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Crescent Unveils New Concept for Apartment Communities Nationwide
Industry News
Trillium Residential Gets Aggressive in Phoenix Apartment Market
Aimco Loses Top Exec Fordham
Tishman Speyer to Build Apartments on Manhattan Waterfront
Apartment Construction Slips in Pennsylvania County
Modular Construction Benefits Student Apartments
Biloxi Expects to Soon Have More Apartments Than Before Katrina
Verizon Connects FiOS to Manhattan Apartments
Aimco Named Industry Leader for Quality Affordable Housing
Associated Estates Increases Credit Facility to $150 Million
Indianapolis Apartment Community a Model of Renewal
Legislative/Legal News
California City Bans Smoking in Senior Apartments
Affordable Housing Gets More Scarce in Two Florida Counties
NYC Apartment Residents Protected Under New Law
NAA Announcements
2008 NAA PARAGON Awards - Call for Entries
NAA Education Conference (June 26-28 ~ Orlando, FL) – Human Resources Education Track
April 15 Deadline for NAA Leadership Lyceum Scholarship Applications
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Crescent Unveils New Concept for Apartment Communities Nationwide
Digested From "Crescent Introduces New Concept for Apartment Communities Nationwide"
Business Wire (03/25/08)
Crescent Multifamily Development Group has taken the wraps off Circle, a new apartment concept that looks to deliver an innovative approach to apartment living. The progressive Circle communities, which were inspired through extensive analysis of current industry trends, will be places where neighbors connect and become stewards of the broader community. Circle residents will have the choice of living in an urban mid- to high-rise apartment setting or a suburban garden apartment community. While all of the communities will feature environmentally sensitive designs, some will go the extra mile and follow the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. With Circle communities already in various stages of development in Florida and North Carolina, Crescent is on pace to have 1,300 Circle apartments under construction by the middle of next month. With additional communities planned to start construction this year in North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, Crescent will soon begin exploring other high-growth markets for the Circle concept as part of its ongoing expansion plans. Crescent Multifamily Development Group is a division of Crescent Resources, LLC, a Charlotte-based joint venture between Duke Energy and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund.
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Industry News
Time Warner Cable Community Solutions has proven success partnering with MDU owners, providing quality voice/video/data products to their residents.
Trillium Residential Gets Aggressive in Phoenix Apartment Market
Digested From "Trillium Residential Going Full Steam as Others Cautiously Re-Enter Phoenix Apartment Market"
Phoenix Business Journal (03/28/08) by Jan Buchholz
Trillium Residential LLC is moving full steam ahead with its apartment development plans for the Phoenix metro area. The Tempe-based company delivered more than 600 rental apartments last year locally and is on pace to deliver approximately 1,600 more this year. Its newest community, dubbed Trillium Cave Creek in north Phoenix, is nearing completion with a planned April 15 "soft opening." Still, some analysts and industry professionals question such aggressive growth in a market so uncertain. Dave Woodward, CEO of Laramar Communities LLC, states, "The most challenging [apartment] markets that we've seen nationally have been South Florida, Las Vegas, San Diego and Arizona -- especially Phoenix and Scottsdale."
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Aimco Loses Top Exec Fordham
Digested From "Apartment Investment and Management Company Announces Resignation of Chief Accounting Officer Scott Fordham"
PRNewswire (03/27/08)
Scott W. Fordham has decided to step down as Apartment Investment and Management Co.'s (Aimco's) chief accounting officer late next month. Fordham plans to return to his native Texas and pursue an opportunity as chief accounting officer with an office REIT lead by former Prentiss Properties Trust CEO Tom August. Fordham served alongside August as senior vice president and chief accounting officer prior to Prentiss's 2006 merger with Brandywine Realty Trust. Aimco CFO Tom Herzog remarked, "I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to Scott for his many lasting contributions as chief accounting officer. Scott has exceptional skills and has been a tremendous leader to our accounting team." Aimco is a Denver-based REIT that ranks as the nation's largest owner and operator of apartment communities. Its portfolio currently includes 1,169 communities, containing more than 203,000 apartment units. These communities are spread throughout 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
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Tishman Speyer to Build Apartments on Manhattan Waterfront
Digested From "Tishman Speyer to Build Skyscrapers, Apartments on NYC Waterfront"
amNY.com (03/26/08) by Amy Westfeldt
Tishman Speyer Properties last week won a billion-dollar deal to build skyscrapers, apartments, a cultural center and parkland over a stretch of government-owned rail yards in Manhattan. Officials believe the project will transform a desolate neighborhood along the Hudson River into New York's next major business district. It cost Tishman Speyer Properties a little more than $1 billion to buy the air rights above the Hudson rail yards from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In addition, the developer agreed to pay more than $2 billion to build a platform over the yards. According to the MTA, the deal will help plug holes in its budget over the next three years. Under terms of the deal, though, Tishman Speyer is permitted to walk if the agency does not go through with a promised extension of a subway line toward the river. Once completed, the development will include four skyscrapers and more than 3,000 apartments and will create a community of offices, retail stores and restaurants.
