Regions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDallas—“Last year the apartment markets looked fuzzy, and this year, it’s still a fuzzy picture,” Greg Willet, VP of research at MPF YieldStar, said at a session titled “U.S. Apartment Markets Outlook” at the RealPage User Conference held from July 13 to 14 in Dallas. “There is a lot happening; there’s a lot of contradictory data and things are moving in different directions. While the economy is still deteriorating, we are seeing signs that things are going to be okay. The apartment market is still on the downward slope, and recovery depends on what happens…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Irvine, Calif.—NWP Services Corporation has announced an agreement with Waste Reduction Consultants Inc. to provide a total waste expense management product to NWP clients. While the two companies are “complementary in some areas,” in others, “we felt we could put our synergies together and make the value greater for our customers,” notes Jim Charles, senior vice president of product management and engineering at NWP.NWP will integrate its utility management product, UtilityPay Manager, with Waste Reduction Consultants’ waste expense management solution for multifamily.“We traditionally look at gas, electric, water and sewage as the areas we try…

Seattle-The Seattle Times online network recently launched NWhomes.com on the Adicio Real Estate platform from Adicio Inc. Already on the Adicio Careers platform since 2003, The Times migrated its real estate and automotive platforms from another vendor this year.The Times uses Adicio’s new community and amenity search options to create a new-homes section where prospective buyers interested in new developments can easily narrow their search results. Buyers can access builder information, community details and amenities, and extensive searching tools.”Having worked with Adicio on their Careers platform for many years, we knew they would be a partner we could rely on…

By Keat Foong, Executive EditorWest New York, N.J.—Apartment properties appear to be still moving relatively well in some markets. One such market may be West New York, N.J., where a sale marketed by The Kislak Co., Inc. closed in three months. Under rent laws in Hudson County, owners can increase rents to market by initiating capital improvements when residents vacate units. This offers the opportunity for an attractive value-add proposition with many of the apartment properties in the area. “The sale of these properties illustrates the continued strength of multifamily investment properties in both West New York and Hudson County,”…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorLos Angeles—REthink Development, a Culver City, Calif.-based real estate development and consulting company, is about to complete its inaugural project, the Lofts @ Cherokee Studios, a sustainable 12-unit live/work loft development in Los Angeles. REthink Development was founded by Steve Edwards, a real estate entrepreneur, and Greg Reitz, previously a Green Building Advisor for the City of Santa Monica, where he established many of the city’s green building programs. Edwards’ background in software, coupled with his experience in commercial real estate, led him to recognize that the “key is differentiation and the speed to market and…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorTomball, Texas—Grandbridge Real Estate Capital LLC recently funded a $2.6M first mortgage for Lakewood Apartments, a 256-unit, Class B, garden-style apartment community. The fixed-rate acquisition, originated by John Fenoglio on behalf of Tomball Apartment Company LLC, was funded by Grandbrige and sold to Fannie Mae under its DUS program.The borrower currently owns an additional luxury apartment community in close proximity to Lakewood Apartments. The loan was closed in fewer than 45 days.Lakewood Apartments offers one- and two-bedroom units, ranging from 587 to 1,283 square feet. The community was 94 percent occupied at closing.Arbor Closes $2,025M Loan…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorMiami—CondoReports.com recently launched a BuildingHealth Index, the first measure of condominium building health county-wide throughout Miami Dade County. The index will provide ratings on nearly 2,000 condominium and townhome communities. “It is vitally important for buyers to know the stability and potential risk of the buildings they are buying into. Just because a unit appears to be cheap, doesn’t mean it may not drop in price further,” says Adam Cappel, president of CondoReports.com and creator of the index. “Beyond pricing dynamics, lower-rated buildings are more prone to special assessment or higher maintenance simply because of the…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDallas–The RealPage User Conference kicked off this morning in Dallas with an opening session presented by president and CEO Steve Winn. With football as an analogy for running an apartment business, Winn explained how the company’s new products and upgrades can result in a winning game for their customers.“Football is the perfect metaphor for where we are in the multifamily industry today,” he said. “Challenges we face in the apartment arena can be likened to butting heads in a football game.  But by using our new technologies, companies can overcome and beat their competition.” “We…

By: Barbra Murray, Contributing EditorThe dismal economy continued its stranglehold on the commercial real estate industry, as per CBRE Econometric Advisors’ recently released analysis, pushing up vacancies in the office, industrial and retail property markets. But there was one surprise. Demand in the multi-family sector, despite the ongoing job losses that are hindering the formation of new households, was essentially unchanged from the first quarter of the year. Neither the central business district nor the suburban office markets were able to put a lid on the growing stock of available space. Suffering an increase of 80 basis points, the office vacancy…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor Torrance, Calif.—Withee Malcolm Architects has received three top awards for its recent multifamily commissions.“We pride ourselves in creating projects that fit the context, that deliver based on what’s around it. We want to be good neighbors, but we want to have projects that enhance the community around it. Because we do infill, lifestyle is a big part of that,” Dan Withee, principal at Withee Malcolm Architects, tells MHN.Two of the honors were 2009 PCBC (Pacific Coast Builders Conference) Gold Nugget Awards. Withee’s Carson Senior/Workforce mixed-use project (top right) received the award for “Outstanding on the…