Regions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorContra Costa County, Calif.–AvalonBay Communities Inc., Millennium Partners, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) and the county of Contra Costa today broke ground on a transit-oriented, mixed-use development, Avalon Walnut Creek at the Contra Costa Centre.The four-partner public/private venture is jointly investing $400 million in the project, located adjacent to BART’s Pleasant Hill station.“The transit village will show the rest of California that providing adequate public infrastructure and services that keep pace with growth is the best way to increase density within transit rich locations,” says Susan Bonilla, Contra Costa County supervisor….

David A. Barksdale and Dominic J. De Simone are partners in the Real Estate Department of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP and co-heads of the firm’s Distressed Real Estate Initiative. De Simone practices general real estate law, with extensive real estate finance experience on behalf of both lenders and borrowers involving acquisitions, construction, syndicated, leasehold mortgage, securitized and mezzanine loan transactions, sale-leaseback and bond financing transactions. Barksdale focuses his practice on real estate development, finance and construction, and secured finance. Barksdale (pictured first from top) and De Simone (pictured second from top) updated MHN’s Online News Editor Anuradha Kher…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–From the IndyMac shutdown to the takeover plans for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, each headline in recent weeks has brought more bad news for the economy than the previous one. While none of this news has been good for the housing industry, multifamily industry experts tell MHN that they are not pushing the panic button just yet.“The IndyMac shutdown means little to the multifamily sector, or even to the housing industry,” Jerry Howard, executive vice president and CEO of NAHB, tells MHN. “Their sub-prime loans business had already ceased, and their lending to…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDallas–The Dallas office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P.) recently arranged $18.45 million in financing for Cameron Creek Apartments, a 446-unit, garden-style community in Fort Worth, Texas. The borrower, The Bascom Group, secured the 36-month, fixed-rate loan through GE Real Estate. Loan proceeds are being used to acquire and renovate the property. Cameron Creek Apartments has one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 859 sq. ft. each. Community amenities include two pools, two tennis courts, a spa, a fitness center, a volleyball court and a clubhouse.Bascom plans to renovate the community by making significant interiors upgrades…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Chicago–A national bipartisan commission has been launched to investigate the current state of housing in the United States. Co-chaired by former Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretaries Jack Kemp and Henry Cisneros, the commission marks the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act. “This is a commission that looks at the important aspects of housing responsibilities in the country,” says Cisneros. “If there is segregation or discrimination, the housing market doesn’t work. We end up with hyper-segregation and a concentration of the very poor in certain places.” The commission, Cisneros explains, is an…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–For the first time since the mid-century ‘House in the Garden series,’ the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is now showcasing now showcasing model buildings erected on site, which can be occupied, to demonstrate contemporary building issues, in its newest exhibit called ‘Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling.’There are five homes erected on the museum’s vacant west lot in midtown Manhattan. Within the gallery, 84 architectural projects spanning 180 years are presented by means of film, architectural models, original drawings and blueprints, fragments, photographs, patents, games, sales materials and propaganda, toys and partial reconstructions….

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorHollywood, Calif.–The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) has signed a 12-year master lease valued at more than $13 million for a 69-unit historic apartment building in Hollywood, Calif.Capital Foresight bought the brick building, built in 1928, and conducted historically sensitive renovations on it including interior upgrades such as finishes and plumbing. Located at 6400 Franklin Ave., the building features 60 one-bedroom units and nine studios. It will accommodate 150 students. “A master lease, in which a tenant is 100 percent responsible for the rent as well as the property upkeep, is always better than, for…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Amidst headlines of doom and gloom in the economy, the multifamily industry is holding relatively strong. “Vacancy rates in the apartment sector have been stable in the last three quarters and apartment rent growth in the second quarter of 2008 has seen the strongest gain as compared to all other types of commercial real estate,” Dr. Sam Chandan, chief economist and senior vice resident for research at Reis Inc. said today in a virtual conference hosted by Reis. “Overwhelmingly and in all parts of the country, buyers are preferring to rent now as a…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorLong Beach, Calif.–The city of Long Beach, along with Clifford Beers and Enterprise Investment Community, recently opened Elm Avenue Apartments at 530 Elm Ave.Elm Avenue Apartments, a former historic hotel, is now a 17-unit affordable housing project, with a portion of the units being set aside for individuals who have been homeless and are ready for permanent housing, as well as for people who are recovering from mental illness. The Long Beach Housing Development Co. (LBHDC) provided rehabilitation loans totaling $1.8 million to the project and Clifford Beers Housing, non-profit organization, developed it. This support leveraged…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorVancouver, Wash.–Hendricks & Partners recently completed the sale of Polo Club, a 200-unit apartment community located at 4820 NE Hazel Dell Avenue in Vancouver, Wash., for $16,900,000.Constructed in 1996, Polo Club features 193,404 rentable square feet with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments averaging 967 sq. ft. Community amenities include a pool, fitness center, basketball court, playground and additional storage. Select apartments feature washer/ dryers, fireplaces, patios/balconies and vaulted ceilings.The seller was The Polo Club LLC of Portland, Ore. and the buyer was HIRE I – Arnada Pointe (220) LLC of Vancouver, Wash.Polo…