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Apartment Construction Slips in Pennsylvania County
Digested From "Residential Building Slips 75 Percent in County"
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal (PA) (03/26/08) P. A1; by Patrick Burns
Battered by the slumping economy and bankers' tougher lending requirements, which have forced builders to limit the number of homes built without a buyer and focus instead on chipping away at their existing supply of properties, Lancaster County's new-homes market continues to contract. According to McGraw-Hill Construction, the contract values of new single- and two-family homes and apartments in the county sunk to $17.9 million for the first two months of this year--down about 75 percent from an estimated $71.3 million during the same period of 2007. Despite the depressed numbers, the builder community is encouraged by the fact that last year's total was skewed by a spate of apartment communities. "No doubt that 75 percent figure catches your eye, but the apartment units built went from well over 200 units to zero so far this year," explains Building Industry Association of Lancaster County President Randy Hess.
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Modular Construction Benefits Student Apartments
Digested From "Building Dorm Rooms Cheaper, Quicker and Quieter"
New York Times (03/26/08) P. C6; by Alison Gregor
Modular construction is being increasingly used to create quick and convenient dormitories and classrooms for colleges and universities. Such prefabricated structures are manufactured as modules at a factory, then assembled at the site. The Modular Building Institute reports that an average of 29 percent of the commercial modular building market from 2002 to 2006 was for educational uses. Such buildings typically are designed by an architect, and then a modular manufacturer translates the design into components that are fabricated in a factory and assembled on site. While this method of manufacturing saves colleges as much as 5 percent to 10 percent on construction costs, a more important reason for its growing popularity may be that it speeds up construction and thus minimizes disruption on campus. Instead of taking up to a year to build a dormitory, it can take only a matter of days with modular construction. Consequently, colleges can respond quicker to an unexpected enrollment increase and capture the revenue from rents sooner. The article lists several examples. Among them is the Indiana Institute of Technology, which is planning to build its second modular dormitory during its vacation period next summer.
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Biloxi Expects to Soon Have More Apartments Than Before Katrina
Digested From "Biloxi Expects to Soon Have More Apartments Than Before Katrina"
WLOX-TV (Biloxi, MS) (03/26/08)
In Harrison County, Miss., hundreds of apartments now under construction could help many locals move out of FEMA trailers and into better digs. Last year, Biloxi was about 400 apartments shy of the number of unsubsidized units it had before Hurricane Katrina. With all the construction going on this year, officials expect that gap to virtually disappear. Community Development Director Jerry Creel confirms, "We think that not only will we get back up to pre-storm levels, we're going to eclipse that. . . . I think that developers have realized that there is a dire need for the apartment market." City officials add that new rules from the State Department Of Environmental Quality regarding wetlands are encouraging new multifamily housing development. Creel remarks, "What that's done on these properties where apartments are being constructed, it's all allowed that developer to go in and fill in a larger percentage of wetlands so they can construct more apartment units there."
