News

Washington, D.C.–The Bush administration announced a proposal to revamp regulation of the U.S. financial system on Monday that marks the biggest overhaul since the Great Depression, the New York Times reports.The new plan would add a group of federal regulators with autonomy over all sectors of the financial system.Hedge funds and private equity firms, previously free from government oversight, would be monitored by the federal government. However, the government’s powers would only involve collecting information unless a large financial crisis had happened.In the plan, the Fed would be allowed to go through the books at brokerage firms, hedge funds, commodity-trading…

Washington, D.C.–U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson resigned on Monday amid a federal criminal investigation into how agency contracts were awarded, Bloomberg reports. “There comes a time when one must attend more diligently to personal and family matters,” Jackson told reporters in Washington, D.C.  “Now is such a time for me.” His resignation will be effective April 18.The Justice Department is investigating whether Jackson did or did not give federal housing contacts to his friends, Bloomberg reported Monday. Jackson–who was the Bush administration’s main advocate for legislation to use the Federal Housing Administration to refinance problematic borrowers–has been…

London–President Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown are establishing a joint organization to create plans and oversee the banking system, according to the Financial Times.The group will consist of senior Treasury and regulatory figures from London and Washington; primarily, it will work to improve day-to-day co-operation between U.S. and U.K. financial regulators.Because of concern that credit ratings agencies didn’t properly consider how the exposure of mortgage-based products would play out if the housing market declined, the new body will reconsider how credit ratings agencies determine risk, U.K. Treasury officials said.The working group also will examine ways banks and other…

San Antonio–The USAA Real Estate Co. will begin development of The Town Center at La Cantera, a mixed-use development project on approximately 178 acres bounded by The Shops at La Cantera and Interstate 10 in San Antonio. The Shops at La Cantera is an open-air marketplace featuring stores and restaurants.The project is expected to be complete in phases, the first of which will be rolled out in mid- to late 2009.The Town Center at La Cantera will include nearly 500 residential units, approximately 1 million sq. ft. of office space, a high-end boutique hotel with spa and retail space. “Our…

Boston–Foreclosures of two- and three-family homes last month outpaced foreclosures of other property types, including single-family homes and condominiums, according to Boston-based real estate data firm the Warren Group.Buildings that house three families–called three-deckers–have been an affordable housing option for working-class and immigrant families and have achieved an iconic significance in Massachusetts, the Boston Globe said Monday. The Warren Group doesn’t have a reason for the high foreclosure trend but said it might involve ownership. Many two- and three-family homes are owned by investors who are abandoning the properties as the market continues to decline.”Maybe it’s that many owners of…

Houston–Atlanta-headquartered Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) recently launched its National Affordable Housing Group, which will be based in Houston, with satellite offices in New Orleans and Atlanta.ARA’s Cliff McDaniel and the recently recruited Dave Fournier, former managing director of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler’s (HFF) tax credit housing group in Atlanta, will head the ARA National Affordable Housing Group.This group is based out of the Houston office because McDaniel is based in that office and he has been ARA’s de facto affordable housing broker since ARA’s inception.  “It seemed logical to keep the group based in Houston once the decision was made to…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorHinsdale, Ill.–Hinsdale, a suburb of Chicago known for its historic residential architecture, will soon have a new condominium/townhome community that will seek to blend in with the existing neighborhood.GSH Development, a partnership of Wexford Development of Hinsdale and HJH Homes of Oak Brook, worked with BSB Design to create three- and four-story buildings using the Shingle Style, a design reminiscent of late nineteenth-century New England.Located near downtown Hinsdale, the Hamptons of Hinsdale is one block from Hinsdale Central High School and two blocks from Elm Elementary School.“It was kind of a friendly style that we liked,…

By Katelyn McWatters, Editorial InternOakland, Calif.– General Investment & Development Cos. recently sold the 284-unit Windsor at Metropolitan Complex to investors Richard Ross and Socorro Vasquez for $108 million. The four-story multifamily building was built last year, and was about 66 percent occupied at the time of sale. The Windsor at Metropolitan, located at 5684 Bay St., is part of Bay Street Emeryville, a mixed-use retail and residential complex. Located four miles from Oakland, the complex features 114 one-bedroom/one-bath units and 170 two-bedroom/two-bath units, ranging from 715 sq. ft. to 1,424 sq. ft. Twenty percent of the complex’s 275,000 sq….

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C–“The HUD secretary had lost credibility among people in Washington, D.C. a long time ago,” Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, tells MHN. “His resignation has been long overdue and not at all unexpected.”Secretary Alphonso R. Jackson resigned this morning amidst intense speculation regarding his alleged involvement in giving lucrative housing contracts to friends. However, in his official statement, Jackson said he is leaving the post because he needed to devote more time to his family.“Regardless of the ethical issues, the operation and survival of HUD’s programs has also been…