Dania may get 1st condo tower

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Downtown Dania Beach, known for its antique stores and seedy hotels, may soon get its first big condominium tower.

City commissioners late Tuesday approved a site plan for the 13-story condominium, which also will include restaurants and shops on the ground floor.

''This is actually bringing customers to the downtown district, which is so necessary,'' said Commissioner Anne Castro.

For years, Dania Beach leaders resisted large-scale downtown redevelopment like that of Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale. But in recent years, commissioners have warmed to the idea of bringing in new condos and stores as a way to improve the community and bring in more tax money.

''The city of Dania Beach is over 100 years old,'' Mayor Patricia Flury said. ``Although we don't want to be a city known for tall buildings, because that is not our culture, nonetheless we do need some development.''

The condos will be built on the corner of U.S. 1 and Dania Beach Boulevard, where the Pirate's Inn hotel has been for more than 65 years. The 53-room hotel, which also houses a liquor store and a bar, continues to operate as the sale to the developer is negotiated. The sale is expected to be final in August.

Plans for the new development include 305 condos, 20,000 square feet of stores and restaurants and a five-story parking garage.

''That is the best location in Broward County,'' said Dominick Casale, president of DVNY Development, the company working on the project. ``The best thing about it is you could go down and eat dinner, go shopping and walk the streets. It's been sitting there stagnant for the past 25 years. Once this gets off the ground, everything else will follow suit.''

The $75 million project, on which construction could begin by August 2007, will take about 18 to 24 months to finish, but Casale plans to begin pre-selling the studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom condos in November. Prices for the condos will range from $189,000 to $550,000.

The commission's approval included a few modifications to the site plan.

PARKING SPACES

The development company requested a reduction in the number of parking spaces required for the condominium. City requirements called for 829 spaces. The commission agreed Tuesday to lower that to 651.

The developer will have to submit its final design for approval later.

The city will also require the company to pay a fee, which will go to the maintenance and improvement of parks in Dania Beach. An amount was not decided.

The condominium would be the start of expected new development in downtown Dania Beach. City commissioners still have to consider plans for a 110-unit, 12-story condominium at 109 Park St. and two 14-story condominium towers at 901 E. Dania Beach Blvd.

Flury said the construction of the condos will mean the end of the two-story Dania Jai-Alai sign on top of the Pirate's Inn hotel.

The 51-year-old sign was taken down after it was damaged by Hurricane Wilma in October 2005. The fronton had been fighting to restore it.

AGING HOTELS

The Pirate's Inn is one of two aging downtown hotels that have been the subject of development plans for years that did not materialize.

Another dilapidated building, the Dania Beach Hotel, also has owners who want to tear down the building and replace it with condos. The hotel is blocks away from the Pirate's Inn.

San Jose Sells Parcel for $28.6Mln, Condos Planned

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The San Jose City Council on Tuesday approved a $28.6 million mixed-use residential high-rise project that will add nearly 500 new homes in the heart of downtown.

The agreement calls for City Front Square LLC and Casa Del Pueblo Preservation Partners to pay $28.6 million to the city's Redevelopment Agency, which currently owns the 1.48-acre parcel at 281 South First St.

The land, at the corner of South First, San Carlos and Market streets, is commonly referred to as "Block 8" in downtown.

The property is adjacent to numerous San Jose landmarks such as the Hotel Sainte Claire, Original Joe's and the Hotel Montgomery as well as the Fairmont Hotel, Plaza de Cesar Chavez and the Marriott Hotel.

City Front Square plans to build two for-sale, high-rise market-rate residential towers with a total of 414 units. Casa Del Pueblo Preservation Partners will construct a single high-rise residential building with 245 new affordable units, 165 of which will replace the existing and aging Casa Del Pueblo project, and 62 units in the new project will be reserved for those earning less than 30 percent of the median income.

The City of San Jose will provide a $6.6 million loan for the expansion of the Casa Del Pueblo project to include 80 new apartments for non-elderly individuals and small families.

The new building will replace the existing Casa Del Pueblo apartments, a federally subsidized housing project for very low-income senior citizens located next to the project site on Block 8.

$200Mln Condo Project Proposed for New Orleans

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A Nevada firm has proposed a $200 million hotel/condo project for the New Orleans waterfront, the most expensive proposal for the area since Hurricane Katrina. The firm, Atlantis Internet Group, which has interests in Internet gambling sites, says it intends to develop the property using private capital. The project would consist of a 95-room building, 60 townhomes and a variety of other amenities.

Groundbreaking Set for Austin Condos

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Shonda Novak

Developers broke ground Wednesday on the Shore, a condominium tower on downtown Austin's southeastern edge. When completed, the 22-story building may house one of the city's luminaries: seven-time Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong, 34, confirmed he is an investor in the $55 million project being developed by High Street Residential, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co.

Armstrong also has reserved a unit on an upper floor of the lavish high-rise now under construction at the corner of Red River and Davis streets.

The biking champion also has a house in Central Austin and a ranch in Dripping Springs, which he said he will keep.

The tower will have 192 units, with many (including Armstrong's) offering expansive views of Town Lake and downtown and easy access to the hike-and-bike trail, said Jamil Alam, principal with Trammell Crow in Austin.

Those were selling points for Armstrong.

"I think it is the coolest project in downtown," Armstrong said in a statement issued by his publicist. "Too many projects get announced and too few actually get built; this building is already under construction."

With about half of the units already under contract and another 70 units reserved with a $3,000 refundable deposit, the building is 80 percent committed, said Ian Stonington, the project's sales manager with Dallas-based Al Coker & Associates. The remaining 25 units range in price from $270,000 to $1.35 million.

Twelve units were set aside for buyers earning 80 percent of the area's median-family income, said Russell McDowell, a sales associate with Al Coker & Associates; all were sold to individuals making less than $39,850 a year.

The Shore's residents will enjoy concierge services and other amenities of an adjacent $100 million, 29-story hotel being developed by San Diego, Calif.-based JMI Realty and managed by San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels. The hotel will have 290 rooms and 55 condominium units on the upper floors with prices ranging from about $500,000 to more than $2 million, said Gregory Clay, senior vice president with JMI.

The Shore is one of more than a dozen condominium and apartment projects either under construction or planned for downtown, where Mayor Will Wynn has said he would like to see 25,000 people living in the next 10 years. About 5,500 people now live downtown.

Other projects near the Shore include the new 13-story Milago condominiums and a $250 million mixed-use project planned by Constellation Property Group.

The first residents are expected to move into the Shore in January 2008, Alam said.

Units in the Shore will include high-end appliances and finishes. The building also will have a 60-foot lap pool on a sixth-floor terrace.

Developers say the Shore also will be the first downtown residential high-rise constructed using the city's green-building standards incorporating energy-efficient technologies.

The number of units already reserved are evidence of the demand for high-rise urban living in Austin, Alam said.

Stonington said the Shore's buyers are a mix of baby boomers, retirees and young professionals. "In general, we're seeing that people desire an amenity-filled lifestyle in an urban environment and that they are tired of driving to the suburbs," he said.

"They want a simple, streamlined existence, and that is how you sell this building," he said.

The Shore is Al Coker & Associates' first project in downtown Austin but probably won't be its last.

"This is our big splash in Austin," Stonington said. "With this resounding success, we're looking forward to continuing to light up Austin's skyline."

Condos Planned for South Bronx

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LORE CROGHAN

 

Affordable housing is going upscale in the South Bronx - where excavation is under way for the area's first elevatored condo building.

The nine-story Orion will rise on Third Ave. near E. 156th St. in Melrose Commons, a 35-block urban renewal zone where a new wave of construction is starting.

Once burned-out South Bronx nabes are seeing a real estate resurgence, as old factories become handsome rental apartment buildings and townhouses sprout on vacant lots.

"This is a breakthrough," said architect Magnus Magnusson, whose firm designed the Orion and has an ownership stake in it. "It will show that the South Bronx is no longer the backwater of New York City."

His firm, Melrose Associates, is one of four partners developing the Orion - and a second condo building set to break ground later this summer.

The quartet includes Nos Quedamos (We Stay) - a community group that got the city to abandon an urban renewal plan that would have evicted thousands of Melrose residents and businesses - and builders Procida Realty & Construction and L&M Equity.

"We believe everybody needs a little piece of something to own," said Yolanda Gonzalez, Nos Quedamos' executive director.

The 60 condos in the brick and cast-stone design at 3044 Third Ave. will have fancy touches like bamboo floors, though most units are for low- to moderate-income buyers.

The developers hope to start the sale process in the fall, said Christine Procida of Procida Realty & Construction.

The builders get tax breaks and grants from the city.

Seven units are for low-income purchasers - who earn $58,320 or less per year for a family of four. A total of 39 apartments are for middle-income buyers - who earn up to $80,190 annually for a family of four - or moderate-income buyers, who top out at $94,770 for a family of four.

Fourteen flats are "market-rate" - with no income restrictions.

Prices are expected to range from around $145,000 for one-bedrooms for low-income buyers to about $325,000 for market-rate three-bedrooms, Procida said.

The developers will coordinate a lottery for buyers with the city Housing Preservation and Development department and the Housing Partnership Development Corp. People who want their names on a mailing list for notification about the start of the lottery should call Procida at (718) 299-7000, extension 221.

The second building is called the Aurora and will have 90 units - 7 for low-income buyers, 62 for moderate-income buyers and 21 market-rate flats.

Boston's South Station Makeover Project Gets Final Okay

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Thomas C. Palmer Jr.,

The South Station area will see monumental changes over the next decade, as a development team led by Hines Interests LP yesterday received the go-ahead to build a 40-story glass office tower, hotel, and other buildings on a block now dominated by trains and buses.

Hines, along with its development partner, TUDC LLC, a subsidiary of Tufts University, intends to begin construction next year on the first phase of a decade-long build-out, 1.76 million square feet of air space over South Station and above and along the adjacent bus terminal.

When complete, the connected complex of buildings will include a sleek tower designed by famed architect Cesar Pelli, a 200-room hotel, condominiums, office space, stores, and 943 parking spaces. It will cost an estimated $800 million.

Some $40 million will be spent on transportation improvements that will almost double the size of the bus terminal. Subway, commuter rail, and bus areas will be more directly connected to each other, juxtaposed with separate spaces and entrances for the condos, hotel, offices, and parking.

Construction on the complex, which has been about nine years in the planning, will begin at a time when the idea of building housing in combination with office and commercial space near transportation nodes -- so-called transit-oriented development -- is popular in Massachusetts.

``This is in my view transit-oriented development on steroids," Dan Wilson, executive director of the transportation group Move Massachusetts, said at a recent meeting about the South Station project.

Yesterday, the Boston Zoning Commission approved changes sought by the developers, the final approval they needed before beginning construction.

David Perry, senior vice president of Houston-based Hines, said he plans to start construction on the first of three phases -- the Pelli tower and transportation improvements -- next year, assuming a tenant can be found for a significant amount of space in the tower.

The Boston office market is steadily improving, and no significant new space is currently being built, though several projects are in various stages of planning. Perry said the renewed demand for office space and completion of a long approval process, which saw many changes to the project, happen to coincide.

``Our planning process has been almost a decade," he said in a recent interview. ``You have to believe in the city and the strength of this location, knowing you have very little control over the timing of the outcome."

A chiseled glass tower, designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects of New Haven will be erected over the back portion of the commuter-rail platform, away from Atlantic Avenue. It was moved from an earlier planned location above the South Station building itself, and is slender so as to reduce effects on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway and the Fort Point Channel area.

``This tower has been sculpted to minimize shadows," Perry said.

