Regions

By Teresa O’Dea HeinAtlanta–A Web-based insurance confirmation system enables property managers to quickly verify the status of their residents’ required coverage. Assurant Specialty Property, a provider of renters insurance programs to the multifamily industry, recently launched this service through VerifyIns.To access the service, property managers and leasing consultants log in into aspecial database via an external URL. This process allows property managersto quickly verify whether residents are complying with the insurancerequirement for the duration of their lease agreements.Steve Hein, vice president for national sales at Assurant Specialty Property,says this tool helps property managers avoid exposure to claims involvinguninsured residents. “If,…

By Keat Foong, Executive EditorWashington, D.C.—Chapter 11 may not be such a bad thing after all. It can provide the borrower leverage in negotiating with the lender on project loans. That was among the suggestions made by experts at a recent teleseminar sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders entitled “Alternative Funding Sources: Ideas and Perspectives to Keep Your Business on Track.” “Banks know what their rights are. You need to know what your rights are,” said Harley Riedel of Sticher Riedel, Blain & Prossner, P.A., Tampa, Fla. Riedel has served as counsel for the debtor in possession in…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Grand Prairie, Texas–NorthMarq Capital has arranged first mortgage financing of $16.1 million for Indigo Pointe Apartments, a 300-unit multifamily community.Financing was based on a four-year interest-only term and was arranged by NorthMarq through its relationship with a Midwest life insurance company.Jeff Frankel, senior vice president and senior director of NorthMarq Capital Inc.’s Chicago office, arranged the financing.ARA Closes $2.3M Sale of 32-Unit Rental PropertyPhoenix—Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) has negotiated the sale of Central Mountain Villas, a 32-unit garden-style apartment building, for $2.3 million.The sales price of the property, which had a 60-day list period and…

By Teresa O’Dea Hein, Managing EditorNew York—The latest introduction in the growing green marketplace is a primary casualty coverage from AIG Risk Management (AIG), a unit of AIG Commercial Insurance, designed for property owners and managers of green buildings. It consists of two coverages—AIGGreen Reputation Coverage and AIGGreen Indoor Environment Coverage, part of the AIGGreen product line from AIG Real Estate Solutions. This is the first casualty product addressing potential green losses to third parties, Joe Fobert, senior vice president. AIG and practice leader at AIG Real Estate Solutions, based in Tampa. Fla., tells MHN.AIGGreen Reputation Coverage provides up to…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorNew York—Seventy-five percent of commercial real estate executives say that the current credit crisis has not made them less likely to build green, according to Turner Construction Company’s 2008 Green Building Market Barometer.“What the [survey] told us was that even in spite of the uncertainty in the credit market, for those people planning to build, three-quarters are still planning to build green,” says Michael Deane, vice president and chief sustainability officer at Turner, whose green multifamily buildings include New York’s Solaire, a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold project, the Verdesian, the first LEED…

By Keat Foong, Executive Editor Washington, D.C.—Debate continues about the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This week the Wall Street Journal reported that Congress and the future Obama administration would be likely to restructure the two entities and in doing so consider the economic crisis and conflicts between the companies’ mission to support the housing market and their need for profits. David Cardwell, Vice President of Capital Markets and Technology, has told MHN that the apartment industry has an interest in seeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue as private companies. Whatever the eventual structure of the two…

By Keat Foong, Executive Editor Washington, D.C.—Debate continues about the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This week the Wall Street Journal reported that Congress and the future Obama administration would be likely to restructure the two entities and in doing so consider the economic crisis and conflicts between the companies’ mission to support the housing market and their need for profits. David Cardwell, Vice President of Capital Markets and Technology, has told MHN that the apartment industry has an interest in seeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue as private companies. Whatever the eventual structure of the two…

Dear Reader,Despite all of the fluctuations in today’s economy, multifamily housing developers still need funding sources for their deals.The winners of our 6th Annual Capital Choice Awards represent excellent choices in terms of where to start that funding search.The companies shown here represent the leading edge in a fast-changing landscape. You and your peers have voted these lenders as the “best of the best” at providing valuable services, speed of processing, flexibility of terms, scope of loan products offered, and the quality of loan servicing.Some of the financial institutions listed here have been bought by larger banks. We have simply…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorBethesda, Md.—Green Park Financial recently completed a $102,899,000 addition to a credit facility for Milestone Multifamily Investors LP, a joint venture between The Milestone Group and INVESCO Real Estate.The loan addition is secured by eight garden-style multifamily properties, totaling 3,000 units, in Ariz., Fla. and Texas. The transaction utilizes cross-defaulted and cross-collateralized mortgages.Green Park Financial completed an original $322 million credit facility for Milestone in March 2005. The current loans were an addition with a series of discounted non-interest bearing advances and include a five-year term with an option to extend for another five years.Stuart Wernick…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorNew York—Closings recently began at 133 West 22nd, a 99-unit luxury condominium project in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood that is being developed by The Ascend Group LLC, a New York-based developer of boutique residential properties.iStar Financial served as the primary lender for the project and mezzanine capital was provided by Wafra Investment Advisory Group Inc. Both firms are headquartered in New York.Designed by Cetra/Ruddy, 133 West 22nd Street offers one-, two- and three-bedroom residences and penthouses, ranging in size from 750 to 3,000 sq. ft. In addition, the building offers one interior courtyard townhouse, located on…