Regions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorChicago–Skender Construction, a Palos Hills, Ill.-based general contracting company, has unveiled its plans for two new buildings–a mixed-use and a senior housing project–in Chicago and Lombard, Ill. Fountain View Lincoln Square is a 48,500-sq.-ft. mixed-use development located in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood. The project, being developed by Terra Firma Co.,  will feature Class A retail shops, 18 luxury condominiums and underground parking. Construction for the project started in December 2007 and is slated to be complete in fall 2008. The development is also expected to receive LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Sunrise…

Orlando, Fla.–Rents will hit a new high in the next few years, two Florida-area apartment builders told crowds at the International Builders’ Show Wednesday in Orlando, Fla., the Tampa Bay Tribune reports.”Rent increases will exceed historical averages over the next three to five years,” said Steve Patterson, CEO of Zom Inc., an Orlando-based apartment builder.As credit difficulties make it harder for people with less-than-perfect credit to obtain home loans, demand for rental units will increase, Patterson said.The increasing number of homeowners who are losing their homes to foreclosure are also expected to give the rental market a boost as they…

Orlando, Fla.–Although U.S. real estate might bottom out this year, the Florida housing market will most likely take longer to rebound, according to economists who spoke Wednesday at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla.Although some states–such as North Carolina–are doing much better than the rest of the country’s real estate markets, Florida is currently undergoing a sharp price correction from the high home prices and sales it experienced during the housing boom, the Palm Beach Post reports.Cities in Florida, California, Ohio and Michigan comprised three-quarters of the 20 U.S. metropolitan areas with the greatest number of foreclosures last year,…

Orlando, Fla.–Emphasizing green building’s marketability and upbeat consumer message, the National Association of Home Builders announced its National Green Building Program on Thursday, which had been designated as Green Day at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla.”This is a historic day for our association,” said Bob Jones, an NAHB vice president and a builder in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. “This program allows all home builders to build green in a cost-effective way. Builders and consumers can select the green features that make the most sense for them.”Homes will be tested and scored by a national network of verification experts–whom the…

Orlando, Fla.–Despite a nationwide housing slump, attendance at the International Builders’ show in Orlando, Fla. may only be down 5 percent, the Orlando Sentinel reports.Paul Lopez, a spokesman for the show’s annual host, the National Association of Home Builders, said registration was strong on the show’s opening day, prompting the organizers to decrease their previous attendance assessment, which indicated turnout may have dropped 9 percent.”We would be ecstatic if it’s only down 5 percent,” Lopez said.Jessie Allen, general manager of the Orange County Convention Center, said the center was busy during the show.  “Obviously, there was a number of folks…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSan Francisco–Till recently, credit card usage has been limited in the multifamily market primarily because of perceived high costs to either property managers or renters. But with MasterCard’s new lower rates for payment processing of rent and rent-related fees, companies like YapStone, an electronic payments processor, could see a rise in number of clients.Beginning April 2008, property management and real estate companies that utilize YapStone’s processing platform, including RentPayment, will be eligible for MasterCard’s new processing rate.“Since 1999, YapStone has been committed to electronic payments for the real estate industry, and MasterCard’s new processing rate…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNorwood, Mass.–Johnson Capital, one of Freddie Mac’s first Seller/Servicers to do so, is using the Freddie Mac Acquisition Rehabilitation MortgageSM product to provide $135 million in financing, for the rehabilitation of the 914-unit Windsor Gardens Apartments in Norwood, Mass.The borrower is using Freddie Mac’s Early Rate-Lock delivery option, choosing to wait 90 days after rate-lock until Freddie Mac’s purchase of the loan.The borrower proposes to make several improvements to Windsor Gardens, including adding washing machines and dryers to the garden-style units, new countertops, cabinet faces and knobs, tubs, shower surrounds, toilets, ceramic flooring, lighting, plumbing…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorOrlando, Fla.–The New American Home, a ‘real-world’ laboratory demonstrating concepts, materials, designs and construction techniques that can be replicated, celebrated its 25th anniversary at the International Builders’ Show this year.People attending the show received a tour of the New American Home, a 6,725-sq.-ft, plantation-style house located in the prestigious Waters Edge subdivision, a gated, 11-lot development in a private golf and country club community along the banks of Orlando’s Lake Nona.The latest in interior design, green features, energy efficiency and cutting-edge technology is on display this year at the New American Home.Some of the green…

Orlando,Fla,–The Turbochef 30-inch Double Wall Speedcook Oven from TurboChef Technologies, the McKinley Collection from Shenandoah Cabinetry featuring a range of kitchen cabinetry styles and the Silestone MURO from Cosentino North America, an eco-friendly line of tumbled mosaic backsplashes are the products that caught our attention at the International Builders’ Show.TurboChef TechnologiesThe Turbochef 30-inch Double Wall Speedcook Oven from TurboChef Technologies features the company’s restaurant-proven technology that has been adapted to suit the needs of home cooking. The TurboChef oven cooks meals up to 15 times faster than conventional methods.What makes it faster is the TurboChef Airspeed technology in which the…

Orlando, Fla.– Economists cautioned Wednesday at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla., that the nationwide drop in residential building would continue through early 2009–but said that lower home prices would help correct the current U.S. housing decline, the Orlando Sentinel reports.National Association of Home Builders chief economist David Seiders told members of the media attending the conference that single-family home starts could decline another 27 percent in 2008. Although Seiders said lower home prices can cause money crunch fears and threaten consumer spending, he called the home price decline “part of the solution.”Seiders said the reduced prices would spur…