The initial development plans for the site called for more than 2 million square feet of additional development over the station, including a 759-foot-high tower, which at the time was criticized as too tall. Yesterday's zoning approval allows a 621-foot tower with 40 floors of office space -- or 41 floors at the same height if the developer chooses to substitute residential condos for some of the office space.

Phases two and three would include residences, a hotel, and a nine-floor office building.

Elkus/Manfredi Architects Ltd. of Boston is designing the hotel and residences. All of the new buildings would have lobbies or public spaces several floors above the transportation levels, accessible by shuttle elevators in lobbies facing Atlantic Avenue.

Although the tower was criticized as too high when it was proposed in 1998, the response to Hines executives' changes through the years has been positive at recent public meetings. ``This is a big improvement," said Ann Hershfang, a member of WalkBoston, a pedestrian advocacy group.

The tower would be the tallest in Boston since 46-floor One International Place went up in 1987.

Renovations Planned for Vacant Detroit Hotel

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Louis Aguilar

The planned restoration of the once-opulent Book-Cadillac Hotel, long a symbol of Detroit's inexorable decline, is being hailed as a sign that the city's downtown resurgence is for real.

The plans to restore the vacant building into a high-end Westin Hotel and upscale condominium complex will be unveiled today in a much-anticipated event at the Detroit Athletic Club.

The project joins billions of dollars in public and private investment that has been poured into downtown the past 10 years, bringing new life to long-empty historic buildings and filling the city's blighted core with new casinos, lofts, restaurants, martini bars and small retail shops.

"We are past the tipping point," said Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance Fund, the influential nonprofit fund that is one of the estimated 17 sources of financing for the Book-Cadillac deal. "There is enough of those kinds of things in a pretty condensed time period, that when you catalog it, shows there is critical mass in the right direction."

No one has talked like that about downtown Detroit in years. There remain skeptics about the Book-Cadillac project. The estimated $176 million deal is heavy on loans, is partially funded by Michigan taxpayers and is short on private investment, some say.

Even supporters of the deal say it is putting remarkable faith in two market segments -- a robust hotel scene and upscale living -- not normally associated with downtown. The 67 condominium units are expected to sell for about $300,000. The 455 hotel rooms would join another 1,200 hotel rooms planned as part of the three permanent casinos: MGM Grand, MotorCity and Greektown.

"I still think it's a high-risk deal," said Charles Skelton, head of Hospitality Advisors Consulting in Ann Arbor. "That's not to say it can't work or the belief is unfounded, because these are pretty savvy people behind this project. It's definitely bold."

Many praise Cleveland developer John Ferchill, who has made a fortune in restoring historic buildings in Rust Belt cities.

Big day set for yesteryear's star

Amid 600 movers and shakers, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Ferchill this afternoon are expected to announce the financial deal that would reopen the 33-story, Louis Kamper-designed skyscraper at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue as soon as 2008.

It was the city's pre-eminent hotel for six decades; five presidents, famous film stars and high-rolling gangsters stayed there. Books and documentaries are still being made about it, and visitors to local Web sites like Fabulous Ruins of Detroit (detroityes.com) closely follow any rumor and development about the hotel.

The vacant landmark has vexed every mayor since its closing in 1984, including Kilpatrick. In 1993, then Mayor Coleman Young couldn't even raise enough money to tear it down.

In July 2003 Kilpatrick held a news conference in front of hotel to hail redevelopment of the landmark as proof that downtown is on the mend. He vowed it would open in time for Super Bowl XL held last February. That deal, which was backed by a subsidiary of the Kimberly-Clark Corp., fell apart when the project's cost escalated after preliminary site work.

Mayor, developer refused to give in

But Kilpatrick and key staff at the Detroit Economic Growth Corp, the quasi-public group that works on rebuilding the city, never gave up. And they had an eager developer in Ferchill, part owner of the Hilton Gardens Inn in downtown's Harmonie Park.

"You have to give huge credit to George Jackson, (head of the DEGC) and Ferchill," said Dick Buss, senior vice president at National City Bank, which is among the financers. "They stitched together something that utilizes so many different types of funding that we finally got comfortable" with the deal.

Some of the biggest development deals in downtown are in the hands of out-of-towners, including the two big Riverfront projects at the former Uniroyal site and alongside the Renaissance Center and the $45 million plan to turn the Lafayette Building into condos.

That outside interest is another sign that things are changing for the better downtown.

"It used to be that one, maybe two, firms had to take most of the risk," said Atanas Ilitch, president of Olympia Development LLC, the real estate arm of the Ilitch empire.

"But now with so many willing to be part of project, things can get done a lot of faster," Ilitch said.

The Ilitch family were downtown pioneers when they renovated the historic Fox Theatre and then relocated the Detroit Tigers to Comerica Park. Now the family has embarked on another ambitious plan that may include redevelopment of the 1923 Detroit Life building in the historic area behind the Fox. It also hopes to find a developer and major tenant for a five-acre site at Grand Circus Park. The site includes the 1928 United Artists Theatre building and the former Statler Hotel parcel, which is owned by the city.

The Book-Cadillac isn't the only historic building with plans to become a hotel again. The Pick-Fort Shelby on Lafayette is on track for a $73 million renovation that would make it a 204-suite hotel, with a 40,000-square-foot conference center and 63 apartments that may be later sold as condos.

Some question patchwork of financing

The Book-Cadillac's complex financing also reveals how hard it is to get private investors to put their money on downtown Detroit

"What's worrisome is the relatively small amount of (private) capital that has been put up," said Patrick Anderson, a Lansing-based economist that studies Michigan's economy. Financing ranges from conventional loans; federal, state, county and city funding; state tax credits from the soon defunct single business tax, brownfield redevelopment and the never before used new market credit.

"That shows the length Detroit has to go to get a private investor to put up their own money," Anderson said.

Despite Michigan's sagging economy, the city's shrinking population and looming budget deficit, Anderson said downtown Detroit can continue to rebound.

"Detroit's biggest problem has not been the depressed Michigan economy," Anderson said.

"Detroit's biggest problem has been Detroit's economic, political, social and other problems. I see all the activity as a sign of optimism as Detroit is turning itself around."

The planned restoration of the once-opulent Book-Cadillac Hotel, long a symbol of Detroit's inexorable decline, is being hailed as a sign that the city's downtown resurgence is for real.

The plans to restore the vacant building into a high-end Westin Hotel and upscale condominium complex will be unveiled today in a much-anticipated event at the Detroit Athletic Club.

The project joins billions of dollars in public and private investment that has been poured into downtown the past 10 years, bringing new life to long-empty historic buildings and filling the city's blighted core with new casinos, lofts, restaurants, martini bars and small retail shops.

"We are past the tipping point," said Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance Fund, the influential nonprofit fund that is one of the estimated 17 sources of financing for the Book-Cadillac deal. "There is enough of those kinds of things in a pretty condensed time period, that when you catalog it, shows there is critical mass in the right direction."

No one has talked like that about downtown Detroit in years. There remain skeptics about the Book-Cadillac project. The estimated $176 million deal is heavy on loans, is partially funded by Michigan taxpayers and is short on private investment, some say.

Even supporters of the deal say it is putting remarkable faith in two market segments -- a robust hotel scene and upscale living -- not normally associated with downtown. The 67 condominium units are expected to sell for about $300,000. The 455 hotel rooms would join another 1,200 hotel rooms planned as part of the three permanent casinos: MGM Grand, MotorCity and Greektown.

"I still think it's a high-risk deal," said Charles Skelton, head of Hospitality Advisors Consulting in Ann Arbor. "That's not to say it can't work or the belief is unfounded, because these are pretty savvy people behind this project. It's definitely bold."

Many praise Cleveland developer John Ferchill, who has made a fortune in restoring historic buildings in Rust Belt cities.

Big day set for yesteryear's star

Amid 600 movers and shakers, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Ferchill this afternoon are expected to announce the financial deal that would reopen the 33-story, Louis Kamper-designed skyscraper at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue as soon as 2008.

It was the city's pre-eminent hotel for six decades; five presidents, famous film stars and high-rolling gangsters stayed there. Books and documentaries are still being made about it, and visitors to local Web sites like Fabulous Ruins of Detroit (detroityes.com) closely follow any rumor and development about the hotel.

The vacant landmark has vexed every mayor since its closing in 1984, including Kilpatrick. In 1993, then Mayor Coleman Young couldn't even raise enough money to tear it down.

In July 2003 Kilpatrick held a news conference in front of hotel to hail redevelopment of the landmark as proof that downtown is on the mend. He vowed it would open in time for Super Bowl XL held last February. That deal, which was backed by a subsidiary of the Kimberly-Clark Corp., fell apart when the project's cost escalated after preliminary site work.

Mayor, developer refused to give in

But Kilpatrick and key staff at the Detroit Economic Growth Corp, the quasi-public group that works on rebuilding the city, never gave up. And they had an eager developer in Ferchill, part owner of the Hilton Gardens Inn in downtown's Harmonie Park.

"You have to give huge credit to George Jackson, (head of the DEGC) and Ferchill," said Dick Buss, senior vice president at National City Bank, which is among the financers. "They stitched together something that utilizes so many different types of funding that we finally got comfortable" with the deal.

Some of the biggest development deals in downtown are in the hands of out-of-towners, including the two big Riverfront projects at the former Uniroyal site and alongside the Renaissance Center and the $45 million plan to turn the Lafayette Building into condos.

That outside interest is another sign that things are changing for the better downtown.

"It used to be that one, maybe two, firms had to take most of the risk," said Atanas Ilitch, president of Olympia Development LLC, the real estate arm of the Ilitch empire.

"But now with so many willing to be part of project, things can get done a lot of faster," Ilitch said.

The Ilitch family were downtown pioneers when they renovated the historic Fox Theatre and then relocated the Detroit Tigers to Comerica Park. Now the family has embarked on another ambitious plan that may include redevelopment of the 1923 Detroit Life building in the historic area behind the Fox. It also hopes to find a developer and major tenant for a five-acre site at Grand Circus Park. The site includes the 1928 United Artists Theatre building and the former Statler Hotel parcel, which is owned by the city.

The Book-Cadillac isn't the only historic building with plans to become a hotel again. The Pick-Fort Shelby on Lafayette is on track for a $73 million renovation that would make it a 204-suite hotel, with a 40,000-square-foot conference center and 63 apartments that may be later sold as condos.

Some question patchwork of financing

The Book-Cadillac's complex financing also reveals how hard it is to get private investors to put their money on downtown Detroit

"What's worrisome is the relatively small amount of (private) capital that has been put up," said Patrick Anderson, a Lansing-based economist that studies Michigan's economy. Financing ranges from conventional loans; federal, state, county and city funding; state tax credits from the soon defunct single business tax, brownfield redevelopment and the never before used new market credit.

"That shows the length Detroit has to go to get a private investor to put up their own money," Anderson said.

Despite Michigan's sagging economy, the city's shrinking population and looming budget deficit, Anderson said downtown Detroit can continue to rebound.

"Detroit's biggest problem has not been the depressed Michigan economy," Anderson said.

"Detroit's biggest problem has been Detroit's economic, political, social and other problems. I see all the activity as a sign of optimism as Detroit is turning itself around."

Mixed-Use Complex Planned in Idaho

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A McCall hotelier has announced plans for a $25 million lakefront hotel, condo and retail project along the shore of Payette Lake.

But opponents say the 50-foot tall Grand Payette Hotel would be too high. With McCall considering an 18-month moratorium on tall buildings, it could be years before the project is built - if at all.

Bob Hunt, the owner of the local Holiday Inn Express, hopes to build on 1.75 acres he owns in the lakefront business district. He envisions a development that would include 81 guest rooms, 17 condominiums and 15,000 square feet of first-floor space for retail stores and restaurants.
City officials say Hunt may have to wait while the community reviews McCall's long-term comprehensive growth plan.

