News
AIMCO Slips to No. 3 Spot on Largest Apartment Owners Ranking
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–The apartment industry was buffeted by crosswinds in 2008, according to the National Multi Housing Council’s (NMHC) ranking of the 50 largest apartment owners and the 50 largest apartment managers. This is the 20th year since NMHC started the ranking.”The apartment sector is better positioned than most to produce a robust recovery, however,” says NMHC President Doug Bibby. “It is not overbuilt, like the single-family sector, and demographic trends, changing lifestyles and our desire to grow more sustainably all point to strong long-term demand for apartments.” “All in all, there were fewer changes in…
Group 41 Accepts Commission to Create Proposal for Multifamily Community from Shipping Containers
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Salt Lake City—San Francisco-based architecture firm Group 41 is breaking new ground with a shipping container design for multifamily development. The proposal is for a 200-unit, market-rate transit-oriented community in Salt Lake City.“For years, we put out a formal offer of discounted design services for anyone who was serious about wanting me to design a single-family home [from shipping containers]. I talked to hundreds of people, but not a single one turned into a real project,” says Joel Karr, founder and principal, Group 41. “People are intrigued by the idea but are resistant to trying…
According to First Quarter Market Report, Manhattan Apartment Prices and Transactions Down Considerably
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–The average Manhattan apartment price (including condos, co-ops and cond-ops) of $1,502,339 was up slightly from last quarter, but down 11 percent from the previous year, according to the first quarter market report released today by Brown Harris Stevens. The total number of closings decreased by 58 percent compared to the same period a year ago.“This reflects what most people thought would happen, and it’s not a big surprise,” Greg Heym, chief economist for Terra Holdings, which is the parent company of Brown Harris Stevens, tells MHN. “The fourth quarter is always slow and…
Property Showcase: Hanover Company Caters to Charlotte’s Upscale Renters-By-Choice
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorIn Charlotte, N.C., single-family living tends to dominate, notes Bo Buchanan, development partner at The Hanover Company. But at The Residence at SouthPark, a luxury, mixed-use development adjacent to the open-air SouthPark Mall, renters-by-choice can find the same high standard of living found in single family homes, Buchanan asserts. “We’re not putting in apartment finishes. If someone sells his house but doesn’t want to buy another one, he’s going to feel at home [at The Residence at SouthPark],” adds Buchanan. “We’re not catering to roommates.”With 1,025 to 3,057-sq.-ft. residences that feature walk-in closets, separate showers and…
Will GSEs Curtail Financing?
Looking to refinance your property in 2010 and beyond? With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac supplying the lion’s share of permanent financing for multifamily, the consequences could be serious if money from the two entities for the sector should be substantially curtailed in the next few years under the Obama Administration. Yet a reduction in financing from Fannie and Freddie is a distinct possibility. When the government assumed control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September 2008, placing them into conservatorship run by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the U.S. Treasury committed to up to $100 billion in…
Lone Star State
The last few months of 2008 saw a rapid evaporation of the momentum gathered earlier in the year. The overall Texas occupancy average ended the year at 88.5 percent, down 160 basis points from year-end 2007. For individual markets, the Dallas market fared best in occupancy and ended the year at 89.1 percent, falling 180 basis points from 90.9 percent in December 2007. Houston held steady for 2008, losing only 10 basis points of occupancy, falling from 88.3 percent to 88.2 percent. The largest drop occurred in Austin, where 2007 ended at 93.7 percent and 2008 wrapped up at 89.0…
Facing the Affordable Housing Challenge
d-party developersMacFarlane Costa Housing Partners, Gardena, Calif.Regions: 33 states and Puerto RicoDollars in development: $40 to $50 million currently under constructionMichael A. Costa, president MacFarlane Costa Housing Partners is a developer, builder, financier, owner and operator of affordable housing. Asked to identify his favorite among his company’s affordable housing ventures, Costa replies that he’d be hard pressed to name just one.”Our philosophy as an affordable housing developer is to develop housing that doesn’t look like affordable housing. If you drive by, you would never be able to tag that as affordable housing. We enter contests like the National Association of…
Greening Your Laundry Rooms
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorEnergy and water efficiency in equipment used in common laundry areas is increasingly important to apartment owners and managers, whether the machines are leased or owned. “When it comes to community laundry areas in multi-housing, the prevailing trend is improved efficiency. Developers and owners, like all of us, are seeking to lower water and utility costs,” agrees Dick Casey, director of multi-housing sales at Alliance Laundry Systems (ALS), a commercial laundry equipment specialist that manufactures Speed Queen. Laundry route operators are getting more questions from apartment owners about the green aspects of their machines, according to…
TODAY’S DEALS: Meridian Capital Group Arranges $6.3M Permanent Financing for 66-Unit Property, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News Reseda, Calif.–Meridian Capital Group has arranged permanent financing for Los Angeles-based Capital Foresight LP in the amount of $6.3 million for Terra Vista Apartments (pictured), a 66-unit multifamily building located on Saticoy Street in Reseda, Calif. Meridian successfully negotiated the non-recourse, 5.64 percent fixed interest rate for 10-years. Love Funding Secures Over $4M Refi Loan for 172-Unit Rental CommunityLake Charles, La.–Mortgage-banking firm Love Funding recently secured a $4,531,900 refinance loan for Whispering Pines Apartments, a 172-unit rental community located in Lake Charles, La. Terms included a 6.25 percent interest rate and a 40-year amortization. Love…
Q&A with Scott Ziegler: Suburban Projects are Going to Do Badly In Future
R. Scott Ziegler (pictured), AIA, is one of the founding principals of Ziegler Cooper Architects. Ziegler is involved in all phases of work on every project. With a strong belief in modern architecture Ziegler endeavors to explore a building’s limits. Ziegler’s management experience encompasses high-rise condominiums, high- and low-rise office buildings, retail facilities, educational institutions and corporate interiors. Ziegler talks to MHN Online News editor Anuradha Kher about the Austonian, which is set to be the tallest building West of the Mississipp,i and about urban development. MHN: What is special about the Austonian?Ziegler: Upon completion in 2010, The Austonian will…