Regions

Darcy Garneau Returns to EDI as Managing PrincipalHouston–Darcy Garneau, AIA, has recently been appointed as managing principal and board member of EDI Architecture Inc., an architecture, interior design and planning firm based in Houston.Garneau will be responsible for overall management, growth and business development of EDI Architecture.He joined the firm in 1998 as director of corporate services, and in 2003 took on the role of managing principal. After working for almost two years with a residential development company, Garneau has recently returned to EDI in the same capacity.Steven M. Spall Becomes JPI East’s First SVP of Finance and Asset Mgmt….

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorCosta Mesa, Calif.–The Irvine Co. recently opened 16 units for move-ins at The Enclave at South Coast, an “off-ranch” apartment community built on a 40-acre site in Costa Mesa, Calif. The 890-unit community, expected to be complete by the end of 2008, will contain 46 three-story buildings.The Irvine Co., which will also manage the property, already has about 30 lease agreements and 16 people are moving into the community this month.The design theme of the community incorporates elements of traditional California architecture with landscaped courtyards and boulevard streets. It is located at 400 Enclave Circle,…

Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–The New York City Council Land Use Committee voted this week to approve a proposal for the former Con Edison municipal utility site bordering the East River between 38th and 41st streets in midtown Manhattn that paves the way for the creation of an East Side Waterfront Park. The $4 billion redevelopment plan for the Con Ed site includes building seven towers on nine acres along First Avenue.Last summer, the Municipal Art Society of New York held a design charrette to create a vision for what the East Side Waterfront Park could look like.The developer…

By Erin Brereton, Content ManagerAtlanta–Campus Apartments, Inc. recently joined with Emory University to develop a $27 million graduate student housing complex on university-owned land in Atlanta.The 398-bed, 201-unit building will give Emory’s graduate and professional students a much-needed venue for graduate housing.”Graduate housing is a difficult property type to develop,” says Daniel Bernstein, senior vice president and chief investment officer of Campus Apartments. “It’s lower density, comparatively speaking, to undergraduate housing. Grad students look toward more privacy–efficiencies, one- and two-bedrooms. Trying to keep affordability in check is more difficult.”Emory approached Campus Apartments about the project because of Campus’ reputation for…

Boston–Foreclosures of multifamily residential buildings located in towns northwest of Boston escalated in 2007, the Boston Globe reported Thursday.Last year, lenders foreclosed on more than five times as many two- and three-family homes as in 2006, according to real estate data provider Warren Group. Local officials are preparing for an even worse year in 2008.The number of mortgages in foreclosure across the state last year–many of which included condominiums and two- and three-family homes–more than doubled from the year before. Lowell and Lawrence, Mass. together had more than 440 home foreclosures in 2007. The displacement of homeowners and tenants–along with…

Baltimore, Md., Orange County, Calif.–Cubellis, a national architecture, interior design and engineering services firm, has opened offices in Baltimore, Md. and Newport Beach, Calif. This brings the total number of the company’s offices to 14.The establishment of the Baltimore office, located on the inner harbor at 500 East Pratt St., and area additions to the team further strengthen and enhance the Cubellis presence in the Mid-Atlantic region and add senior leadership and depth to the Retail Practice Group nationally, according to the company.“The Baltimore office strengthens our presence in the Maryland-Washington, D.C. area with a very strong and experienced on-the-ground…

Summerville, S.C.–GE Real Estate has purchased $7.3 million in tax-exempt bonds and has provided a $3 million taxable tail to refinance the Martin’s Creek apartment complex in Summerville, S.C., 26 miles northwest of Charleston.The tax-exempt bonds are part of a standard 80/20 program, which makes 20 percent of the units available only to qualified, low-income tenants. GE’s five-year, interest-only loan on the bonds and taxable tail reduces the cost of capital. The garden-style Martin’s Creek apartments were built in 1985 and renovated in 2000. The 15 two-story buildings feature 48 one-bedroom units, 128 two-bedroom units and 24 three-bedroom units.“GE Real…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWyomissing, Pa.–The Bozzuto Group has broken ground at Wyomissing Square, a mixed-use development that includes the redevelopment of a former industrial warehouse into a mixed-use community with apartments, retail, office space and a hotel.Located in Wyomissing, five miles from the Reading Regional Airport, the community will be located within walking distance from cafés, restaurants and shops situated along the Penn Avenue Corridor.The 13.3-acre development features a 248-unit four-story apartment complex; 32,000 sq. ft. of retail and restaurant space, and a 135-room Marriott Courtyard Hotel. Construction is expected to complete by early 2010.The apartment complex, an…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAtlanta–The Troy-Peerless building, a former city laundry site, has completed its transition to loft condominiums. The building, located in Atlanta’s Poncey-Highland neighborhood across from City Hall East on Glen Iris Drive, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1999.Architect Isaac Moscowitz designed the Troy-Peerless building in 1929. The building operated as a laundry until the late 1960s when Sears purchased it to use as a millwork facility. After Sears discontinued operations, it sat empty until 1996 when Miller Gallman purchased the property and converted it into loft apartments.Now available for sale,…

Washington, D.C.–Tens of thousands of affordable housing residents are at risk of losing their housing unless Congress acts to make changes at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to the recent testimony provided by National Multi Housing Council (NMHC), National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Leased Housing Association (NLHA) at the Senate Banking Committee.Testifying on behalf of NMHC/NAA and NLHA, Hector Pinero, senior vice president of New York-based Related Management, praised the Section 8 project-based assistance program as “the most effective housing subsidy ever devised by Congress,” but warned lawmakers that the program is experiencing…