"The project only exists in Mr. Hunt's mind, because he has not applied for any permits," said McCall City Manager Lindley Kirkpatrick.
A local group contends it is not targeting Hunt's project specifically and opposes any increase in the height limit.

"My guess is that this is going to turn this town upside down," said Tuck Miller, a member of Save Our Skyline.
Miller said local residents have been fighting with the city council over height requirements for years, worried that McCall will see the kind of high-rise development being proposed elsewhere.

"Right now, Coeur d'Alene is considering an ordinance that would allow 220-foot building(s) along its lakefront," Miller said. "We want to send a message to people that says that's not what we're about in McCall."

Miller said opponents are planning a rally July 15 during which they will float 300 hot air balloons at various heights to demonstrate what McCall could look like if tall buildings were constructed.
Hunt said Save Our Skyline's limitations would "kill the project."

City officials say Hunt could receive a waiver from the existing ordinance as long as he complies with specific requirements, including that the first floor be exclusively retail, that the public have access to the lakefront and that there be an unobstructed view of the lakefront.
The city council reacted to Save Our Skyline's protest at the council's May 22 meeting by instructing the city staff to draft a moratorium on downtown construction that exceeds the 35-foot height limit.

The delay would give the city time to review its comprehensive plan for handling growth, said Roger Millar, McCall assistant city manager for development and infrastructure. The review could take 18 months, putting Hunt's project on hold at least that long, he said.

Millar said McCall will review the proposed moratorium at a July 11 meeting, and the City Council could approve the proposal sometime in August.
"But Hunt is in no hurry," Millar said. "He's indicated that he had no plans to file an application during the period when the comprehensive plan will be reviewed."

Hunt argues that "the benefits the city would get for the extra 15 feet would outweigh the impact."
"Right now, the only place to go is the Whitetail Lodge, and that's two miles west of town," he said. "Our greatest asset is the lake, and there's no other place for guests."

He said the opposition group "stormed" last month's City Council meeting but does not speak for the entire community.

"There are a lot of people who agree with me," Hunt said. "Right now, it's one percent of the people doing 99 percent of the yelling."

2006 Best Places to Work Award

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U.S. Condo Exchange nominated as a "Best Place to Work in South Florida"

 

"Good management and leadership have formed our entire team into a magnificent ball of positive energy, which makes each and every one of us go the extra mile for the good of the company"

US Condo Exchange Hires Real Estate Internet Marketing Expert as VP, Developer Sales - Developers Increasingly Turn to Internet for Sales

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Miami, Fla. -- US Condo ExchangeT, LLC, www.uscondex.com, a global advertising portal and international multiple listing service for condos today announced that Peter Stein has joined the company as Vice President of Developer Sales. Mr. Stein will serve as a liaison to developers, providing advertising services that reaches millions of condo buyers both domestically and internationally through the US Condo Exchange website. He brings nearly 20 years of technology and sales experience to the firm and is expected to play a key role in developer condo sales. Previously, Mr. Stein had extensive experience with real estate technology applications, providing developers with web based map applications similar to Google earth, but specific to real estate development; helping find land for acquisition and development opportunities.

 

"Mr. Stein brings together real estate experience with an entrepreneurial technology and internet marketing background, providing a perfect fit for US Condo Exchange," said Richard Swerdlow, Chief Executive Officer of US Condo Exchange.  "Having worked extensively with the development community in the past, we expect him to accelerate our momentum in helping developers transition to the internet to help sell condominium units."  

 

Prior to US Condo Exchange, Mr. Stein served as South East Regional Director of Sales for Digital Map Products, a California based map-technology firm that provided a web-based Geographical Information Systems (GIS) platform for the identification of land for potential development. He also capitalized on his extensive knowledge of the commercial real estate sector when previously working at Marcus and Millichap and Miami-based Vikor Group, LLC. At both firms, he focused on opportunistic land acquisitions using technology, including having created software for those purposes.

 

Previously, in 1999, Mr. Stein founded a successful internet venture, Web Genius Corp., a search engine optimization company focused on creating web traffic to his client's websites. The firm promoted some of the biggest web industry leaders including eBay, AT&T Wireless, Prudential Real Estate Worldwide and Hotels.com. Mr. Stein sold the company after establishing its market presence and a track record of success.  He received his B.A. in Business Marketing and Communications from Boston University in 1990.

 

 

US Condo Exchange, www.uscondex.com, is the global advertising portal and international multiple listing service for condos. US Condo Exchange currently has listed over 70,000 condos located in the U.S. and in 37 countries around the world, valued at over $30 billion. The website cost-effectively delivers unparalleled international exposure to developers, brokers and for-sale-by-owners through the seemless distribution of all its listings to a global network of real estate websites visited by over 15 million viewers per month. The US Condo Exchange also features a simple and automated self-listing process, as well as  website partnerships with major media companies to automate the listing of for-sale and for-rent condo ads.

 

Is it the End for Florida-the Sunshine state?

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Ginetta Vedrickas

 

The Sunshine State may be a favourite for us sun starved Brits, but many tour operators are reporting a downturn in holidays prompting price slashes. Some estate agents too are finding that sales are down so will Florida continue to attract the British market or is the love affair over?

 

Irish born Garrett Kenny moved to Orlando, Florida in 1996 where he runs Coldwell Banker Team Realty's Davenport branch. He too has found that sales, particularly of new build, have recently fallen: "Hurricanes have been a factor and have scared people away but it's really prices that are the chief reason. British buyers just can't afford to pay $350,000 for a property which they may use for just three or four weeks a year."

 

Kenny estimates that, on average, prices in his area have risen by around $100,000 over the last eighteen months with properties at the top end rising more steeply He cites his own house as a typical example: "I bought it in February 2005 for $845,000 and it's now on the market for $1.3 Million."  Kenny says that canny investment, mainly from British and Irish buyers, have caused new build sales to falter: "When developers are trying to sell the final properties within their developments they are competing with buyers who bought eighteen months ago. A builder may price their final homes at $390,000 but an investor who bought at the start of the project can sell on for $370,000 and still make a tidy profit."

 

Supply is also affecting the market: Coldwell Banker currently has around 250 properties for sale listed on their books, whilst listings usually hover at around one hundred. New build sales may have fallen but this is pushing British interest into other areas and Kenny recently sold twenty- four warehouse units for $260,000 with five-year leaseback terms mainly to Irish and British investors who are attracted to the potential of the long-term commercial market. "People are still moving to Florida and they need goods and services, hence the demand for commercial units."

 

British visitor figures may be down but Florida, and in particular Orlando, is still one of the most visited destinations in the world. In 1996, 48 million visitors flocked to the southern state but last year the figures rose to 82 million. Buyers looking for rental opportunities are commonly advised to buy no more than twenty minutes from the main parks in 'vacation zones' but anyone who isn't reliant on holiday rentals will pay less by buying in a 'residential zone' further out where they can still let the property on a long term basis. Coldwell Banker are selling villas in Lake Wales, thirty minutes south of Disney, where four bedroom detached houses cost $305,000. "You still get a lovely house and long term rentals are strong as so many people are moving here," Kenny advises.

 

The company recently branched out into fractional ownership to entice a sluggish British market, which seems currently unable, or unprepared, or to pay top prices. The first fractional ownership scheme to launch in 'the Sunshine State', buyers will have full legal title to 25% or 50% of the property and its rental income, at a fraction of the purchase cost. $65,000 buys a quarter share of a two-bedroom condominium at Orlando's Secret Lake, a development of eighty on Highway 192, just four miles from Disney and within easy commuting distance of major Orlando attractions. "Not only are the buying costs reduced in proportion to the level of ownership, but maintenance costs are also obviously shared accordingly. With four owners each promoting the property to friends and family, the rental occupancy is likely to be high. And to ensure that the scheme is hassle -free, we provide all buyers with a free management service for the first year," adds Kenny.

 

Buyer Dennis Wiseman from Nottingham has organised his own fractional ownership scheme by buying a new four bedroomed villa in Kissimmee with his brother and sister in law: "Neither of us could afford to buy a house on our own so we've decided to buy together which seemed to be the best solution. The dollar's pretty weak at the moment so we decided to go for it." The Wisemans paid �210,000 for their property and intend using it for as much of the year as possible: "Between us we've got five children ranging from two years up to fifteen in age and they all love the theme parks. Florida has always been our favourite place for holidays, we used to go there even before the children were born, and I'm sure we'll carry on enjoying it long after they've left home."

 

Dennis and wife Clare enjoy other aspects of central Orlando such as the great shopping, golf and the climate and they intend letting the property in the near future: "If we like it then I'm sure that others will too. Orlando gets tons of visitors from all over the world so we'll definitely rent it out but will start by renting to friends, family and colleagues and see how we get on." The couple believe that the house will prove to be a good investment: "We know that prices have gone up an awful lot in the last couple of years and probably won't rise as quickly in the near future. As more people move to Florida than leave, I'm sure that house prices won't fall. We're in this for the long term so minor fluctuations shouldn't affect us too much."

 

US Condo Exchange's Max Dalziel sells only condominiums, apartments or townhouses on developments which share communal facilities. He hasn't noticed a major downturn in sales and feels that, in comparison with stand-alone villas, condos offer value: "This way you're sharing the cost of the concierge, the pool etcetera so it works out a lot cheaper."  However, Dalziel describes the current situation as 'a stand off' as buyers seem unwilling to pay sellers' asking prices: "British buyers are now very sophisticated and are heavy internet users. They've done their research and know the market. Sellers are currently unwilling to reduce and buyers are unwilling to pay high prices. Like any market there are peaks and troughs but this is still one of the best -loved destinations in the world."

 

 

Developer Plans Hotel, Condominium Towers on Town Lake

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Shonda Novak

An Australian developer plans to build two skyscrapers, one a luxury condominium tower and one a hotel, anchoring a $250 million project that would transform the skyline along Town Lake downtown.

The project is slated for the southwest corner of Red River and East Cesar Chavez streets. Constellation Property Group has a contract to buy the three-acre site, across the street from the Austin Convention Center, from local developers Perry Lorenz and Robert Knight.

Constellation's condo and hotel towers each would be about 30 stories. The project also would include ground-floor retail and an office building of about eight stories.

Part of the land was once envisioned as the site of a headquarters for software maker Vignette Corp., but that project evaporated with the tech bust. In the past year, however, rising demand for downtown living has spurred new interest in property east of Congress Avenue.

The 13-story Milago condominiums on Rainey Street opened in May. Ardent Residential plans an apartment and condominium high-rise adjacent to the Four Seasons Hotel. High Street Residential is developing a 22-story condominium/hotel project at Red River and Davis streets.

Constellation President Eugene Marchese said he expects the land sale to close in September.

With the necessary zoning in place, construction could start in mid-2007 and take about three years to complete, said Chris White, senior associate for Marchese + Partners International Pty Ltd., which designs Constellation's condo projects.

White said the designs would involve slender towers built above a several-story podium level. The so-called point tower approach allows for high density without blocky, view-obliterating structures.

"They'll be pretty special buildings to anchor that end of downtown," Marchese said.

Marchese said Constellation is negotiating with two hotel operators but declined to identify them, citing confidentiality agreements.

Constellation has another ambitious project in the works, at the northeast corner of Interstate 35 and Riverside Drive. If the City Council approves a needed zoning change today, the company plans to start work soon on the complex, which will have four condominium buildings of descending heights, with an 18-story tower on Riverside and four-story buildings along the shore.

The new downtown project, tentatively named Red River, is bounded on the west by Waller Creek, where city officials are trying to revive plans for a flood control project. The goal is to open the door to development that could result in an Austin version of San Antonio's popular River Walk district of cafes, shops, hotels and other attractions.

