Regions

Chicago–French architect Jean Nouvel is the 2008 laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the architectural industry’s highest honor, which is awarded by the Hyatt Foundation in Chicago, according to BusinessWeek. Many of the 62-year-old’s works are in France, but he has also designed buildings in other countries. Novel recently designed a branch of the Louvre Museum at the Saadiyat Cultural District, in Abu Dhabi, slated for a 2012 opening. The building will be topped with a dome-shaped, latticework roof whose pattern incorporates Islamic influences. In the U.S., Nouvel has designed mostly residential projects. He is creating a sustainable Modernist condo…

New York–New York-based Investment bank Lehman Brothers may stop issuing loans from its two British subprime mortgage units, making it harder for borrowers with imperfect credit histories to refinance or get new home loans, the Financial Times reports.The mortgage-backed securities market freeze and increased cost of interbank lending have made it difficult to issue loans to customers at low interest rates, which may be influencing Lehman, according to the Times. Earlier this year, Lehman tried to reduce loan risk by easing repayment terms for borrowers at risk of default and by altering the terms of the mortgage-backed securities its loan…

Washington, D.C.–Senate Democratic and Republican leaders said Tuesday that they planned to fast track a legislation package designed to help millions of homeowners facing foreclosure, the New York Times reports.The bill may hit the floor as early as Wednesday. The announcement was hailed as a unique bipartisan union–and an indication that Congress, the Bush administration and financial regulators agree that more government intervention is necessary to slow foreclosures and boost the housing market.Some Democrats say the plan could allow risky adjustable-rate mortgages to be refinanced into safer 30-year loans and may aid up to 1.5 million homeowners.The package is said…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorWeehawken, N.J.–A Livingston, N.J.-based investment firm has bought a 21-unit apartment complex for $1.525 million. The Kislak Co. Inc., a Woodbridge, N.J.-based multifamily and retail investment sales firm, completed the sale. “The buyer, a long-term client of Kislak, is planning to conduct a capital improvement program to increase the long-term value of the property,” says Don Baxter, sales associate for The Kislak Co. Inc. This will include general renovations, including new bathrooms for the units.The property is comprised of one- and two-bedroom apartments. It was fully occupied at the time of the sale. Located at 24…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorChicago–Real estate development company MCZ Development Corp. has recently launched a new division, MCZ Affinity, which will provide developers and lenders with solutions to disposing and repositioning property. The division will accept joint venture partnerships, mini mergers and unfinished projects.“We try to anticipate and provide all the services our clients could want,” says Michael Lerner, founder and president of MCZ Development Corp.MCZ Affinity provides services including detailed evaluations; acquisitions and financing; property management, including operations, leasing and construction management; condominium conversion; sales and contract administration.“If someone buys from us, or someone comes to us and wants…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–It is likely that the record number of sales of Manhattan condos and co-ops in 2007 will not be repeated in 2008, according to the “First Quarter 2008 Manhattan Market Overview,” recently released by Prudential Douglas Elliman, a New York-based residential brokerage firm.Sales in the current quarter declined to levels seen two years ago. Several factors are contributing to the lack in demand, including the reduction of available credit, less favorable mortgage terms, the national economy moving towards a recession and the additional layoffs in the financial services sector expected over the next two…

By Keat Foong, Executive EditorColorado Springs, Colo.–The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) official view is that the country will escape a recession and housing starts will bottom out as early as the middle of this year, but that may not be the consensus among housing economists. Bernard M. Markstein, III, (pictured first from top) director of forecasting and staff vice president, forecasting and analysis at NAHB, and G. Ronald Witten, (pictured second from top) president of Witten Advisors LLC, offered projections that demonstrated the varying outlooks for the housing market. Both economists were speaking at an opening plenary session…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorScottsdale, Ariz.–Mark-Taylor Residential, manager of 30 apartment communities in the greater Phoenix area, has rolled out its rent saving plan for new residents moving into one of its properties. New residents, who prove they will cut their commutes to the workplace by moving to a Mark-Taylor property, can receive discount of $1,000 for the lease term, which is 12 months or longer.“These days you can’t pick up the newspaper or watch TV without hearing about going green, energy conservation, etc.,” Kim Atkinson, director of marketing and public relations for Mark-Taylor, tells MHN. “So many people…

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…