News
Bart Harvey, Enterprise Share ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Accomplishments in Affordable Housing Development
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Extraordinary accomplishments in affordable housing development and investment are being recognized through this year’s Urban Land Institute (ULI) J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. F. Barton Harvey III, former chairman and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners Inc., and former chairman of the board of Enterprise Community Investment Inc., is sharing the 2008 prize with Columbia, Md.-based Enterprise, provider of affordable rental and owner-occupied housing. The ULI J.C. Nichols Prize recognizes a person or a person representing an institution whose career demonstrates a commitment to the highest standards of responsible development. The $100,000…
Study Finds Rising Operating Expenses Lead to Rent Increases, Housing Costs Outpace Income Growth
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorWashington, D.C.–Rising expenses for multifamily owners may be causing rent increases, according to a new study by the Center for Housing Policy. The report, “Stretched Thin: The Impact of Rising Housing Expenses on America’s Owners and Renters,” is co-authored by Barbara J. Lipman, research director, and Maya Brennan, research associate, both of the Center for Housing Policy, a research affiliate of the National Housing Conference.The study found that, from 1998 to 2004, the consumer price index rose 16 percent, while the average cost of insurance rose 97 percent, taxes rose 25 percent, marketing costs increased by…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Risk Management
By Teresa O’Dea Hein, Managing EditorChances are, when you’re in Las Vegas–like I am now, at a conference, I swear!–risk seems like a good thing. Slot machines promise the chance of an easy pay-out (but not for me so far). However, in the real world, risk has a more worrisome meaning, especially these days.Knowledge is the best way to manage risk, and there are many ways to stay up to date on the latest tools and techniques to do so. Pinnacle’s Chief Administrative Officer Ed Wolff reports that his company uses assessment tools in the hiring process. “You can’t teach…
Job Losses Cause Apartment Rent Growth to Decline to 0.8%
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDallas–In the third quarter of 2008, the U.S. apartment market had the smallest increase in annual effective rent since the first quarter of 2004, according to AXIOMETRICS INC., a national apartment research company headquartered in Dallas, Texas that has been conducting this survey for 12 years.The 3Q08 annual growth rate in rents of +0.8 percent is the lowest of any quarter since then. The apartment market is expected to worsen into 2009 as the U.S. economy continues to lose more jobs; so far in 2008, the U.S. economy has lost over 760,000 jobs and the…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Relative Calm in the Midst of Turmoil
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorIt was certainly hair-raising to watch the stock market in the past week. By Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average had fallen from 9,955.50 on Monday to 8,451.19 points—a drop that was reportedly even worse percentage-wise than the 17 percent plunge in the week ending July 22, 1933. Part of the current panic has to do with the suspended financing markets—which one would think at its worse can lead to economic collapse. In this regard, the Treasury’s announcement this week of the plan to inject $250 billion into banks, guarantee inter-bank lending and backstop the commercial…
Industry Speakers, Consultants Form National Alliance
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorGreeley, Colo.—Professional speakers and consultants in the multifamily industry have recently come together to form the National Multifamily Speakers Alliance (NMSA).“It’s a group of people coming together for one cause: maintaining a high standard of performance for professional speakers in multifamily,” says Toni Blake, founder and president of NMSA. “Our real goal is about establishing professionalism and creating a set of criteria that people can work toward to establish themselves at a higher level.” All members must meet a certain set of criteria and sign a code of ethics.Additionally, NMSA creates a forum for speakers and…
TODAY’S DEALS: ARA Brokers Largest MF Sale in 2008 in Nashville Market , for $71.5M, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNashville, Tenn.–Atlanta headquartered Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) recently brokered the $71.5 million sale of Wyndchase at Aspen Grove (pictured), a 560-unit Class A multifamily community located in the Franklin/Cool Springs submarket in Nashville, Tenn.This is likely to be the largest investment sale in Nashville this year.The property was 95 percent occupied at the time of sale. Constructed in 1997, Wyndchase at Aspen Grove is comprised of 33 buildings situated on over 60 acres in a campus-like setting, surrounded by landscaped grounds that overlook the Vanderbilt Legends Golf Club providing residents with golf course views on…
Factory Made Doors and Windows from PGT Industries
PGT Industries’ three new impact-resistant door and window products for its Architectural Systems product line are designed with residential high-rise buildings in mind. The Storefront 3500 Series, consists of a commercial Storefront Entrance Door (ST3550) and a Storefront Window Wall System (WS3500). A Terrace Door (TER3050) is a new addition to the 3000 Series, which is ideal for condominium and apartment buildings.All these products save installation time and resources because it is a factory fabricated, pre-glazed system, enabling installers to reduce field labor by spending less time glazing units at the job site. This accommodates a faster closing of the…
Riverstone Forms Client Services & Business Development Group to Focus on Client Needs
Dallas–Riverstone Residential Group has initiated a new organizational structure and created a client services group. The new organizational structure is expected to position the Dallas-based company for growth and increase the focus on client services by enhancing core capabilities, strengthening internal systems and practices and creating a new client services group, according to the company. The change will also redefine the leadership roles of co-founders Christy Freeland and Terry Danner. Freeland will take over as CEO of Riverstone Residential Group and will be responsible for oversight of national operations, along with the internal resources, financial services and information systems divisions…
Multifamily Foreclosures Show Year-Over-Year Increase
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorIrvine, Calif.–The number of multifamily foreclosures more than doubled in July and August this year compared to July and August of 2007, according RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for August 2008. Last July there were 4,501 multifamily foreclosures and this year there were 9,061 while last August there were 4,089 and this August saw 8,134 multifamily foreclosures.While the nation’s foreclosure activity rose almost 12 percent from the previous month and 27 percent from the same month in 2007 and one in every 416 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during August this year, the number…