Constellation plans to meet with the city next month to discuss Waller Creek upgrades, Marchese said.

"We're excited about what they're doing, and they're certainly going to be excited about what we're doing," Marchese said.

The site's proximity to Waller Creek was one of its selling points, White said.

"Certainly the activation of Waller Creek is a critical element to the success of (our) project and will really open that area up to the public," White said.

Mac Pike, chairman of the Sutton Co., an Austin-based real estate development company, agreed.

"It's a great site that our company has looked at over the years, and we think that a project such as Constellation's could transform that area into a very viable retail/mixed-use destination in downtown."

A collection of small buildings on the site would be razed for the project.

Constellation's project is one of more than a dozen residential projects planned or under construction downtown as the city works toward a goal of having 25,000 people living there in the next 10 years.

As with other downtown residential projects, it costs to live in a vertical neighborhood. Marchese said one-bedroom units could start at about $350,000; two-bedroom units could start between $400,000 and $500,000; and units on the upper floors could range from $1.5 million to $2 million.

Austin is one of four U.S. cities in which Constellation has acquired land for condominium developments. The others are Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego.

Marchese founded Constellation 12 years ago in Sydney and has developed about 10,000 condominium units in Australia, he said.

Palm Springs, Calif., Hotel Sells, $50Mln Renovation Planned

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By Jillian S. Ambroz

The Palm Springs Riviera Resort & Racquet Club hotel in Palm Springs, Calif., has just traded hands and is getting a $50 million makeover.

A venture between Phoenix firm HBF Holdings LLC and Noble House Hotels & Resorts acquired the property last month for $25 million from Carpenters Pension Trust. The deal was brokered by Atlas Hospitality Group of Costa Mesa, Calif.

RockBridge Capital of Columbus, Ohio, is believed to have provided acquisition financing. Details could not be learned. RockBridge is also said to be involved in providing financing for the renovation as well.

The new owners have some big plans for the hotel, which in its heyday served the likes of the Rat Pack, a long list of U.S. presidents, and even the King himself, Elvis Presley.

The venture is looking to bring the property back to its original grandeur and raise the caliber of the boutique hotel to that of a four-star or four-diamond property. It also plans to add a residential component to the 21-acre site.

For starters, the venture plans to slash the number of hotel rooms to 400 from 476 to employ some larger suites and different room lay-outs. It will also completely reconfigure the public areas, redoing the lobby and adding a couple of bars. There's even talk of adding a bowling alley to the lobby.

The hotel has 50,000 square feet of meeting space. The new owners may convert the smallest ballroom, about 5,500 sf, into a spa.

HBF and Noble are contemplating getting a change-of-use permit to allow for a residential condominium development on the five-acre back parcel of the property. That area holds tennis courts, an 18-hole putting golf course and the former Bono's restaurant, previously owned by the late Sonny Bono. The size and scale of that project could not be learned.

There had been talk of franchising the hotel under a national flag, such as Sheraton or Intercontinental. But it will remain independent and operated by Noble House, which is based in Bellevue, Wash.

The hotel, which sits at 1600 North Indian Canyon Drive, is one of the few properties in the area owned fee-simple. Much of the property in the area is operated on ground leases with Native American groups that own the land beneath them.

The hotel closed at the end of May for renovations. It is slated to re-open about 18 months from now.

Condo plans Christen Colfax project

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By Margaret Jackson

Len Goldberg will break ground Thursday on the first condominium project under Denver's Main Street zoning plan.

The Blueprint project on East Colfax Avenue at Madison Street has 39 condominiums priced from around $150,000 to $400,000. The building, expected to be completed next summer, will have ground-floor retail, perhaps a market.

The building will provide a driver, a concierge and dog-walking services. Goldberg also plans to give Vespa scooters to condo buyers.

"I'm going to try to bring more of a New York-style of living with some of the amenities I'm offering," said Goldberg, head of Place LLC.

The Main Street plan covers properties along Colfax from Sherman to Albion streets. It is designed to encourage developers to place parking lots behind developments and requires storefronts to be along the sidewalk and have a certain amount of window space.

"I've always liked the diverse nature of Colfax," Goldberg said. "There's good and bad, but I just felt change would come sooner rather than later."

Tharaldson Purchases Vegas Casino Parcel, Plans Mixed-Use Project

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By JENNIFER ROBISON

Just months after it bought the Westward Ho on the Strip, Centex Destination Properties has ceded most of the property to a partner involved in the purchase.

And plans for the site have shifted from a high-rise condominium project to a $1.8 billion mixed-use resort tentatively set to include 1,000 condominium-hotel units, 600 residential condominiums, a 600-room hotel, an 80,000-square-foot casino and 200,000 square feet of retail.

"It sort of goes along with what everyone else is doing, with what the Stardust is planning next door (with the $4 billion Echelon Place) and what MGM (Mirage) is doing (with the $7 billion Project CityCenter)," said Gary Tharaldson of the Tharaldson Cos., a North Dakota business that is the new majority owner of the Westward Ho site. "It's the only use you can build when you pay the kind of money we paid."

Centex Destination Properties and Tharaldson bought the Westward Ho parcel together for $145.5 million in September, with Centex as the managing partner. Centex Destination Properties is a subsidiary of publicly traded Centex Corp., a Texas home builder with a market capitalization of nearly $6 billion and $14 billion a year in sales.

In March, a separate Tharaldson business shelled out $170 million to buy all but one acre of the 15-acre plot. Centex continues to own the one-acre sliver that Tharaldson didn't buy.

David Atwell, a real estate broker specializing in properties on and around the Strip, said the land's location could boost its prospects.

"It's dynamite. It's between two major hotels," Atwell said. "They're not making any more Strip property. It's like having gold bars in the bank."

Tharaldson said he wasn't sure when construction on the now-vacant Westward Ho site would begin.

However, he said he was readying plans for county approval and preparing for the construction-permitting process. He noted that it took two years to finish planning and development paperwork and begin construction on the Bond, a five-story, 118-unit timeshare a Tharaldson affiliate is building near Russell Road and Interstate 15. The Bond is scheduled to open in 2007.

Tharaldson said he will finance the construction of the Westward Ho land's condominiums through his existing business.

Because he hasn't owned a gaming property before, Tharaldson said he's considering a joint venture on the casino with an experienced industry operator. If he strikes such an agreement, Tharaldson said, he'll seek casino-construction funds from institutional investors and banks on Wall Street.

The 24-year-old Tharaldson Cos. encompasses a multitude of businesses. A development division builds hotels, while a property management entity operates 355 hotels with 6,000 rooms in 36 states under nameplates such as Marriott's Residence Inn, Courtyard and Fairfield Inn brands and Hilton's Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites concepts. Tharaldson has also built and operated Holiday Inn Express and Comfort Inn properties.

In Las Vegas, Tharaldson developed four hotels clustered around Russell and Interstate 15: Las Vegas Courtyard, Las Vegas Fairfield Inn & Suites, Las Vegas Holiday Inn Express and Las Vegas Residence Inn.

On March 31 -- the same day Tharaldson closed on its majority takeover of the Westward Ho property -- Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds bought 130 Tharaldson hotels for $1.2 billion. Tharaldson said Whitehall is under contract to buy 10 more of the company's properties.

Whitehall, a Goldman Sachs-managed real-estate investment firm, has retained Tharaldson as the hotels' property manager.

Tharaldson is also slowly unloading its ownership interest in Urban Village, a mixed-use project that Centex Destination Properties is developing on Las Vegas Boulevard South near Cactus Avenue.

Urban Village will include about 2,700 homes. C.J. Julin, vice president of marketing for Centex Destination Properties, said it will also have a "resort-style amenity and club" and commercial space with restaurants, entertainment and retail. Centex officials haven't yet planned the size and design of Urban Village's commercial space.

"With I-15 right there and a large part of the Las Vegas market being from Southern California, the access point with the Cactus interchange that's going to be put in is exciting," Julin said. "We're not going to have a casino, but casino developers are in that area, and with the proposed airport location (in Ivanpah), the South Strip is really a great place to have a development in Las Vegas. We're excited about the opportunity we have down there."

Tharaldson assembled the 48.6-acre Urban Village site in 2004 for about $71 million, Clark County Assessor records show.

Tharaldson said he has sold about 30 percent of the site to Centex, and will spin off the rest of the property to the home builder as it builds out the land.

Julin said company officials shifted their efforts from the Westward Ho parcel to the Urban Village project because Urban Village is further along in the development process and will enable Centex to sell homes sooner.

The company is already accepting reservations for its four-story brownstones, which will range from 870 square feet to 1,805 square feet and are priced from $375,000 to $795,000. Grading on the site began in May, and residents will move in about two years from now.

By contrast, it could take up to three years to obtain plan approvals and building permits on a high-rise condominium tower, and an additional two years to build the property. That places residential occupancy about half a decade away.

Tharaldson said investors frown on publicly traded companies that hold undeveloped land for several years, and the pressure to "turn their money every four to six months" led Centex officials to approach him about buying most of their share of the Westward Ho acreage so they could focus on Urban Village.

"Wall Street doesn't like the time it takes to build a high-rise," Tharaldson said.

Julin declined to discuss any profit Centex made on flipping its Westward Ho holdings.

But Tharaldson said the $24.5 million difference in the property's purchase and sale prices likely wasn't the quick profit it looks to be on paper.

First, while the Centex purchase closed in September, the sale price was likely negotiated several months earlier, he said. Thus, it took well over six months for the price to jump from $145.5 million to $170 million.

Second, Centex demolished the 700-room Westward Ho.

"Centex tore the building down and incurred some additional costs during that period," Tharaldson said. "It's not all profit."

Atwell agreed.

"Any time you can sell for more than you paid, it's worthwhile, but I think this was more a prearranged deal for (Centex)," Atwell said. "I don't think anyone walked away making a lot of money on it."

Tharaldson said that though he's committed now to building his mixed-use resort, he wouldn't rule out selling the land if its value jumped significantly.

"You've always got to be taking a look at what your best options are," he said. "If prices continue to rise, the nice thing is, you always have the option of exchanging it for something else. I think you've always got to keep your options open. But from the day I bought it, it had casino rights, and I was going to figure out a way to do that part of it."

Demonbreun condos in works

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By CHAS SISK

A Music Row developer is planning a 14-story condominium and retail project on Demonbreun Street a block east of the roundabout.

Jim Caden has proposed 106 condos and 5,300 square feet of retail space next door to the strip of shops and restaurants that he built on the 1500 block of Demonbreun four years ago. City officials have approved designs.

Units in the development, called The Rhythm at Music Row, will sell for $230,000 to $600,000. With units ranging in size from 780 square feet to 1,440 square feet, the project is meant to be an alternative to similarly priced developments in the Gulch and elsewhere in town.

"This is attractively priced for young professionals," Caden said.

The building will stand on the north side of Demonbreun, on the site of the headquarters of Nashville Lifestyles magazine and an adjacent parking lot. It's just down the block from the Two Doors Down sports bar, The Tin Roof nightspot and other restaurants and clubs.

It joins a wave of development along Demonbreun, which city officials are trying to promote as an arts district.

"It's showing that midtown, downtown is coming back," said John Eakin, a Nashville developer who is working on an office, retail and condo project nearby.

Wakefield Beasley & Associates, a Norcross, Ga.-based architecture firm, designed the building, which will feature a three-story parking garage, a swimming pool and other amenities typical of downtown Nashville condominiums.

Financing for the $30 million project is still being finalized, but Caden and his partner, Nashville developer and former fast-food franchisee Rhett Smith, expect to start reserving units July 15.

Construction could start as early as this fall. Caden and Smith hope to open in 2008.

