News
Architecture, Design Firm Wins Best Design Award for Multi-Housing Project
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorCambridge, Mass.–ADD Inc recently received three awards, including the best residential multi-housing project, from The New England chapter of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA NE), at its second annual Interior Design Awards held at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art.IIDA NE’s Interior Design Awards recognize New England firms for outstanding interior design and excellence in teamwork.ADD Inc was one of two firms honored with three interior design awards this year. ADD Inc received the best in multi-housing award for the planning, architecture and interior design on the Archstone Boston Common, a 28-story high-density rental housing…
Multifamily Property Loans Drop 42% in Second Quarter
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations continued to fall on a year-over-year basis in the second quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations. Overall, second-quarter originations were 63 percent lower than during the same period last year and multifamily property loans saw a 42 percent decrease in the same period.“Since the onset of the credit crunch, we have seen an overall slowdown in multifamily property sales transactions, Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) loans and issuance of mortgages in general,” Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of Commercial/Multifamily…
Profile: NALP of Year Winner Feldman Says, ‘Leasing Is about People, not Property’
Thomas Feldman is the proud recipient of the 2008 National Apartment Leasing Professional (NALP) of the Year title. He received this prestigious award from the National Apartment Association Education Institute (NAAEI) at the 2008 Paragon Awards ceremony held in Orlando, Fla. Feldman leases apartments at 100 Memorial Drive, a 261-unit building in Cambridge, Mass. Rents at this 12-story high rise range from about $1,440 for a studio to $2,965 for a three-bedroom apartment.Since August 2003, Feldman has been a member of The Dolben Company Inc., a fourth-generation business headquartered in Woburn, Mass. Feldman earned Employee of the Year honors at…
First Solar-Powered Housing Project in India Complete, Sold Out
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorNew Town Kolkata (Calcutta), India–India’s first solar-powered housing project, Rabi Rashmi Abasan, has been completed and sold out.“In India, the climate is well-adapted to solar architecture and PVs (photovoltaic cells), because there is so much sunlight, so it’s conducive to the effective production of solar energy,” notes Manager of Sustainability Ilana Judah, international associate AIA, LEED AP at New York-based FXFOWLE.Conceived, designed and built by West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA) and Bengal DCL Housing Development Co. Ltd., a joint enterprise of West Bengal Housing Board and DC Properties Ltd., the 600,000-Euro housing community is…
Club Car Introduces Street-Legal, Electric Low-Speed Vehicles
Club Car, an Atlanta-based manufacturer of electric- and gasoline-powered utility vehicles, has introduced a new low-speed vehicle (LSV), Carryall LSV, as an alternative means of transportation for facility managers at large communities.Carryall LSVs are powered by batteries and have no internal combustion engines, thereby producing no emissions. Additionally, because they do not require any fossil fuel, the cars have low operating costs when compared to traditional vehicles.The two new models also features an alternating current (AC) electric drive system, which is designed to provide smoother direction changes, quieter operation and greater speed range and control.www.clubcar.com
TODAY’S DEALS: Guardian Purchases Rental Property for $30M, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorBeaverton, Ore.–Guardian Management LLC recently purchased the 279-unit Waterhouse Place Apartments (pictured) in Beaverton, Ore., a suburb of Portland, for $30 million. USB Realty Investors LLC will serve as the equity partner. Guardian plans to invest an additional $3 million—approximately $7,000 per unit—for exterior and interior renovations of the complex.“The property fits perfectly into our value-add acquisition strategy,” says Tom Brenneke, president of Guardian.Built in 1989, Guardian will rehabilitate the 14.5-acre community with exterior upgrades, including updated landscaping, a resurfaced spa, new patio doors and parking and clubhouse upgrades. Guardian also plans an extensive interior…
Siegel-Gallagher Awarded Management Assignment for Wisconsin Tower
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorMilwaukee–Siegel-Gallagher Management Co., a division of Siegel-Gallagher ONCO International, a Milwaukee-based full-service commercial real estate firm, has landed the management assignment for Wisconsin Tower, a 74-unit, 22-story condo tower.“I think the Board of Directors selected us because we mostly do high-rise management and we are associated with two other really high-end condos–Kilbourn Tower and University Club Tower,” says Kris Ruka, property manager for Wisconsin Tower.Wisconsin Tower is an adaptive reuse of the Mariner Tower, which was used as commercial and medical space, until it was sold in 1971. Originally designed by Chicago-based Weary and Alford, the…
PropertyBridge Announces Rental Payment Integration with Yardi Systems
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorOakland, Calif.–PropertyBridge Inc.’s payments platform is now fully integrated with Yardi Systems for the purposes of integrating its electronic payment services with Yardi’s property management system. PropertyBridge is the first electronic payments provider to integrate with Yardi using the MITS (Multifamily Information and Transactions Standards) Residential Transactions 2.0 Standard, as part of Yardi’s MITS-based Standard Interfaces Program.By merging data between management and accounting systems and the PropertyBridge Payments Platform, property management firms streamline core administrative practices, and significantly reduce the time required to process resident payments. The full integration makes it possible for property managers…
ARA’s Mid-Year Multifamily Transaction Volume Increases 11%
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAtlanta–In the midst of the housing crisis, Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) has revealed that its mid-year national multi-housing transaction volume has increased 11 percent over the same period last year, equaling $2.6 billion.In a recently released report by Real Estate Alert, ARA was ranked number two nationally for multifamily production, right behind CBRE. The gap in production value for the two companies was $186 million as compared to last year’s mid-year figures when CBRE’s multifamily volume totaled $6 billion as compared to ARA’s volume of $1.9 billion. ARA attributes the increased transaction volume to several…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Bowling, Anyone?
By Teresa O’Dea HeinMHN Managing EditorIn the last two hours of a recent workday, my colleagues and I were scheduled to attend a group meeting, but one with a twist. We were all going bowling. Yes, bowling. Attendance was mandatory, which was an important factor because packing boxes for an office move (to a different floor in the same building) and deadlines for the September print issue were looming over us. In Manhattan, where real estate costs are notoriously high, bowling alleys are few and far between. However, one is located near the office of Multi-Housing News and our sister…