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Verizon Connects FiOS to Manhattan Apartments
Digested From "Verizon Connects FiOS to Manhattan Apartment Complex"
USA Today (03/25/08) by Peter Svensson
Verizon's FiOS fiber-optic service is making a big push into Manhattan with a deal to connect Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, an enclave of 110 apartment buildings on Manhattan's East Side. With 11,232 apartments, this is the largest apartment community in Manhattan and easily the largest to get FiOS service anywhere in Verizon's 17-state fiber buildout area. Seven of the buildings are already connected, and it will take several months to connect the rest. Connecting apartments is technically more difficult than connecting houses and requires permission from property owners. At the end of 2007, approximately 560,000 apartments in Verizon's phone service area were open to FiOS marketing via deals with the various apartment community owners. That is out of roughly 2.4 million apartments that could technically be connected because Verizon has run fiber down the street.
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Aimco Named Industry Leader for Quality Affordable Housing
Digested From "Aimco Named Industry Leader for Quality Affordable Housing"
Business Wire (03/25/08)
Apartment Investment and Management Company (Aimco) this week was presented with the 2007 Communities of Quality Program Award from the National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA). The honor is in recognition of Aimco having the country's highest number of multifamily housing communities that have earned the association's "Communities of Quality" (COQ) certification for excellence in such areas as affordable property management and personnel performance. As of the end of last year, more than 60 Aimco communities nationwide had earned that designation. Separately, Aimco's University Square community in Philadelphia was awarded NAHMA's annual award as America's outstanding affordable housing project for the elderly. Aimco ranks as the country's biggest owner and manager of apartment communities. NAHMA, meanwhile, is the leading affordable housing advocacy organization representing multifamily housing owners and management firms.
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Associated Estates Increases Credit Facility to $150 Million
Digested From "Associated Estates Increases Credit Facility to $150 Million"
PRNewswire (03/24/08)
Associated Estates Realty Corp. has increased its $100 million senior unsecured revolving credit facility to $150 million. In doing so, the Ohio-based apartment REIT also extended the credit facility's maturity to March 20, 2011. Associated Estates CFO Lou Fatica remarked, "The steps we have taken to improve our fixed charge coverage and grow our unencumbered asset pool have enabled us to expand our line and extend its terms. This increased credit facility provides us with the enhanced flexibility to further our strategic objectives of repositioning the portfolio to faster growing markets and strengthening the Company's balance sheet." The REIT's portfolio is comprised of 53 multifamily housing communities containing more than 13,000 apartments in nine states.
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Indianapolis Apartment Community a Model of Renewal
Digested From "Community Renewal"
Indianapolis Star (03/23/08) by Jeff Swiatek
The Parkwoods apartment community was a model multifamily housing development when it opened in Indianapolis more than 50 years ago. In the 1980s and '90s, though, most of its 254 apartments became havens for drug, gang, and other criminal activity. Today, the federally subsidized project is showing signs of new life. Over the last couple of years, its 254 apartments have been demolished and rebuilt to more closely resemble an upscale suburban complex, complete with a swimming pool and community center. The $36 million complex represents the largest investment in the area in decades. Of the $36 million cost, $10 million came from city and federal governments. Boston-based developer TCB, which has shown a real commitment to low-income housing, raised the remainder via private loans and the sale of federal low-income housing tax credits. Community activists and local elected leaders applaud the reborn Parkwoods, which is now known as The Villages at Mill Crossing, as an urban success story. The hope now is to duplicate it several times over in this still-troubled area of the city known as the Meadows.
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Legislative/Legal News
California City Bans Smoking in Senior Apartments
Digested From "No Smoking in Oxnard Apartments"
KEYT-TV (Santa Barbara, CA) (03/27/08)
In California, the Housing Authority of Oxnard's Board of Commissioners has unanimously approved a ban on smoking in senior public housing communities in the downtown area. The ban prohibits residents from smoking inside their apartments, in common areas or within 30 feet of the building. If residents violate the new restriction, they will be notified by the Housing Authority and face a termination of their lease if they continue to be found in violation.