Building to Become Condos Chicago Firm to Convert Waukesha Apartments

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By TOM DAYKIN

An apartment complex in downtown Waukesha has been sold to a Chicago development firm, which plans to convert the rental units into condominiums, it was announced Thursday.

The Landing, which has 116 units at 100 E. Main St., was purchased by Tria Properties LLC for $12.3 million, said Matthew Whiteside of Marcus &

Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co. Whiteside brokered the sale.

Tria Properties plans to sell the units for around $160 per square foot, or roughly $114,900 to $206,900, said Alex Gershbeyn, Tria's owner.

The Landing is the first Milwaukee-area development for Tria.

The Landing's one-bedroom units range from 718 to 811 square feet, and the two-bedroom units have 1,042 to 1,293 square feet. The apartments currently rent for $725 to $1,260 a month.

The Landing was sold by Waukesha developer Bryce Styza, who completed the project in 2002.

The four-story building overlooks the Fox River and includes an indoor swimming pool and spa, underground parking, meeting room, fitness center and washers and dryers in every unit.

The development becomes the latest in a series of Milwaukee-area apartment communities, totaling nearly 800 units, that are being converted to condos.

Demand for the condos is largely fueled by consumer mortgage interest rates that remain relatively low.

The projects include the 275-unit Landmark on the Lake apartments, 1660 N. Prospect Ave., which are being converted by Chicago-based NVG Residential Inc., and the 169-unit Blatz Apartments, 270 E. Highland Ave., which are being converted by local investors Fiduciary Real Estate Development Inc. and Ruvin Development Inc.

Hypo Real Estate Syndicates Vegas Condo Loan

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June 26, 2006

Hypo Real Estate Capital Corp. has completed syndicating $121.3 million in construction financing on the Sky Las Vegas residential condominium property on the Las Vegas strip. Hypo, last year, had provided $216.3 million in financing to Sky Las Vegas Condominium Inc. for the property's development, which is expected to cost $325 million to complete. Sky Las Vegas is owned by David Pourbaba, M. Aaron Yashouafar and Solyman Yashouafar. The 44-story property will have 405 upscale condo units, 43,500 square feet of retail space and a parking capacity of 702 vehicles. It sits near the Circus Circus Hotel on the Vegas strip. When construction started last year, the units were 75 percent pre-sold.

The Two Towers

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By :HUGH R. MORLEY

Two 500-foot towers with 901 housing units will rise above the Jersey City waterfront as a more affordable alternative to Manhattan, two developers announced Wednesday.

Red Bank's K. Hovnanian and Chicago-based Equity Residential said they each will build a tower on a 1.76-acre parcel bought from Hartz Mountain Industries of Secaucus for $70 million.

The two will target different markets. Hovnanian will build 420 condominiums, mostly one- and two-bedroom apartments. At the lower end, studios are expected to sell for $300,000. And a small number of penthouses will go for $2 million.

Equity Residential's tower will contain 481 apartments. Studios will likely rent for upward of $1,900 and two-bedroom units will probably go for more than $3,000, the company said.

The towers are scheduled to be completed in spring 2009.

Both developers said they expect considerable demand for the units, despite indications that the real estate market is slowing down.

"We believe it will appeal to working professionals seeking proximity to Manhattan, without Manhattan prices," said Megumi Brod, an Equity Residential vice president.

She said it is too early to say how much cheaper the New Jersey units would be than those in New York. But Hovnanian said it expects the condominiums to be 40 percent to 60 percent cheaper than comparable apartments across the Hudson River. The company said that's one reason it is bullish on New Jersey's residential market, especially along the Hudson County water-front.

Another reason is a trend of suburbanites moving to the city, including many older couples whose children have left home, said Randy Brosseau, Hovnanian's area vice president.

"They no longer need the larger residence," he said.

"And they are looking to downsize and have a terrific access to the city in a terrific new modern condo or town home.

At the same time, he added, Jersey City has become a more attractive place to live.

"We have reached a tipping point," he said.

"We see a lot of improvement in retail and lifestyle, and it's generally a much better place to live now than it was 20 years ago, even five years ago."

Still, there is plenty of local competition for buyers. Just a few blocks away, Donald Trump is building more than 850 up-market units in two towers.

Farther north along the coast, Hovnanian this weekend will begin selling 268 loft apartments and 68 town houses that the company is building in West New York, among several other projects under construction on the waterfront.

Scott Selleck, a broker at NJ Gold Coast Real Estate in West New York, noted that the Montgomery Green condominiums nearby has yet to sell out.

"It's a risky situation," he said. "There is a possibility of oversupply. It may be difficult to move those condos."

He said there is a big demand for rental units in that area, however.

Hartz Mountain said it had planned to build offices on the site since 1999.

James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, said: "It doesn't seem as if there is a need for new office construction along the waterfront."

In contrast, the high residential prices in Manhattan have created a significant spillover demand in Jersey City, as people look for cheaper alternatives, he said.

Noting that the Trump building is nearby, Hughes said:

"It's going to be competitive, probably. But it suggests there is a new confidence on the waterfront that it is now a viable, established market for residences."

LeBron offers new digs

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By JAY MILLER

LeBron James' business team came through with a big win today for the Glenville neighborhood on Cleveland's East Side.

To a standing-room crowd of about 150 people packed into a tent in the pouring rain, the Cavaliers basketball star unveiled Parkside Townhomes. It's a $4.7 million, 20-unit strip of upscale condominiums at East 101st Street and Superior Avenue that LRMR Development Co. - the company Mr. James is helping to bankroll - is building.

Mr. James described the effort as "bringing good things to the 'hood."

The first phase of the townhomes will be available in the fall. Prices for the 2,000-square-foot-plus units will range from $260,000 to $325,000.

"We never had an opportunity when we were growing up to have people put up three-bathroom, three-bedroom houses" in our neighborhood, marveled Mr. James. "It was one bedroom, one bathroom, one door."

While it was Mr. James' drawing power that brought the crowd to Glenville and the wealth he has generated as a basketball player that was important to making the project happen, the basketball phenomenon credited his partners and friends, especially Glenville native Richard Paul, with making the project happen.

"We're four young men determined to making this a better place for the people of Akron and Cleveland," said Mr. Paul, a graduate of Benedictine High School.

LRMR Development is a company comprised of Messrs. James and Paul, as well as Randy Mims and Maverick Carter. Messrs. James and Carter were high school basketball teammates. Mr. Mims is a James family friend and Mr. Paul met Mr. James when they were in high school.

In addition to LRMR, financial partners in the deal are National City Bank, National City Development Corp. and the city of Cleveland's Housing Trust Fund. The homes also will be eligible for 15-year tax abatement.

$143M Converts Metropolitan Into Condos

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By Bonnie Grota

CHICAGO-A-$142 million construction loan has been awarded to Louis D. D'Angelo of Metropolitan Properties of Chicago LLC, for the condominium conversion of the 30-story office building and adjacent eight-story building at 310-318 S. Michigan Ave. The two properties will be converted into 248 condominium units.

The 310 building is known as Metropolitan Tower and was built in 1924. It was designed by the architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. When the repositioning is complete, the tower will offer 242 units and four floor plans with varying finishes and price points. The second building, known as Richelieu Flats, will be developed into a six-unit condominium tower. Plans call for the conservation of the building's fa�ade and front one-third of the heavy timber building. Floors one and two will be retail, while floors three through seven will be converted to 2,600-sf, three-bedroom, 3.5-bath condominium units. Each of these condominiums will have its own three-car garage. Floors seven and eight will be combined into a single 6,600-sf. unit. Once finished, amenities will include a 24-hour doorman, a fitness center, event room, secure parking, receiving room, indoor bike storage and dry cleaning pick-up service.

The structures are located in the South Michigan Boulevard Historic District, which was established by the City of Chicago in 2002. The district extends from 11th Street on the south to Randolph Street on the north. The Michigan Avenue "Streetwall" of historic properties date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The historic designation will prevent future building demolition in the immediate neighborhood for new development.

Beacon Realty Capital Inc. arranged financing for the project, and Babcock & Brown provided $26.5 million in mezzanine debt. Fremont Investment & Loan provided the construction loan. Scott Manlin, vice president and regional manager at Fremont, says that to structure the loan the firm underwrote the real estate as well as the issues surrounding adaptive re-use of historic buildings. Fremont then created a loan for a project that includes two historic properties, according to Manlin.

Crescent Fires Up $125M Residential Project

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By Connie Gore

DALLAS-With the Ritz-Carlton flag flying over the Uptown development, Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. will break ground in early 2007 on a $125-million second phase with 96 condos in a 23-story tower and four Regency Row homes alongside. And when that's nearly sold out, there's a three-acre block for a third residential phase.

"It is possible," Ken Moczulski, managing director of investments for the Fort Worth-based Crescent, tells GlobeSt.com about the widely rumored third phase. "We're going to wait and see how sales go for phase two."

The second phase, being assigned Pearl Street addresses, will go up on 5.5 acres beside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, a 217-room project being topped off with 70 condos that will be delivering in third quarter 2007. The first phase of residential space, averaging 2,900 sf per condo, in the Crescent-dominated Uptown core has 63 units sold and letters of intent in hand for three more, according to Moczulski.

Moczulski says the same sales team will be handling phase two, marketing units from $700,000 to $8 million. Condos, ranging from $500 per sf to $1,000 per sf, will average 2,100 sf in one-, two- and three-bedroom designs. Touted as Upper East End product, the Regency Row houses will average 7,000 sf and be tagged for sale at $6 million to $8 million. "We've got people on the list for Regency Row already," he says. "They will be little jewel boxes and they will be priced like a jewel box."

Moczulski says the schedule calls for a June 24 launch of the "Ritz-Carlton Village" website and accepting letters of intent after Labor Day. He says firm contracts will be in hand by Nov. 1 so ground can break shortly after the new year begins. The expectation is second phase presales will follow that of the first, with construction launching at the 40% sold mark. Likewise, a third phase could be ramped up if the second round matches the first--75% sold within six months, he says.

Crescent's residential units have broken all records in the region. "It's a combination of location, architecture, the Ritz-Carlton lifestyle and Crescent, the largest owner in Dallas and Houston, is really standing behind this project," Moczulski says. "That's why we've been able to exceed all the pricing levels historically in Dallas." The reality is the condos in the second phase will average $750 per sf.

Moczulski says Oct. 15 to Nov. 1 has been targeted to firm up construction pricing, secure financing and line up the general contractor. The Cleveland-based KeyBank financed the first phase and will be at the head of line for phase two financing, he says.

The tower and row homes, carrying a fall 2008 completion, were designed by renowned architect Robert A.M. Stern with interiors by Sherry Hayslip of Dallas. A second-floor skywalk will link the tower to the hotel, with all residents having full access to the built-in amenity base. The interior of the second phase's tract will have a resort-style swimming pool, English Gardens and dog-walking garden.

"It is exciting to now have phase II available to potential homeowners, adding value and convenience to the perfectly located Residences neighborhood," John C. Goff, Crescent's vice chairman and CEO, says in a press release. The second phase's developer and owner is Crescent Tower Residential LP whereas the first phase's is Crescent Plaza Residential LP.

Upper West Side Condo Secures Financing

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By Barbara Jarvie

NEW YORK CITY-Anbau Enterprises has secured a mezzanine loan for the construction of a residential condominium on the Upper West Side. The firm plans to begin construction on the $52-million effort later this summer.

The site is located at 120 West 72nd St. between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues. The development will have less than 30 units. Initial residences scheduled for delivery in late 2007. The 60,000-sf, 16-story building will have a 4,000-sf first floor commercial space and a residents' recreational center located at the garden level. GoldenTree InSite Partners provided the mezzanine part. Senior financing was provided by Fremont Investment & Loan.

