Regions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAtlanta–Duo, a loft-style luxury condominium in Atlanta’s Castleberry Hill neighborhood, has partnered with Chase Home Loans to offer adjustable- and fixed-rate mortgages to new buyers under a new Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program.“The federal government helped create the current mortgage situation,” says Scott L. Leventhal, president and CEO of Tivoli Properties Inc., developer of Duo condominiums, “I couldn’t be more pleased with this new FHA program, which offers lower down payments, as well as down payment assistance options.”Under the FHA program, Chase Home Loans will issue mortgages of up to $346,250, with up to 100…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorChicago–Jupiter Realty Co. has broken ground on its 50-story, 389-unit rental building at 215 W. Washington St. in downtown Chicago. When complete in 2010, the $157 million building is expected to be the first new apartment high rise in Chicago to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.“There are LEED-certified condos and offices, and old buildings which have LEED elements, but this would be the first new rental to have the certification,” Donald Smith, a Jupiter Realty principal, tells MHN.Jupiter will also provide zip cars on the property.“With…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorDemarest, N.J.–With at least 30 percent of its buyers of Korean descent, Bellaire, a luxury townhome community, is offering a virtual tour in both English and Korean on its new Web site, bellairenj.com. In addition, American Properties Realty, the Iselin, N.J.-based developer of Bellaire, has created direct mailers in Korean.“When we developed Bellaire, the first thing that we looked at is that Bergen County (where Demarest is located) has the largest congregation of Korean Americans in the United States,” Paul Csik, vice president of sales and marketing at American Properties Realty, tells MHN. “We knew the…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPune, INDIA–In a country where green building is still in the early stages of development, Gustad Irani and his partner, Yumi Doi, both senior fellows at the at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz. and owners of the company, Organic Design Workshop, have just finished creating the first eco-friendly luxury condominium and town home project there. Palash 2.0 is located in Pune, a city in the western region of India where many IT companies are headquartered.When complete in 2009, the eight-acre, seven-building project will include a 22-story condo tower, town homes…

Washington, D.C.–Senate Banking Committee leaders announced Monday that they had reached a compromise on a heavily debated housing bill to prevent foreclosures and restructure how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are monitored, CNNMoney.com said.  Under the plan, the Federal Housing Administration will be allowed to insure $300 billion in new loans for borrowers whose lenders write their loan balance down to less than the homes’ appraised value.Arranged by the Banking Committee’s leading Democrat and Republican–Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Ranking Member Richard Shelby, R-Ala.–the bill would create an affordable housing fund that would be used to provide funding for the…

Washington, D.C.–U.S. wholesale prices rose only slightly last month due to reduced food and energy costs–but the core rate of inflation increased at twice the rate analysts expected, The Wall Street Journal reports.Following a 1.1 percent increase in March, the producer price index for finished goods grew 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department said Tuesday.Producer prices have risen 6.5 percent on an unadjusted basis in the 12 months ending in April, the Journal said.Energy prices in the wholesale sector fell 0.2 percent in April after a 2.9 percent rise in March; gas dropped 4.6 percent, but…

New York–The U.S. credit crisis will last beyond 2009, and banks will write off more than $170 billion in additional reserves, New York-based investment firm Oppenheimer & Co. said in a research note released Tuesday.”The real harrowing days of the credit crisis are still in front of us and will prove more widespread in effect than anything yet seen,” according to a team of analysts led by Meredith Whitney. “Just as strained liquidity pushed so many small and mid-sized specialty finance companies to beyond the brink, we believe it will do the same with the U.S. consumer.”Along with Kaimon Chung…

Atlanta–Home improvement retailer Home Depot announced a 66 percent quarterly profit decline Tuesday because the housing slump caused it to close stores and reduce expansion, the New York Times reports.Atlanta-based Home Depot’s earnings dropped from $1.05 billion in 2007 to $356 million in the quarter ending May 4. The company is closing 15 stores and eliminated plans to launch 50 new locations, which cost it $543 million.Total sales declined 3.4 percent to $17.9 billion; sales at stores open more than a year dropped 6.5 percent.The average purchase at Home Depot slid 2.8 percent to $57.36 in the first quarter, and…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPlymouth, Mass.–Equibase Capital Group LLC recently provided a $1.35 million bridge loan to Abbott Real Estate Development, a residential development firm, based in Boston.The highly-structured loan will be used to support Abbott Real Estate’s acquisition, zoning, and redevelopment of a vacant Wal-Mart located in Plymouth, Mass., into a 150-unit apartment complex on the property’s 5.8 acres of land. The apartment complex, known as Abbott Residences at Cordage Park, is the cornerstone of the Cordage Park Smart Growth District. Abbott Residences at Cordage Park will be a commuter-friendly development adjacent to the Plymouth MBTA station of the…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorOakland, Calif.–PropertyBridge, Inc. recently launched a new edition of its Payments Platform. This version will offer new features, making the electronic payment service more user-friendly, says the company.The new version of PropertyBridge’s Payments Platform improves upon several elements of previous editions, including line item detail for the outstanding balance, saving of payment account information, scheduled reporting functions, customizable homepage announcements, check scanning batch histories and recurring payment reminders through email.PropertyBridge,  an electronic payment service provider for residential real estate management,  works with their clients to customize programs to fit their business goals and objectives. Such tailored…