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Affordable Housing Gets More Scarce in Two Florida Counties
Digested From "Lack of Affordable Housing Strains Workers"
South Florida Business Journal (03/27/08)
Not only is housing less affordable now in Florida's Palm Beach and Martin counties than in 2000, but those priced out of homes are often local workers--firefighters, police, teachers, and other public servants--according to a recent study. Since 2000, reports the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, 16,000 and 663 rental units in Palm Beach County and Martin County, respectively, have been converted into condominiums. Additionally, more than 10,000 additional families in Palm Beach County now spend more than 50 percent of their monthly income on housing--up 42 percent from 24,528 renters in 2000 to 34,845--and over 700 more households in Martin County are "extremely" cost-burdened, up by 39 percent to 2,548 residents who rent from 1,829. The matter is only expected to get worse once federal tax credits expire on 1,000-plus affordable rental apartments by 2010.
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NYC Apartment Residents Protected Under New Law
Digested From "Bloomberg Signs Tenant Protection Act"
Columbia Spectator (03/25/08) by Lydia Wileden
The Tenant Protection Act, Intro 627-A, was signed into law in mid-March by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The law defines harassment by apartment owners as "any act or omission, such as repeated interruption or withholding of services, by a landlord that causes or is intended to force a legal tenant to vacant an apartment." Residents who believe they have been harassed by owners are now permitted to take them to Housing Court, and those found in violation of the law face fines up to $5,000 per unit. Prior to the law's passage, Housing Court was an option only when owners could prove their landlords failed to provide essential services or maintain their units. According to Bloomberg, "As our city continues to grow, preserving housing--and especially affordable housing--will remain a priority of my administration. [The new law] takes us a step in the right direction by ensuring that tenants in such housing--and in all housing throughout the city--are protected." The law is opposed by the Rent Stabilization Association, which deems criminal and civil anti-harassment laws already in place to be sufficient.
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NAA Announcements
2008 NAA PARAGON Awards - Call for Entries
Each year, the National Apartment Association recognizes the distinguished efforts of builders, individual professionals and affiliated apartment associations and the unique contributions they make to the multifamily housing industry through its premier, national awards program—the PARAGON Awards.
The Call for Entries for the 2008 PARAGON Awards is now open! If you would like to nominate an individual, affiliated association or community that represents our industry's models of excellence, please visit the PARAGON Awards Overview page. Entries are due by April 18, 2008.
Winners will be recognized at the NAA PARAGON Awards Ceremony at the 2008 NAA Education Conference & Exposition in Orlando, Fla., in June.
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NAA Education Conference (June 26-28 ~ Orlando, FL) – Human Resources Education Track
Register today for the NAA Education Conference and take advantage of the strongest Human Resources track at NAA to date! By popular demand Mel Kleiman is back with up-to-date information on Interviewing, Recruiting, and Retention! Plus, IREM Faculty Member and highest-rated speaker Natalie Brecher joins the conference to enlighten attendees on how to improve performance with coaching. Whether you’re a supervisor, manager or owner, you will return home with solutions to your workforce-related concerns that will have an undeniable impact on your day-to-day operations. Prepare to be entertained and informed. Attendees are sure to go back to the office inspired and ready to work!
Choose from more than 50 education sessions divided into nine education tracks including: Executive, Development & Rehab, Marketing & Leasing, Human Resources, Independent/Small Owner, Specialty Housing, Personal Development, Wild Card! and Shared Interest Roundtables.
Register for the conference and book your hotel room TODAY! Be a part of the largest show in the multifamily housing industry. Group discounts are also available for companies purchasing five or more full conference registrations.
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April 15 Deadline for NAA Leadership Lyceum Scholarship Applications
Two affiliate scholarships are available for NAA’s acclaimed Leadership Lyceum. Scholarship recipients will receive airfare, lodging, applicable registration fees and class materials for the three major national NAA meetings at which the Lyceum sessions are held: NAA Education Conference & Exposition, June 26 – 28, 2008; Assembly of Delegates, November 13 – 15, 2008; and, Capitol Conference, March 7 – 10, 2009.
The primary purpose of these scholarships is to empower recipients with the knowledge they need to succeed in developing their local affiliates. The secondary goal is to facilitate the recipients also becoming productive members of NAA at the state and national level. Therefore, applications will only be accepted from affiliates, not directly from potential scholarship recipients.
The deadline for applications is April 15, 2008. Scholarship recipients will be announced May 1, 2008. For additional information contact Sandra Bowman, NAA’s Manager of Governance by e-mail sandra@naahq.org or phone 703-518-6141, ext 253.
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