News
MULTI-HOUSING EXECUTIVES UPDATE: Kelly Matter Joins CommonBond Communities as VP of Advantage Services, and Other Moves
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSt. Paul, Minn.–CommonBond Communities announces that Kelly Matter, former vice president of mission services for Goodwill/Easter Seals, has been named vice president of advantage services at the organization. CommonBond is a nonprofit affordable housing developer, manager and service provider in the Upper Midwest. “Kelly Matter provides the leadership and vision to sustain and strengthen the CommonBond ‘more-than-housing’ model of community development,” says Paul Fate, president and CEO, CommonBond Communities. “The department she manages serves the varied needs of the resident population, which includes seniors, families and people with special needs.” CommonBond residents, on average, earn less…
HUD to Speed Process for Awarding Grants
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–In an effort to accelerate the process of awarding grants to state and local governments, non-profit organizations and other community-based applicants, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently launched a new streamlined funding process.HUD will now announce funding notices on a program-by-program basis, which is expected to speed up the application process for prospective grantees that would otherwise be required to wait for the publication of HUD’s comprehensive funding notice.”This new process is intended to make certain HUD grants are awarded in a much more timely and efficient manner,” says HUD…
January Guest Column: Is the Luxury Market Dead?
By Yosi Gil, principal, J. Milton & Associates In preparing this column, I am working backwards, addressing the outlook for the next three to five years. This approach allows me to tackle the relevance of luxury real estate to our economy faster than walking you through a history of the term. Therefore, let’s start by looking at luxury in today’s climate and where it’s headed.In the short term, true luxury product will hold its value, and will see the quickest rebound in price. This holds especially true for boutique product because there is less of it around.Conversely, large buildings tend…
Developer Sells-Out Ariel Square, Reports 50% Sold At The Emsee
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNewark, N.J. — Despite a slowing economic cycle and troubles in the current housing market, TreeTop Development is reporting significant sales milestones at its two luxury condominium buildings in the historic Hudson County City of Hoboken, N.J.The developer has recently completed its sales and marketing program at Ariel Square (pictured), a collection of 21 residences in a four-story building at the corner of Jackson and Fifth Streets. “Economic concerns and a lack in consumer confidence have been the main contributors to the decline in sales for luxury condominiums in housing markets throughout the country,” says…
TODAY’S DEALS: Post Continues $360M Disposition Plan with Atlanta MF Sale, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor MHN and Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor, CPNAtlanta–In its third quarter earnings report issued last month, Post Properties Inc. noted that it would sell six assets with the hope of pocketing approximately $360 million. With the latest disposition of Post Lenox Park (pictured) in Atlanta, the company has one down, five more to go.Post Properties sold the 206-unit apartment community to an entity formed by Greensboro, N.C.-headquartered Steven D. Bell & Co. for $22.7 million. Developed in 1995, Post Lenox Park is a Class A, garden-style multifamily property located at 100 Lenox Park Circle in Atlanta’s…
Two Lakeshore East Towers Receive Architectural Awards
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorChicago–The Regatta, a 44-story, 325-unit condominium project located at 420 E. Waterside Dr. in Chicago, recently won a Design Excellence Award from the Association of Licensed Architects (ALA) and the Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) and The Chandler (pictured), a 35-story, 304-unit condo project also located at the same address, received the SARA Award.The two condominium towers are part of Lakeshore East, and were designed by DeStefano Partners along with Loewenberg Architects LLC.In all, DeStefano Partners was the winner of 10 design awards, topped by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Chicago Chapter’s prestigious…
Sales Start for 21-Unit Luxury Condo Building in TriBeCa
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Sales have started for The Fairchild (pictured), a new project featuring 21 custom built town homes, penthouses and lofts designed by David Howell, and located at Manhattan’s TriBeCa North Historic District at 55 Vestry St. The nine-story doorman building features two-, three- and four-bedroom residences with 22-ft. high ceilings. Prices for the units range from $1.965 million to $8.995 million, with floor plans including up to three baths and spanning from 1,350 to 2,835 sq. ft. It also includes three oversized triplex town homes with private street-level entrances. Select residences also feature spacious terraces…
Metros Experience the Biggest Home Price Declines Ever
New York–Data through October 2008, released this week by Standard & Poor’s, shows continued broad-based declines in the prices of existing single family homes across the United States, with 14 of the 20 metro areas showing record rates of annual decline and 14 now reporting declines in excess of 10 percent versus October 2007.”The bear market continues; home prices are back to their March 2004 levels,” says David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “Both composite indices and 14 of the 20 metro areas are reporting new record rates of decline. As of October 2008,…
The Design of Plaza Lofts Twenty-Two: A Case Study in Zinc Facades
To see a slide show of this project go to “University Town Center.”Curved zinc facades help forge boutique condo’s bold imageWith its sail-like east and west zinc facades, the new Plaza Lofts Twenty Two condo building in Hyattsville, Md., projects a bold new face for the $1.2 billion University Town Center redevelopment project. The mixed-use residential and retail development was planned in the late 1960s by acclaimed modernist Edward Durell Stone, who also designed the Kennedy Center in New York City. The iconic Plaza Lofts Twenty Two, embodying and amplifying many of the University Town Center’s contemporary design themes, positions…
INSIDE THE DEAL: Equity Residential Sells Ariz. Apts. for $18.4M
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorTucson, Ariz.–The Phoenix, Ariz.-based Hendricks & Partners represented Equity Residential in the sale of Skyline Gateway Apartments for $18.4 million. The property is situated in an A+ location, at 4601 East Skyline Drive here at the top of the Santa Catalina Foothills. It is close to upscale shopping, restaurants, hotels and golf courses. The property features one-bedroom and two-bedroom units in six spacious floor plans. Each unit is equipped with air conditioning, ceiling fans, dishwashers, disposals, frost-free refrigerators and a private balcony or patio. Cable television is available. Some units include fireplaces, stacked or full-sized washers…