Regions

By Keat Foong, Executive EditorFoster City, Calif.—The best prices can sometimes be obtained by selling properties to the next-door neighbor.  The 42-unit Kula Kai Apartments was sold close to its listing price of $10.9 million, or nearly $260,000 per unit. The overall cap rate obtained was 5 percent. Representing both the buyer and seller were Tom Doglio, vice president investments and director of Marcus & Millichap’s National Multi Housing Group in Palo Alto, Calif., and Brian Henry, senior associate and associate member at that time of Marcus & Millichap’s National Multi Housing Group. Doglio and Henry were co-listing agents. According…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorChicago–McShane Construction Co., based in Rosemont, Ill., recently broke ground on Casa Maravilla, a 73-unit green affordable senior housing community under development by The Resurrection Project, a Chicago-based non-profit affordable housing developer.  Located in Chicago’s growing Pilsen neighborhood, the five-story, $20 million apartment building is the first low-income housing for seniors in this community. It is located on the same block as Casa Morelos, a seven-story, 45-unit affordable building that is being developed and constructed by the same project team.Financing for the 70,000-sq.-ft. Casa Maravilla is being provided by the City of Chicago Department of Housing…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorYuma, Ariz.–NorthMarq Capital has arranged a $4 million first mortgage financing for The Beach Club Apartments (pictured), a 198-unit multifamily complex, located in Yuma, Ariz.Financing was based on a 10-year term with a 30-year amortization schedule and was arranged for the borrower, BCH LLC, by NorthMarq through its affiliation with AmeriSphere Multifamily Finance LLC. Arbor Closes $3,520,000 Fannie Mae DUS MBS LoanSyracuse, N.Y.–Arbor Commercial Funding LLC recently funded a $3,520,000 loan under the Fannie Mae DUS MBS product line to finance the 138-unit complex known as Ballantyne Apartments in Syracuse, N.Y.The 10-year loan amortizes on…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington D.C.–The combination of vacation- and investment-home sales slipped to 30 percent of all existing- and new-home transactions in 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). However, more than four out of 10 investment buyers and more than three in 10 vacation-home buyers paid cash for their properties.“Yes, it’s a vacation home but it is also an investment,” Rob Käll, president and co-founder of Bookt, tells MHN. Bookt creates the “back-end engines” and online tools for property management companies and property owners to connect them with vacationers around the globe. “Maybe not two…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorAnaheim, Calif.—1818 Platinum Triangle, a 265-unit luxury apartment community developed by the Houston-based Hanover Co. and designed by Irvine, Calif.-based KTGY Group Inc., Architecture and Planning, is now open.1818 Platinum Triangle is located within the 820-acre, mixed-use master planned Platinum Triangle, which will be comprised of 20,000 residential units, five million sq. ft. of retail and 15 million sq. ft. of office space at build out. The master planned community—which surrounds and includes Angel Stadium, Honda Center and The Grove of Anaheim—will be served by the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC), which KTGY is also…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor  Scottsdale, Ariz.–Realty DataTrust and Rent.com have signed an agreement to integrate rental rate data from over 25,000 property listings on Rent.com into apartment market data and trends website, PadZing.com. The inclusion of Rent.com property data with data from current content provider VaultWare, an online apartment availability and reservation system, will make PadZing.com a comprehensive online source for up-to-date apartment rent and vacancy data. PadZing.com provides subscribers, such as property managers, with a tool to obtain competitive information on demand. Rather than relying on manual collection efforts and dated information, PadZing.com provides instant access to current…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorMiami–More than 200 condominium and townhome projects with blocks of 20 units or more are currently presenting investors with potential acquisition opportunities in Miami-Dade County according to CondoReports.com’s 1Q09 Miami Bulk Buyer Report.   The report differs from previous studies of unclosed inventory as it is both countywide and includes recent construction and conversions projects of 50 units or more. The report draws a distinction between the 2007 and prior projects and the more recent 2008 and 2009 projects.“As 2008 and 2009 projects are still closing out existing sales contracts, the exact number of units in…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorLos Angeles–Meridian Capital Group arranged purchase financing in the amount of $3,025,000 for a total of 24 multifamily units. The two Southern California properties are located at 3101 Canfield Ave. in Los Angeles and 1132 Elm Avenue in Glendale. Canfield Avenue was a purchase that went into escrow several months ago and kept getting extended as the seller tried to identify his exchange property. The buyer purchased this property with tremendous upside in the current rents and has plans to extensively renovate the units and re-lease them at market rents. Meridian managed to identify a…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Julie Stalknecht (pictured) has been named vice president of membership, marketing and meetings for the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC).   Most recently, Stalknecht was vice president of sales for the National Apartment Association (NAA), where she doubled revenue dollars in her first three years. “Joining NMHC is a true honor,” says Stalknecht. “They have one of the most competent and professional staffs in real estate and a membership that is a ‘who’s who’ of the apartment sector. Their meetings are the most sought-after industry gatherings, and they are routinely recognized for outstanding leadership and…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPhoenix–While the student housing sector has so far been a safer bet than conventional multifamily, industry professionals are becoming more and more uncertain and even highly suspect of this idea, acknowledging that student housing may not be as recession resistant as was initially believed.Cap rates for student housing increased approximately 100-150 basis points between the summer of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, which is nearly half of conventional multifamily cap rates (which increased 150-250 basis points). However, student cap rates are extremely vulnerable to an upward spike in the fall of 2009, which could…