Regions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorLong Island, N.Y–The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), a non-profit affordable housing lender, is providing an $8.475 million construction loan for developing 24 new townhouse-style condominiums in the Village of Freeport, located in Long Island’s Nassau County. The property, once used as a boat marina, was rezoned for residential use in 2003. Each of the new, three-story town homes will contain a two-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom duplex apartment with a cathedral ceiling living room, laundry room, two-car garage, deck and boat slip. There will also be an additional 15 boat slips and a parking area for 11 cars…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorMedford, Mass.–The Boston office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP) has secured joint venture equity and debt financing for Station Landing, a mixed-use project in Medford.HFF Senior Managing Director Frederic Wittmann and Real Estate Analyst Carlos Febres-Mazzei represented National Development, a Mass-based development company, to arrange joint-venture equity for the project with Bethesda, Md.-based ASB Real Estate Investments, through its ASB Allegiance Fund. HFF secured a 37-month, adjustable-rate loan through Wachovia Bank. A portion of the loan refinanced existing debt on several components of the project with the remainder providing construction financing for additional development….

Calabasas, Calif.–Mortgage provider Countrywide Financial Corp. announced a partnership Monday with community organization ACORN, which represents low- to moderate-income families, to assist subprime homeowners facing foreclosure, the Boston Herald reports.Calabasas, Calif.-headquartered Countrywide will contemplate extending teaser rates for five years for subprime borrowers with strong payment records and let some borrowers refinance into prime mortgages. ACORN–the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now–will provide home counseling services along with Countrywide’s home retention specialists.The plan is similar to the Bush administration’s Hope Now program, which Countrywide entered into voluntarily in December. However, unlike the Hope Now program–which homeowners must be no…

Mumbai–The U.S. economy will slow extensively for a considerable amount of time, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Monday.IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a speech during his three-day visit to India that the global market needs to prepare for a potential ripple effect from the U.S. slowdown, which could also eventually affect emerging economies, The New York Times reports.Much of the concern revolves around uncertainties such as the continued decline of the U.S. housing market, a potential spending decrease and the possibility of more subprime-related loss disclosures from European banks. “The problem is today we have…

San Francisco–Two out of three homeowners said they would hold off on a planned home improvement this year until the market improves, according to a recent survey by the San Francisco-based Zoomerang research firm.An additional 11 percent said they would scrap the renovation altogether in 2008, USA Today reported Monday. The e-mail survey included results from 2,100 homeowners in 11 metro areas.Lower property values are making it difficult for homeowners to refinance and use cash from their home to renovate. In addition, lower home prices can knock down the amount of money a home renovation can add to a property.Sales…

Tokyo–The Group of Seven finance leaders fear U.S. subprime-related write-offs could reach $400 billion, the Financial Times reports.After the group’s weekend meeting in Tokyo, German finance minister Peer Steinbrück said the G7 is concerned about the write-offs and was prepared to take action to restore financial calm to the global market. “The next 10 days to two weeks will be crucial because we are going to have the first audited accounts [from financial institutions] since the crisis started,” said Mario Draghi, governor of the Bank of Italy and chair of the Financial Stability Forum, an international banking committee.The G7 finance…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorMcLean, Va.–Kettler, a McLean-based real estate development and property management company, has launched its new corporate Web site with direct links to portals or sub-sites for various product types. The Web site allows a customer to search for a condominium, apartment or home directly from the home page and still view home-page links which access important corporate information.“We studied the activity of our past Web site traffic and developed the new site based on the activities they performed and the actions they took,” says Jamie Gorski, chief marketing officer. “The site has innovative architecture and…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSouthbridge Mass.,–Chozick Realty has completed the sales of a 36-unit condominium in Bridgeport for $2.3 million and a 58-unit apartment complex in Southbridge for $4.9 million. The Patrick Wells Condominiums (pictured) located at 335 Wells St. was originally constructed in 1920 and was converted to condominiums in the 1980’s. Steve Pappas of Chozick Realty represented the owner who operated the complex as a rental community. The property has now been substantially renovated and updated and 85 percent of the units have new appliances, renovated kitchens, baths, common areas as well as new windows, and resident…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorChicago–The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), a nonprofit organization that encourages the financial service industry’s efforts to support underbanked consumers, has made an equity investment in RentBureau, the online system that collects current rental payment histories and provides that information to the multifamily and credit industries. The equity investment will go toward enhancing the use of RentBureau’s proprietary data for enabling consumers to secure credit.CFSI’s investment in RentBureau was made through its Catalyst Fund, a private equity limited partnership, and developed in July 2007 to invest in financial services companies and solutions focused on…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorColumbus, Ohio–Enterprise Community Investment Inc., has invested $9.5 million using New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to assist Columbus Housing Partnership in financing the construction or rehabilitation of up to 700 affordable homes in Columbus, over a period of seven years.Nationwide, Huntington Bank and World Financial Network National Bank, a subsidiary of Alliance Data, along with the city of Columbus and the Affordable Housing Trust for Columbus and Franklin County are investing in the project along with Enterprise.“Columbus Housing Partnership is a long-time partner of Enterprise and we look forward to partnering with CHP to create…