"The Upper West Side contains some of the most desirable apartments in New York City and our site is less than a block and a half from Central Park," explains Stephen Glascock, president of Anbau. "Our building's unique facade will have a mixture of brick and bay windows and will possess an architectural character that will complement the surrounding neighborhood."

Glascock points out that the site will have easy access to transportation, plus a 24-hour doorman and 10-ft ceiling heights. The development will have a combination of two-bedroom units as well as full-floor units.

Locally based Anbau is headed up by principals Glascock and Barbara van Beuren. Anbau is German for "to add onto."

GoldenTree was formed a year ago as a joint venture between founding partners Tom Shapiro and Joshua Pristaw and GoldenTree Asset Management. GoldenTree InSite Partners pursues value-added real estate opportunities through direct equity investment and mezzanine lending activities. GoldenTree manages $4.5 billion of absolute return assets and has total assets under management exceeding $7 billion.

Condo Conversion Gets $27M in Financing

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By Natalie Keith

DADELAND, FL-Palmetto Towers Group LLC has secured more than $27 million in financing for a condominium conversion project at Palmetto Towers, a 158-unit project. The two towers are located in an infill area that is currently being redeveloped with a variety of residential, retail and mixed-use projects under way.

Charles Foschini, senior director of CBRE/Melody's South Florida office and Christian Lee, executive vice president of CB Richard Ellis' Institutional Group arranged financing through a regional bank of behalf of. Foschini tells GlobeSt.com that the financing will cover the acquisition costs and the costs to convert the property to condominiums.

The project is being undertaken by Hector Hernandez, of the Miami-based American Conversion & Development Group. Hernandez typically develops affordable housing properties that quality for FHA loans and sell for $400,000 or less. "[Hernandez] just closed on the loan within the past few weeks. He usually starts construction with six months of closing on the loan," Foschini says.

Palmetto Towers is located in an area known as the Dadeland Triangle which is close to the Dadeland Mall. "This is one of the premier bedroom communities in the Miami area," Foschini notes.

Fred Segal Plans 100,000-SF Store for W Las Vegas

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By Brian K. Miller

LAS VEGAS-Fred Segal will be the feature fashion destination at W Las Vegas, the 24-acre near-strip resort being developed by Edge Resorts LLC and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. The Los Angeles-based provider of hip clothing and salon services will anchor the $2.5-billion development with a 100,000-sf store.

W Las Vegas will rise where the Ice nightclub currently sits at Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane, one block east of the Aladdin Resort and Casino. The project is slated to break ground next year and open in 2009 with 4,000 hotel, hotel-condo and pure residential units; 10 restaurants, bars, lounges and nightclubs; 300,000 sf of meeting space; a 75,000-sf casino; a Bliss Spa; a theater and show venue and an undetermined amount of retail space.

For-sale units will range from 500 sf to 3,000 sf in size. The early asking price for the smallest units is $550,000, or $1,100 per sf. Residences will go on sale to the public in mid-2006. Notable names that have reserved residences include Dave Navarro and Carmen Electra, Anne Heche, Paris Hilton, football star Ahman Green and poker pro Phil Hellmuth.

"When we started planning the W Las Vegas, we imagined Fred Segal not just as our ideal retail partner, but the ideal idea," says Edge Group co-chairman Reagan Silber. "The Fred Segal brand is more than retail--it is a lifestyle."

Fred Segal opened his first store in 1958 and Segal's family members--CEO Michael Segal and store owners Sharon and Nina Segal and Judy and Annie Segal--have helped to expand the chain to 40 locations, anchored by its destination location in Santa Monica.

Edge Group LLC is a development and investment company formed in 2004 by principals Trevor Pearlman, Reagan Silber and Adam Frank to focus on real estate and gaming primarily in the Las Vegas market. The company owns a 75% stake in W Las Vegas and Starwood owns the remainder.

Earlier this month, Edge Group acquired 24-acres adjacent to the W Las Vegas site from Centra Properties, who with Related Las Vegas had planned to develop an 11-tower development called Las Ramblas that at one time counted actor George Clooney as an investor. The developers cited rising construction costs and slowing sales as reasons for selling the site.

Edge Group president Adam Frank told GlobeSt.com at the time of the acquisition that the plan is to complement W Las Vegas by developing the site with a large central casino and retail hub surrounded by a number of different hotel brands that spill into the hub. In addition, Frank says the master plan for Edge East will include pedestrian connections between it, W Las Vegas and possibly with the Hard Rock as well, which Peter Morton is in the process of selling to Morgan's Hotel Group. The project likely will get under way before W Las Vegas is complete, Frank says.

Centra reportedly spent $85 million, or $3.6 million per acre, assembling the various parcels of land that included the 996-unit Harbor Island apartments 56 additional fourplex units. Edge Group paid $8 million an acre for the property. Frank says it's already worth "considerably more than that" and, when the Harmon Corridor is built out in four years, "the pricing will be very much like the Strip," where land has been selling for between $20 million and $24 million an acre.

In May, Edge Group tapped local casino-resort builder M.J. Dean Construction as the general contractor for W Las Vegas. M.J. Dean has managed the development of some 18 hotel-casino projects, including Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo, Luxor, Circus Circus and Hard Rock. The firm also has on its resume high-rise, for-sale residential developments such as Sky Las Vegas and the Panorama Towers.

Condo Life in the Magic City at the Crossroads of a Major Boom

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Look up and what do you see? In the Magic City it's the blue sky of Florida sunshine fame and a flock of cranes, the tall construction types, thrusting higher and higher intent on caressing the Moon over Miami. The excitement of stunning condos reaching for the sky - in competition for your attention akin a beauty contest, and dazzling you with architectural excellence - confirms the condo lifestyle in Miami has a bright future. Grand Lifestyle Publisher offers condo seekers the overwhelming choices in one location - the online "Directory of Miami's New Condominium Projects" at miamiMagic.net and "Miami Condo News" offering the latest news and information on condo life in the Magic City. "We designed the directory with one important objective - offer practical and comprehensive information that allows the directory visitor to view the details of condo projects in the Miami area without being burdened with visits to numerous websites," explains Dr. Heinz Dinter, computer technology entrepreneur turned author and publisher, creator of the directory, and Grand Lifestyle's publisher. "We focused on easing the daunting task of taking a close look at the many new condo projects in the Magic City and present news about condo living in the Magic City." Directory entries contain the following: Up to four enlargeable graphic images of the condominium project; text describing the project; the address of the project; an enlargeable map displaying the project's neighborhood; the ability to establish directions to the project using MapQuest; a link to the project's website; telephone number and email address; and link icons to articles in the Miami Condo News online news journal covering additional information. Miami Condo News focuses on news relating to Miami's condo living and presents profiles of prominent persons instrumental in creating the Magic City's future. An additional helpful source of information is the Miami Points of Interest online directory accessible via miamiMagic.net. Miami is in the midst of a major building explosion - especially new condos - and will certainly bring thousands of new residents to the Magic City. Johnny Winton, a member of the Miami City Commission, spoke of the city fathers' look into the future: "Cities like Manhattan, Boston, San Francisco - these are the examples we are using to move our downtown forward," adding that some 90,000 housing units are in various stages of construction citywide. Mayor Manny Diaz referred to the building trend as an overall healthy sign for the city: "There is a lot of pent-up demand from people who want to move into the urban core." "By 2010, 40 percent of the population of Florida will live in a condo or homeowner association environment," forecasts Julio Robaina, state representative and committee chairman of the House Select Committee on Condominium Association Governance. "This isn't small potatoes."

JV Trips Green Light for $100M-Plus Project

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DALLAS-With two years invested into the planning, Lincoln Property Co. and Corrigan Properties Inc. are ready to forge ahead on a 445,000-sf trophy for the heart of Uptown. The trigger was pulled with the signing of a 100,000-sf headquarters lease by Texas Capital Bank.

The 2.9-acre tract's long been a favorite subject of Uptown brokers and market watchers who've waited for Lincoln to give the nod to its build-out. With the Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Residences going up right next door, all it took was the right lead tenant to get the project off the drawing board. Bob Mohr with Dallas-based Mohr Partners Inc. has been courting the Texas Capital Bank deal to developers and owners for roughly 15 months. The bank now headquarters at 2100 McKinney Ave. In addition, Lincoln plans to take down 60,000 sf for its headquarters, now at 3300 Lincoln Plaza in North Dallas, Jeff Montgomery for the Dallas-based Lincoln tells GlobeSt.com.

The 20-story office tower and abutting six-story condo building, designed by HKS Inc. of Dallas, will break ground in October. Delivery is planned for first quarter 2008.

A condo building, with 20 to 30 units, will front the proposed Woodall Rodgers park, which is being mapped out as a Central Park-type footprint to link Uptown and Downtown. Montgomery says talks are under way with several restaurateurs for a street-level signature to the condo building. Likewise, operators are in talks for a second restaurant opening in the office tower.

Lincoln's Elliot Priuer, Lee Nix and Montgomery are steering the preleasing campaign, quoting $33 per sf to $35 per sf for office space. "We have some pretty good activity," Montgomery says, adding that the 25,500-sf top floor is still available.

DALLAS-With two years invested into the planning, Lincoln Property Co. and Corrigan Properties Inc. are ready to forge ahead on a 445,000-sf trophy for the heart of Uptown. The trigger was pulled with the signing of a 100,000-sf headquarters lease by Texas Capital Bank.

The 2.9-acre tract's long been a favorite subject of Uptown brokers and market watchers who've waited for Lincoln to give the nod to its build-out. With the Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Residences going up right next door, all it took was the right lead tenant to get the project off the drawing board. Bob Mohr with Dallas-based Mohr Partners Inc. has been courting the Texas Capital Bank deal to developers and owners for roughly 15 months. The bank now headquarters at 2100 McKinney Ave. In addition, Lincoln plans to take down 60,000 sf for its headquarters, now at 3300 Lincoln Plaza in North Dallas, Jeff Montgomery for the Dallas-based Lincoln tells GlobeSt.com.

The 20-story office tower and abutting six-story condo building, designed by HKS Inc. of Dallas, will break ground in October. Delivery is planned for first quarter 2008.

A condo building, with 20 to 30 units, will front the proposed Woodall Rodgers park, which is being mapped out as a Central Park-type footprint to link Uptown and Downtown. Montgomery says talks are under way with several restaurateurs for a street-level signature to the condo building. Likewise, operators are in talks for a second restaurant opening in the office tower.

Lincoln's Elliot Priuer, Lee Nix and Montgomery are steering the preleasing campaign, quoting $33 per sf to $35 per sf for office space. "We have some pretty good activity," Montgomery says, adding that the 25,500-sf top floor is still available.

