News

By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor Salt Lake City–Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) recently arranged the sale of four multifamily properties including Foothill Place, Park Capitol, Somerset Village and Southwillow, all located in Salt Lake City, for more than $120 million. The four properties together comprise 1,511 units. This exceeds last October’s record-breaking sale in Utah of 1,215 units. “Multiple offers to acquire the portfolio were made from various buyer types,” says Jed Millburn, ARA’s Salt Lake City-based principal who brokered the transaction. “The exuberant market response surrounding the portfolio is a demonstration of the fact that Salt Lake City has appeared on the…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Washington, D.C.–In response to the rising number of injuries and deaths caused by the suction of swimming pool drains, President George W. Bush has signed into law the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Safety Act. This Act will affect all public pools and spas, including those in apartment and condominium communities. Suction entrapment can occur when a swimmer gets sucked into a pool or spa’s water circulation system, similar to the way a vacuum cleaner can stick to a person’s palm, explains Paul Penninngton, founding member of the Pool Safety Consortium, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that educates…

By Anuradha Kher, Online  News EditorAtlanta–The Place/BV Student Housing Fund LLC recently  invested $38 million in First Street Place and Maverick Place (pictured), two student  housing properties located in Greenville, N.C. and Arlington, Texas, respectively. When complete, First Street  Place will serve the students of East Carolina University (ECU) and Maverick  Place will serve the students of University of Texas at Arlington (UT  Arlington). Both communities will open in the summer of 2009. BVP Managers  LLC, a joint venture between Atlanta-based Place Properties LP and  Chicago-based Blue Vista Capital Management LLC, will serve as the manager of  the fund. The 193-unit First…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–President George W. Bush signed into law today a comprehensive package of housing legislation including broad authority for the Treasury Department to safeguard Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a plan to help hundreds of thousands facing the possibility of foreclosure.Bush signed the legislation, which Congress approved last week, authorizing the Treasury to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if the need arises. Partly to accommodate the rescue plan for the mortgage companies, the bill raises the national debt ceiling to $10.6 trillion, an increase of $800 billion.“On a macro level, this is touted…

By Anuradha Kher, Online  News Editor Irvine, Calif.–Guardian Management LLC, through a  newly formed corporation will acquire the southern  California and Arizona offices of Sperry Van Ness. With this acquisition,  Guardian will hold the development and franchise rights for Sperry Van Ness in  Southern California, Arizona and Oregon. Guardian’s president, Tom Brenneke,  will become a member of the Sperry Van Ness board of advisors.   “This move diversifies us geographically and with product types  and will improve our deal flow,” Tom Brenneke, president of Guardian  Management LLC, tells MHN. “While we do some brokerage as a company, this will  really formalize it.”…

is Lend LeaseArchitect/Interior Designer: WHA Architecture and Planning PCCategory: UnbuiltMirabella South WaterfrontPortland, OROwner/Investor: Pacific Retirement ServicesArchitect/Interior Designer: Ankrom Moisan Associated ArchitectsBuilder: Hoffman Construction CompanyFifteen Twenty-One Second AvenueSeattleDeveloper/Builder: Opus NWR LLCArchitect of Record: Opus Architects and EngineersDesign Architect: Weber ThompsonInterior Designer: Susan Marinello InteriorsBarn Lofts Los AngelesDeveloper: The Borman Group LLCArchitect/Interior Designer: Rockefeller Partners ArchitectsBuilder: Carr ConstructionCategory: Interior DesignMidtown Bethesda North Condominiums North Bethesda, MDDeveloper: KettlerInterior Designer: ForrestPerkinsArchitect (base building): Dorsky Hodgson Parish Yue ArchitectsBuilder: Bovis Lend LeaseChelsea Modern Sales + Design GalleryNew YorkDeveloper: Madison Equities LLCArchitect/Interior Designer: Audrey Matlock ArchitectBuilder: Diamond Construction

By Keat Foong, Executive EditorHalf Moon Bay, Calif. — Fannie Mae is working on a number of enhancements to its multifamily financing offerings, including a combined construction-permanent financing product. The agency says it is cooperating with several DUS lenders who have construction lending expertise to combine construction financing with permanent debt. “The construction-to-permanent product will offer a seamless, lower cost execution and more certainty for the construction of new multifamily properties,” Fannie Mae states.Currently, only HUD offers a multifamily construction-permanent loan, under its FHA mortgage insurance program. HUD’s combined financing requires one underwriting and approval for both loans, with the…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–The Community Preservation Corp. (CPC) and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) recently provided a $4,700,764 construction loan for the top-to-bottom rehabilitation of one partially occupied, and two vacant residential buildings in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York.After rehabilitation, the buildings located at 2516 Newkirk Ave., 561 Rogers Ave. and 2506 Albemarle Rd., will feature 25 new rental apartments for low- and moderate-income families.The three properties were sold to Nayelli Partners, the developer, for $50,000 under HPD’s Third Party Transfer Program, which forecloses on tax delinquent properties and…

The Austonian is seeking a four-star rating from Austin’s Green Builder designation.

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–The Internal Revenue Service has published long-awaited regulations changing the way rents are adjusted on Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties where residents pay for their own utilities. This gives LIHTC property owners more flexibility in the way they calculate utility allowances for their low-income residents.”Considering the exponential increases in energy costs, the new utility allowance regulation will allow builders to more accurately calculate the energy usage for their buildings, therefore reducing long-term operating costs,” says Justin MacDonald, a Kerrville, Texas-based LIHTC developer and chairman of the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Housing…