Regions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPhiladelphia–Trump Tower Philadelphia is expected to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification when complete.The 45-story luxury condo project features 225 residences with 363 parking spaces. The project offers 60,000 square feet of amenities including a tranquil spa, fitness center, indoor pool, on-premise restaurant, wine cellar and tasting room, cigar lounge, and business center with conference and screening rooms. Outdoor amenities include a tennis court, outdoor pool, jogging track, putting green and serenity gardens.“We are committed to an eco-friendly development on all levels,” says Donald J. Trump, CEO of the Trump Organization….

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPhiladelphia–The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) recently launched PolicyMap, an online mapping tool that empowers decision makers with access to market and demographic data.PolicyMap offers simple and quick access to a wealth of data for anyone who needs it. “In the Internet age, the data that is available can be overwhelming,” says Jeremy Nowak, president of TRF, a not-for-profit financier of neighborhood revitalization. “It is often dispersed across a multitude of sites and can be difficult and time consuming to decipher. With PolicyMap, we have an interactive mapping tool that brings thousands of indicators to your fingertips….

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) praised the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008 legislation, which was approved by the Senate Banking Committee today. Jerry Howard, CEO of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), tells MHN that the bill shores up the housing industry as a whole. “In that sense, it will be good for the multi-housing industry. Specifically, for for-sale multi-housing, it restores confidence and in case of rental multi-housing, it helps developers find capital.”The House this month approved a similar foreclosure rescue bill. “Both the versions are positive and…

Washington, D.C.–Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. told business leaders Friday that the economy was headed toward a recovery, the New York Times reports.“We are still working through housing and capital markets issues and expect to be doing so for some time,” Paulson said at a Washington Post-sponsored conference in Washington, D.C. “We also expect to see a faster pace of economic growth before the end of the year.”Paulson also said that the stimulus checks being sent over the next few months would greatly influence the economy and help offset housing, capital market issues and increased food and energy costs.Although…

Washington, D.C.–Although many homeowners hope the housing decline that’s been gripping the market for almost two years is almost over, some economists fear it may deepen.The U.S. housing decline has helped freeze credit markets and cause hundreds of thousands of foreclosures–but to avoid a full recession, the economy is going to have to recover without the housing market’s help, according to the Los Angeles Times.”The slowdown we’ve seen in the U.S. economy since late last year appears to be directly linked to the housing crisis and the self-reinforcing cycle of defaults and foreclosures, putting more downward pressure on the housing…

London–The credit crunch could cause U.K. property sales to drop 40 percent in 2008, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) new housing market forecast.RICS also forecast that home prices could decline by 5 percent–which would be the largest drop the U.K. housing market has ever seen, BBC News said.The biggest property sales plummet on record came in 1989 when prices dropped by 26 percent in England and Wales; this year, sales already are 32 percent less than in 2007, RICS said. Some economists are concerned that a large decline in home sales could cut consumer spending. “Money…

New York–The dollar traded against the euro at close to the lowest point in more than two weeks Monday morning due to concern that a report due this week will suggest the housing decline is seriously hurting the U.S. economy, according to Bloomberg. The dollar declined the most against the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso. The National Association of Realtors report, due May 23, is expected to show that sales of pre-existing U.S. homes dropped for the second consecutive month in April, Bloomberg said. Last week, the dollar declined by the biggest amount against the euro since March amid news…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorBethesda, Md.–Green Park Financial recently provided a $13.2 million acquisition loan for Warehouse Apartments located in Chapel Hill, N.C. Green Park structured the loan with a five-year term, three years of interest only, followed by a 30-year amortization. The loan was underwritten to an 80 percent loan-to-value with a 1.17x debt-service coverage ratio.Warehouse Apartments is a 55-unit, 215-bed, four-story student housing property built in 1999. The property was 100 percent leased at closing.

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDallas–Atlanta-headquartered Apartment Realty Advisors recently launched its National Seniors Housing Group, which will be based in Dallas.“We looked at research on the long-term outlook for this market and realized that it has tremendous growth potential,” Brian O’Boyle, ARA principal and partner in the seniors housing group, tells MHN. “We believe this market is underserved. Our clients, especially our institutional clients, have repeatedly told us that their investment criterion has shifted to include more seniors housing product.” The group has seven employees, four of whom have prior experience in the seniors housing industry. They include Ryan…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorBoston–Continuing with the theme of architects needing to accept responsibility for their buildings, the speakers of Friday’s BIM (Building Information Modeling) panel discussion at the AIA (American Institute of Architects) National Convention and Design Exposition discussed the advantages of using this integrated technology.Collaboration and early involvement are two key points for utilizing BIM, said Markku Allison, an AIA resource architect. Traditional delivery of information needs to evolve so that all parties come together, Markku stated, resulting in an increase of data sharing. Using BIM at the beginning of the project raises productivity rates and allows for…