in these assets,” says Jack Manning, president and CEO of Boston Capital. “The appetite for these investments is reflective of the high…
New PollenTec Screens Let The Breeze In While Keeping Allergens Out.
The PollenTec screen is a new product that allows property owners and managers to fit windows and doors with screens that keep pollen out, while still letting the breeze in.According to some reports, 50 million people in North America are affected by allergies and almost 55 percent of the population test positive for at least one or more airborne allergens.The PollenTec screens look very similar to normal screens but are designed with a unique filtering effect that allows fresh air to flow in while keeping out up to 100 percent of pollens.”My whole family suffers from seasonal allergies,” says Paul…