Three Projects Added to Miami River Pipeline

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Three projects are about to join the approximately 16,000 residential units under construction or in the pipeline along the Miami River.
   "This city has its own jewel, the Miami River, and it was only a matter of time before it would be escalated to its proper place," said Lissette Calderon, CEO of Neo Epoch whose Neo Vertika and Neo Lofts projects were among the first along the waterway. "It only made sense seeing the public sector's commitment, for example, in terms of dredging and the river walk for us in the private sector to complement it with a residential component.
   "Now that our fourth project has launched, it's an honor to be credited with the Miami River's renaissance although it was not only us but also the visionaries that believed in what we were doing," she said.
   The Miami River area is broken into three sections: downtown, from Biscayne Bay to the Northwest Fifth Street Bridge; residential, from the bridge to Northwest 22nd Avenue; and shipping and marine industrial, west of 22nd Avenue. Residential projects are concentrated in the downtown and residential sections. The residential section includes historic neighborhoods and parks, where one project is planned.
   Miami River Place, 710-720 NW North River Dr., is to include 16 condos and 36 parking spaces and stand five stories. The project is awaiting a Class II building permit. The project received approval from the Miami River Commission in an 11-2 vote, with board members Ernie Martin and Sally Jude dissenting.
   "In Spring Garden, a day before we held the meeting, I met with the architects and attorney Mario Garcia-Serra," said Mr. Martin, "and they made the presentation on the project, and I thought it was a good project.
   "But the Spring Garden association was angry about construction being done in the neighborhood and with all the dust, noise and dirt. So our neighborhood association did not support the project, and I voted against it," Mr. Martin said.
   Ms. Jude, who represents East Little Havana, said she dissented out of concern for the historic character of her neighborhood. "The quality of life changes once projects start to build in area close to an historic neighborhood," she said.
   The Historic and Environmental Preservation Board and the Urban Development Review Board must approve the project before a permit is granted, said Mario Garcia-Serra, attorney representing developer Ward International Trading Company LLC.
   City commissioners approved Neo Epoch's fourth project, Cima, for a major use special permit in December 2004. Cima is a 52-story luxury-condo project with 507 units planned for Northwest Third Street and South Miami Avenue. Construction is scheduled to begin in November.
   Cima is a part of River Front, a planned gated community along the river that is to include six high-rise condominiums with nearly 2,000 residential units, more than 60,000 square feet of retail space and 200,000 square feet of office space.
   "In Spanish, 'cima' translates to 'the summit' or 'the top,'" said Ms. Calderon. "I see Cima as the ultimate living experience. It epitomizes every aspect of luxury, with every unit oriented in such a way as to afford inspiring views of the Miami River, Biscayne Bay and the Miami skyline."
   Prices in Cima range from $460,000 to $850,000.
   The Miami River Rapids mixed-use development recently gained unanimous support from the river commission. The next step for a major use special permit is approval from Miami's zoning board and the City Commission. The planning and zoning board approved the project June 7.
   Miami River Rapids, planned for 1701, 1801, 1825 and 1851 Delaware Parkway and 2990 NW South River Dr., includes four buildings ranging from 134 feet to 153 feet in height, 1,590 units, 65,852 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 2,200 parking spaces.
   Owner of the property is A+ Mini Storage Airport East LLC. The principal is Mike Nunez. He was unavailable for comment.

Inman Real Estate News - 'Freaky' side of real estate economics

Inman Real Estate News - 'Freaky' side of real estate economics

You'll Always Have Paris

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PARIS does funny things to people. Imagine, for example, crawling off an airplane, making your way across the city with a bad case of jet lag and waking up the next day to find that you are the new owner of some stranger's apartment in the 17th Arrondissement.

That would be where, exactly? And how much did it cost again?

"It happened so fast," said Deviyani Nautiyal, sounding surprised even several months later as she recounted a hunt that began at home, in front of a computer. "I can't believe we bought an apartment within four hours of landing."

She was on the phone in Rochester, Minn., where she and her husband, Sanjeev Sethi, a pathologist at the Mayo Clinic, normally live, an inconvenient 12 hours and two subway rides from their new second home.

It's hard to get figures on how many Americans leave Paris with a souvenir in the form of a French mortgage. But the number is "mushrooming," according to Cecil Jones, president of Just France Sales, a property finders' service for those who speak English. (Incidentally, the number of agencies like his is mushrooming, too.)

Lured by such services, low interest rates and hopes that investing in French real estate is a smart way to diversify - if the euro continues to strengthen - Americans are scouring parts of Paris they barely knew five years ago. Consider the 17th, where Ms. Nautiyal, a lawyer, and Dr. Sethi found their 635-square-foot, one-bedroom, 375,000-euro (about $480,000) pied-�-terre in January. Indeed, you might consider it now, before the next wave of buyers spills over from the heavily touristed Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Arrondissements.

The 17th may have its funky stretches and seem a bit removed on the far Right Bank, but that's one reason it still has deals, making it the latest destination for Americans who long for a well-priced piece of Paris.

Not long ago some of the same people might have focused on Left Bank addresses like the Rue Cler, a lively market street in the Seventh Arrondissement not far from the Eiffel Tower. Today there are so many Americans shopping on Rue Cler for their bread and French butter - and their second homes - that half the voices you hear have a familiar accent.

Ms. Nautiyal says that she sees the 17th as an antidote to "Leftitis," and financially, anyway, she is right: according to Paris Real Estate Finders, a search-and-buy service, which helped steer her and her husband across the Seine, the average asking price per square foot in the Rue Cler neighborhood topped $1,050 in May, in contrast to an average asking price in the 17th of $773. And the highly diverse 17th, at least for the moment, has far fewer people from back home.

It also has patches that are not so wonderful - the Avenue de Clichy comes to mind - and some that are elegant indeed. C. Randolph Fishburn, a lawyer in New York who frequently works in Paris, paid 1.1 million euros last year for a central-casting two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment on the stately Avenue de Wagram: 1,400 renovated square feet in a 19th-century building "across from the only 24-hour flower shop in Paris," he said. He added that the florist also stocks Champagne - presumably in case of emergencies. Mr. Fishburn said he "realized the market is undervalued and I could do this as investment and a euro hedge."

Closing costs were high but carrying costs - property taxes and maintenance fees - are not, and his mortgage rate is below 4 percent. That's lower than this season's high heels.

The 17th sits on the Right Bank like a big crooked wedge of pizza, its nose under the Arc de Triomphe and its crust overlapping the beltway that rims the western edge of the city. In the late 19th century, when Paris was expanding like a souffl�, the far-flung 17th was a getaway for the world-weary. Zola retreated there to write (and gave his heroine Nana, an actress turned rich-man's mistress, a 17th Arrondissement address). Impressionists lived and worked there too, recording the train stations rising to the east, their tracks strewn in fistfuls in the 17th. As developers piled in, large apartments rose up to accommodate bourgeois families and well-kept Nanas.

Today the arrondissement is a patchwork of neighborhoods plain, fancy and iffy. Grand avenues like Wagram emanate from the Place d'�toile like spokes in a wheel, and just below the 17th's southern border, in the fashionable Eighth, sits the seductive Parc Monceau. At the eastern edge is the mildly gamy Place de Clichy, to the north the villagelike area called Batignolles. Hidden throughout are quiet streets, green spaces and bargains.

Orlando Sentinel

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Sales of condominiums in the Orlando area have cooled and are now contributing to the year-over-year decline in existing-home sales in the slowing local market, according to new report today.

The number of existing condos sold slipped 12.2 percent in May to 419, the first time this year the condo sector has turned negative compared with the same month a year ago, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association's monthly report. The number of existing single-family homes sold in the Orlando market dipped 4.4 percent in May to 2,070.

Nearly 7,000 more homes were added to the local Multiple Listing Service during the month, pushing the total number of single-family homes for sale in the Orlando area to a record 18,179, the group reported.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see us at 20,000 by the end of the year," said Scott Hillman, president of Fannie Hillman and Associates in Winter Park. Despite the growth in the number of homes for sale, though, prices in the Orlando area are "holding fairly well," Hillman noted.

The median home price - half sold for less and half for more -- rose to $252,990, a healthy 13 percent higher than the same time a year ago.

"If you price your home right, even based on 2005 numbers, and you're in an established area, you're going to be under contract in 60 to 90 days. That's the way I see it. And that 60-to-90 days is a normal market to me," Hillman said.

Last year, homes in the core Orlando market, mainly Orange and Seminole counties, sold in less than a month during the peak of the hot sales market. But the average time on the market rose to 52 days in May, the longest wait in two years.

Seminole Apartments Converting to Condos In Large Numbers

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Seminole apartments converting to condos in large numbers

But conversion craze leaves some residents in tight spot

By Liane Edixon - Herald Staff - Sun, Feb 26, 2006

The condominium craze has hit Seminole County in the last several years, but now condo conversions are catching up.

According to the National Real Estate Investor, "nowhere is the conversion craze hotter than in Florida."

But, local resident Donna Marie Serritella thinks the state of Florida condo conversion laws in place aren't protecting residents, as they should.

The state of Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Division of Florida Land Sales, Condominiums, and Mobile Homes, keeps track of all condo conversions, and all notices of intent to convert to condominiums. In total, Florida has seen more than 2,100 approved condo conversions - ten of which were located in Seminole County.

As of Jan. 19, the state's database showed 18 residential rental communities in Seminole County that had filed a notice of intent to convert to condos (See Chart). Most of those were located in Altamonte Springs and Casselberry.

Jim Stroup, of the Seminole County building department, said there has only been a handful of condo conversions that have come through his office in the last year. He explained that apartments and condominiums have the same building code requirements, so that unless the developers were undergoing major renovations, they would not be required to go through the County.

But, in the city of Sanford, for example, new condos are all the craze with a total of 20 mixed use, multi-family, or townhouse communities, undergoing planning or construction as of January 2006.

Serritella's apartment community is not on the state list as of Feb. 24, but she is aware that new owners of Oakmonte Apartments, in Heathrow, are planning to turn her apartment complex into condos.

A press release issued by Corus Bank said on Jan. 26, 2006, they closed a $70 million loan to Musa/ZMG Oakmonte, LLC, to finance the acquisition and conversion to condominiums of Oakmonte Apartments.

Serritella, who has lived at Oakmonte since 2001, said she had a feeling the apartment was going to go condo. There had been rumors, she said, circulating the neighborhood. The old apartment managers even told them it was going to one day be converted into condos. Serritella said she and other residents had been told time and time again by former management that they would have plenty of notice of the conversion, and they would have the option to buy.

But, it wasn't until she received a notice saying that there was new ownership that she felt the time was coming soon.

On Jan. 19, ZOM (the former owner) announced the sale to Musa/ZMG Oakmonte, LLC. Residents received a second notice on Jan. 27, stating that unit inspections would be taking place as of Jan. 31. Neither notice mentioned a condominium conversion.

Serritella, along with numerous other residents whose leases were coming up on renewal, received notices stating that the landlord had elected not to renew their leases, and they would need to vacate their apartments within 60 days. Serritella's lease expires March 31, and with just over 30 days left before she must move she's still not sure where she's going.

"I've been searching and searching," Serritella said. She added that there aren't any comparable rentals in Lake Mary.

But, she said she feels worse for some of her other neighbors who have children in schools, and whose leases are expiring in April. That means, if they cannot find a place zoned for the schools their children are in, they will have to uproot them for the last month or two of the school year.

Patti Hughes, a single mother with three children, just moved into Oakmonte a little over a year ago. Her 11-year-old daughter found the notice of non renewal taped on the door recently that said they had 60 days to move. She pleaded in a letter to the new owner's legal representation Matthew Zifrony, to let them extend their lease until the end of June.

Zifrony heard concerns from residents through Serritella and agreed to hear from residents and consider extending leases to those who had children in school.

"If you were not going to help me, my children would not have a place to call home," Hughes wrote to Zifrony. "I do not have the resources to move that fast."

According to her letter, Hughes budgets her finances months in advance, and with her current budget not changing, she will have to delay dental care for her children in order to move.

A letter sent out to residents on Feb. 14, said that the popularity of turning apartments into condos is rising, and that the new owner would like to convert Oakmonte into condos.

"At this time, however, the owner is only in the process of obtaining the proper approvals for this conversion, as there are many steps that the developer must go through," the letter stated.

It also explained that residents who have children residing in their homes, who are on the lease and attend a public school in Lake Mary, could speak individually with the leasing office to discuss extending their lease by a "reasonable amount of time."

The letter also stated that the owner did not have a legal obligation to extend any lease beyond its natural expiration date.

Serritella has spearheaded a community wide campaign at Oakmonte asking to hear from residents who are having difficulty with the short notice of moving. Resident who either are older, or who have medical problems, or who have children, were all asked to forward their information to Serritella.

