News

Georgetown, Texas–Bourn Partners, a real estate development firm headquartered in Tucson, Ariz., has acquired 185 acres in Georgetown on Westinghouse Road. The property is marked for a multi-use development that could include multifamily housing, assisted living facilities, medical office and research space, a corporate campus, and retail components among others.“This area, bordered by IH-35, Westinghouse Boulevard, FM 1460 and University Boulevard, is fast becoming the hub of Williamson County for medical, educational and retail needs,” says Joe Simmons, principal at Bourn Partners. “We are delighted to play a part in creating this dynamic project for future growth in the region.”The…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorIrvine, Calif.,–Western National Property Management, the multifamily management arm of Western National Group based in Irvine, has held the initial close of Western National Realty Fund II, L.P. (“Fund II”), the firm’s second private equity fund, with over $200 million of equity commitments.“We anticipate Fund II’s final close to take place in 2008 with at least $300 million of equity commitments,” says CEO Michael K. Hayde.Fund II focuses solely on multifamily acquisitions and development projects. Its current investors primarily include major state employee pension funds, life insurance companies and investment banks, as well as many…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorKennett Square, Pa.–Chatham Financial, an interest rate and foreign exchange advisory company, has opened its newest location in Singapore to better serve its international client base as well as support the interest rate and currency risk management needs of its growing number of Asia Pacific clients.The Singapore office is in addition to two U.S. locations in Kennett Square, Pa., and Denver as well as offices in London, U.K., and Krakow, Poland.“We are thrilled as this will allow us to continue to create market efficiency with closer proximity to the Asia market. We value having a…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorJersey City, N.J.–Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (Saint Vincent’s), the umbrella organization for several hospitals and healthcare facilities, has signed a 15-year lease with SK Properties, a Bridgewater, N.J.-based real estate company, for 65 apartments at Grove Pointe in downtown Jersey City, N.J. The lease is worth $34 million.The residences in the 30-story luxury rental building, developed by SK Properties, is to be occupied by resident and intern physicians, doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel.“Saint Vincent’s was unable to find a building in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, close to the hospital facility, which is why they…

New York–The declining U.S. economy ultimately will force home prices down by 20 percent, the chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com said this week.Mark Zandi, who co-founded Economy.com, also said the U.S. will experience a recession in the first half of 2008, the Guardian reports.”To be more precise, the economy is contracting. It’s been contracting for December, January and probably February,” Zandi said. “Another three, four, five months of contraction and that would be a recession.”Speaking at the Reuters Housing Summit in New York, he said the Moody’s Economy.com outlook had changed significantly from December, when it estimated a 13 percent…

Moscow–Two Russian sovereign wealth funds holding a collective $157 billion have invested in government agency bonds, including U.S. home finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Financial Times reports.Russia’s two sovereign wealth funds also were allowed to invest in the U.K.’s Network Rail MTN Finance, the U.S. Federal Home Loan Banks and Federal Farm Credit Banks, Germany’s agriculture finance agency and France’s Dexia Group. It is unclear how much was invested in Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.The Moscow-based finance ministry has said it does not want to use its oil profits politically and that it only is concerned with…

Washington, D.C.–Mortgage applications dropped in the week ending Feb. 15, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Mortgage Bankers Association.The market composite index–which gages mortgage loan application volume–in the group’s weekly survey was 822.8, a decline of 22.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, the Boston Herald reports.The index was up 33.9 percent on an unadjusted basis from the same week in 2007, the MBA said.

New York–A weaker housing market and lower stock prices drove the index of leading U.S. economic indicators down by 0.1 percent last month–its fourth monthly drop in a row, the Conference Board said Thursday.The leading index has declined 2 percent from July 2007 to last month, its biggest six-month free-fall since 2001, according to MarketWatch.However, the coincident economic indicator index–which measures the current state of the economy–increased by 0.1 percent in January, showing that the economy is not yet in a recession, the New York-based Conference Board’s labor economist said. The leading index change indicates weak growth in the future….

Sandy Dunn Named 2008 President of NAHBWashington, D.C.–Sandy Dunn, a West Virginia homebuilder who has provided affordable housing to Mountain State residents for more than three decades, has been elected as the president of the 235,000-member National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) for the year 2008. Dunn is president of Point Pleasant, W.Va.-based B.J. Builders Inc.“Our primary objective in 2008 will be to work with the nation’s lawmakers and administration to implement policies that will resolve the credit crunch in housing finance markets and revitalize home building as the engine of economic growth,” says Dunn.  “Concurrently, we will strive to ramp…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDallas–Prescott Realty Group, a Dallas-based real estate company, and CityView, a national institutional real estate investor, are partnering to fund FortyOneEleven Newton Townhomes, a 60-unit community located one block from Oaklawn Avenue.Former San Antonio Mayor/U.S. HUD Secretary and Executive Chairman of CityView Henry G. Cisneros who was present at the opening of the project, said, “We are thrilled to provide new housing options for this city. As cities continue to grow and attract a more diverse and younger workforce, these markets will have to find ways to provide new means of housing. “Even during slow…