Regions

By Keat Foong, Executive Editor Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.—Here is one example of a distressed sale, of which the ultimate result may be newly constructed homes selling at $250,000 instead of $550,000. The 1.5-acre property consisted of nine assembled multiple family lots in the Poinciana Park neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale. The sites contain single family homes, duplexes and triplexes. The properties were purchased for a total of  $4.7 million in 2006. Originally, the developer’s intention was to redevelop the site: to demolish the existing buildings and build 33 new townhomes selling for $550,000 per unit. “The developer wanted to eventually assemble…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorWest New York, N.J.—Del-Sano Contracting Corp. has completed construction of West New York Urban Renewal II’s William Jefferson Clinton Tower, formerly Kennedy Tower II, an 11-story, 71-unit sustainable senior affordable housing community in West New York, New Jersey.  “The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency has green future guidelines and it makes recommendations for the project during the planning stages,” Angelo Del Russo, founder and CEO of Del-Sano, tells MHN. The $16,735,000 million project, which was funded by HMFA (Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency), broke ground in July 2008 and was ready for occupancy on…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorBoston–CAS Financial Advisory Services (CAS FAS) has launched its Green Capital Needs Assessment (CNA), the first product on the market to meet the green planning needs of residential building owners and managers. Each Green CNA is based on a detailed building inspection and a building cost database, and provides quantitative cost-benefit analysis of green improvements, with numbers and recommendations.  “In the United States, buildings consume 65 percent of the electricity and create 30 percent of the greenhouse gasses,” says Jed Lowry, director of capital planning for CAS Financial Advisor Services. “Owners want to do the…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAlbuquerque, N.M.–Walker & Dunlop provided a $23,790,000 refinance for Cottonwood Ranch located in Albuquerque, N.M. The loan was structured with a 10-year term and a 30-year amortization. The loan was underwritten to a 65 percent loan-to-value with a 1.48x debt-service coverage ratio. Cottonwood Ranch is a garden-style community built in 1999, featuring 24 apartment buildings and one office/clubhouse. Common amenities include two swimming pools and a Jacuzzi; basketball, tennis and volleyball courts; a putting green and a playground. ARA Negotiates Sale of 17-Unit Property for Over $1MDenver–Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) recently brokered the sale of…

By Keat Foong, Executive EditorWashington, D.C.—Fannie Mae announced that it has provided $10.1 billion in debt financing for the multifamily rental housing market in the first half of 2009.  “Fannie Mae and its DUS lenders had a very strong first half of the year,” said Phil Weber, senior vice president of Fannie Mae’s Multifamily division. “The company remains committed to providing liquidity and bringing stability to the multifamily industry, especially during this volatile market.”Of the 10.1 billion in financing, Fannie Mae’s DUS lenders and affiliates delivered $9.9 billion of the company’s total investment in multifamily housing. Fannie Mae says that…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorGrover Beach, Calif.—RentShout, an online rental marketing service that allows property managers to create syndicated online advertisements, has launched a rental video creation to provide managers increased online visibility. (Click here for MHN’s coverage of RentShout’s launch.)“These videos receive hundreds of views from these video portals and oftentimes show up in the top of Google organic rental searches,” notes Misty Lackie, CEO of Go Smart Solutions LLC, the company that created RentShout and that provides self-serve advertising solutions.The new feature will automatically create a property video from customers’ rental listing photos on RentShout.com, which will be…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–National vacancy rates for rental housing in the second quarter 2009 were 10.6 percent, a 0.4 percent gain from the previous quarter, according to the latest report by the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau. The Census Bureau found that the rental vacancy rate was higher than the second quarter 2008 rate (10 percent) and higher than the rate last quarter (10.1 percent).For rental housing by area, the second quarter 2009 vacancy rate in principal cities (11.2 percent) was higher than in the suburbs where it was 10.0 percent, but not statistically different from outside…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Even though affordable housing has been one of the priorities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), some states are facing challenges when it comes to funding. One such state is California. In the face of immense budget deficit problems, the state has had to cut back on funding for affordable housing.To balance the state budget, the Legislature and the governor are poised to cut $1.7 billion from redevelopment agencies throughout California. For example, L.A.’s agency would lose $72 million and Daly City would lose $1.9 million. “I am very concerned that…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorSan Francisco—This year’s Gold Nugget Awards were recently announced at PCBC (Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference), a regional trade show and conference of the real estate development industry. This year’s multifamily winners demonstrated a number of trends, including green and sustainable design, seniors and affordable housing, specialty designs,  and site and land planning. Del Mar Development’s Yanonali Court  (pictured at right) in Santa Barbara, Calif. was awarded Project of the Year.  With five homes, each less than 2,000 square feet, the infill neighborhood scored LEED Platinum certification and has become a pilot for the city’s “Built Green”…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPhoenix, Ariz.–Alliance Residential Co., has appointed Gregory N. Signer (pictured) as vice president of operations for the company’s Southeast Region. Before joining Alliance, Signer served as senior vice president of McKinley Properties in Orlando where he was responsible for overseeing 13,000 multifamily homes and the day-to-day operations of a five-state area. In this role he was responsible for the management of nearly 500 associates. Prior to McKinley, Signer worked as vice president of property assets for Archstone Smith. Signer began his career at Trammell Crow Residential as a leasing consultant in 1992. Signer has served…