According to Serritella, the new owners are doing everything right in the letter of the law, but are not thinking about the residents.

"They didn't consider human beings were there," Serritella said.

But, because the new owners of Oakmonte have not filed a notice of intent to convert to condos, they legally have the right to non renew the residents' leases.

If they were to file intent, the state of Florida statutes has a guideline the owners must follow. Those guidelines include timelines for renewing leases up to 270 days, depending on when your lease expires and how long a resident has lived at the apartment complex. The residents also have the option to buy their unit as is, and also have the first right of refusal for purchasing their unit or another in the complex.

In San Diego, Cali., many condo conversions have taken place, and tenants there are entitled to six months' notice and those who are not going to buy must be compensated.

But, because Oakmonte owners have not filed their intent, the residents at Oakmonte seem to be losing that freedom.

Although, according to Serritella, she has heard that some residents are receiving up to $5,000 in compensation to move. It has her asking questions.

"If they would have just communicated with us," Serritella said.

She said she has never been told that she could buy the unit as is. Currently, the new owners are making repairs to many of the buildings. Roofs are being repaired or replaced, and stucco is being fixed.

"I want to have a big old protest," Serritella said. "You screwed us over and we don't like that."

Serritella said she had no intention of suing over the matter, but feels that some laws should be changed to protect this from happening to other people.

Miami Beach-Style High-Rises Coming to Revere Beach

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REVERE -- The comeback of Revere Beach has gotten a big boost by a developer who plans to build a 242-unit condo project on Ocean Drive that emulates the sleek, resort-style look of Miami Beach high-rises.

Sales of the Ocean Club Condominiums began last month, with 30 units under agreement, said Steven Fustolo, a Winchester accountant and developer who until now has done mostly small conversion projects in the North End, South End and Back Bay. The 13-story project received its local and state approvals this spring, and construction is scheduled to begin in January, with an opening scheduled for fall 2008.

One bedroom units start at $300,000 and two-bedrooms at $449,000, with penthouse units selling for $1 million -- a first for Revere Beach, said Gary Ferragamo, the sales manager for Coldwell Banker's The Condo Store. Units are being put up for sale in batches, to facilitate an even distribution of sales along price points.

Fustolo said he is the sole principal of the project, which he said would cost "north of $100 million." Although he said he has obtained financing from a bank and "private" sources, he said he could not disclose the lenders for another two to three months.

The Ocean Club is selling not just a resort-like building, but a resort-like existence, with concierge service, indoor and outdoor pools and hot tubs, a fitness center, a juice bar and a coffee bar in the lobby, all of it about two miles from the MBTA's Wonderland station.

"It's sort of a step up," said a developer of another Revere Beach project who did not want his name used. "What Steve's doing is something that hasn't been seen in the near north suburbs."

The beachfront has seen a flurry of activity over the past year, the first activity since the 1980s. Sales, however, are probably not keeping pace with developers' hopes.

The Atlantica, which is complete, has sold half of its 81 condos since sales began in January, with an average sales prices of $355,000 to $360,000, said Joe DiGangi, managing director of Boston-based Eurovest Development Inc., the developer. The Surfside Lofts, slated to open next month, has sold 16 of its 48 units, with an average price of $400,000, said Charlie Lightbody, the developer.

A former nursing home overlooking the beach has also been converted into the Ocean Plaza Apartments, with rents ranging from $990 a month for studios and going up to $1,550. The building opened in the fall, and all of its apartments are now rented.

The city also is considering three proposals, submitted by Eurovest, Leggat McCall Properties LLC of Boston and Federal Development LLC of Washington, for a transit-oriented hotel, retail, office and housing complex on 11 acres near the T station. The city expects to select one of them in August, said Frank Stringi, Revere's city planner.

Fustolo quietly began buying up beachfront properties, including a chiropractor's office, in 2003, ultimately securing nine parcels. "If you drive an hour north or south of Boston, it's virtually impossible to compile a property of this magnitude," he said.

Fustolo held a preview party last week on the roof of the Ritz-Carlton, inviting 5,000 renters from the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, North End, South End and East Boston who reported a household income of over $100,000. The event drew 275 people, who were sent off with complimentary beach towels.

"I think he's going after the creative class, which is looking for all the amenities," said DiGangi, whose Atlantica has a far more traditional, wood-frame look, built around a central courtyard.

Condo helps with financing

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Housing developer MFM Construction Corp., announced the company has partnered with Countrywide Financial and CitiMortgage to offer low-cost, flexible mortgage programs and financial assistance packages to buyers of its new River Grand condominium slated for the Civic Center in Allapattah.

The financing packages will include low down payments, fixed-rate-interest mortgages and no closing costs and are geared to ensuring nurses, teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public servants can afford to own or rent in the communities that depend on them, a company statement said.

The 16-story River Grand condominium, planned for Northwest 14th Street and 15th Avenue, is scheduled to break ground in November, with occupancy slated for mid-2008.

Pre-construction prices range from the low $200,000s to high the high $300,000s for the 132 one- and two-bedroom residences.

''As Miami continues to grow and demand for more affordable housing options for our workforce increase, developments such as River Grand which meet the needs of working individuals must become the norm rather than the exception,'' Eli Dreszer, a partner in MFM Construction, said in the statement.

Condo helps with financing

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Housing developer MFM Construction Corp., announced the company has partnered with Countrywide Financial and CitiMortgage to offer low-cost, flexible mortgage programs and financial assistance packages to buyers of its new River Grand condominium slated for the Civic Center in Allapattah.

The financing packages will include low down payments, fixed-rate-interest mortgages and no closing costs and are geared to ensuring nurses, teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public servants can afford to own or rent in the communities that depend on them, a company statement said.

The 16-story River Grand condominium, planned for Northwest 14th Street and 15th Avenue, is scheduled to break ground in November, with occupancy slated for mid-2008.

Pre-construction prices range from the low $200,000s to high the high $300,000s for the 132 one- and two-bedroom residences.

''As Miami continues to grow and demand for more affordable housing options for our workforce increase, developments such as River Grand which meet the needs of working individuals must become the norm rather than the exception,'' Eli Dreszer, a partner in MFM Construction, said in the statement.

CalPERS to Invest $56Mln in Residential Fund

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The California Public Employees' Retirement System will invest $56 million in a fund that will invest in residential properties in Northern and Central California.

The $73 million fund, New Faze Investment Fund I, will acquire and develop residential condominiums, single-family homes, urban residential lots and suburban infill locations.

A partnership between New Faze Development, Sacramento, Calif., residential developer, MacFarlane Partners, a San Francisco real estate investment firm, and Weyerhaeuser Realty Investors of Seattle, will manage the fund.

The three co-managers will contribute a total of $17 million to the fund, which will develop roughly 2,000 housing units and residential lots worth an estimated $600 million.

$41M Funds Development of 134 Condos

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TEMPE, AZ-Weststone USA has obtained $40.5 million in construction financing, triggering the start of work on the 134-unit Northshore Condominiums. The Phoenix-based developer bought the 2.62-acre project site in June 2004.

"Presales are strong, the developer has been successful on previous projects so from that perspective, we didn't have a problem with it," says David Sotolov, vice president and senior loan administrator in Phoenix for Tustin, CA-based Fremont & Investment & Loan. Weststone has sold 96% of the condos, which will be delivering in fourth quarter 2007 at the intersection of Playa del Norte and Scottsdale Road.

Sotolov acknowledges to GlobeSt.com that the process did have its delays. First, he says a portion of the land is tied up in a ground lease although that will eventually be transferred to Weststone. Second, "getting comfortable with construction costs these days is a challenge," he adds.

The Northshore project is Fremont's first financing for Weststone, but Sotolov says the developer has a track record with three sold-out projects and strong presales on its 122-unit Vantage in the Ahwatukee submarket. Northshore's presales, which began in mid- 2005, are practically gone. As a result, foundation is now being poured.

Northshore will have five floors of condos and two levels of underground parking. It's designed so that 124 of the 134 units will have partial to full views of Tempe Town Lake and the balance with views of Camelback Mountain and Papago Peaks. Units average 1,400 sf. One-bedroom condos average $300,000 whereas two-bedroom units are running $300,000 to $1 million. The buy-in for a three-bedroom design ranges from $700,000 to $1.2 million.

Brad Coty with Bradford Mortgage Capital of Phoenix arranged the loan with Fremont as well as equity financing from New York Life Investment Management in New York City. The Fremont facility is a 24-month adjustable loan with interest-only payments at mid-300 basis points over the six-month Libor. The loan-to-cost and loan-to-value ratios range from 75% to 80%.

Trapper's Island Project Adds Fuel to Condominium Boom

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Jayo Construction Inc. has begun preliminary demolition work on a $75 million development that will add up to 106 new condominium units to downtown Boise.

The 10-acre Trapper's Island project will be built west of Americana Boulevard, abutting Kathryn Albertson Park, across the street from Ann Morrison Park and a short bike ride from Julia Davis Park.

Developer Doug Jayo said construction on the high-end condo units will begin this fall, with the completion date depending on how well the units sell.
Area development experts say the boom in downtown condominium construction is being fueled by aging baby boomers who are increasingly abandoning the suburbs for downtown living.

There were almost 300 condo units in the planning stages at the beginning of 2006, with most already under contract, according to an informal survey by the Idaho Statesman.
"I'm not pioneering downtown condos," Jayo said. "Everything that has already been built has been successful. And I think that proves that there is a need for this kind of project."

The development will consist of 19 three-story buildings. Each unit in a building will be allocated two spaces in an underground parking area. The units will range in size from 1,800 to to 2,600 square feet, and will be priced between $700,000 and $1.2 million.
Cory Riddle, interim chief review analyst with Boise's Planning and Development Services Department, said the project has received a conditional use permit to build residential housing in an area zoned for commercial use. Riddle said a hearing is scheduled next month on the request to modify the building plan to increase the number of condominiums to be built.

Jayo said he expects the project will be so popular that he has asked permission to expand the number of units from its original 85 to 106.
He said the project will not require flood insurance, despite its proximity to the Boise River, and it will sit 3 feet above the flood-level mark established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Riddle confirmed that Boise Public Works has also determined the area where Trapper's Island will sit does not sit in the flood plain.
Marketing experts who will sell the units are counting on the proximity of the three area parks to give the luxury project a sense of neighborhood.

"It will be a place where the neighbors will be able to get to know each other," said John Holland, president of Holland Realty and marketing director for Trapper's Island.

Holland said the 272 acres of public park near the development represent an area almost one quarter the size of Central Park in New York.

2 Major Condo Projects Canceled

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Citing slow sales and a cooling real estate market, two major developers are abandoning plans for two condominium projects in the Washington region.

The decisions, by District-based Monument Realty LLC and Wood Partners LLC of Atlanta, are among the strongest signs yet of how much -- and how quickly -- the market for new condos has softened here.

Monument said it would not go forward with its plan to convert the three-building, 574-unit Park Center apartment complex in Alexandria to condos. Wood Partners said that it would continue building its 300-unit 1901 West building in Annapolis but that the apartments would be rentals, not condos as planned.

Together the two projects would have cost $226 million, according to the developers.

The local housing market has slowed as interest rates rise. More houses and condos are remaining on the market for longer than they have for several years.

What happened at the two projects could be just the beginning as developers who had counted on continued rising prices realize that their numbers no longer work, said Gregory H. Leisch, chief executive of Delta Associates, a real estate consulting firm in Alexandria. "It's a precursor of more to come."

Leisch estimated that developers would take 1,200 more units out of the pipeline by year-end. About 25,000 condo units are being marketed now, 16,000 of which are under construction, according to Delta. "The development community is seeing the handwriting on the wall," Leisch said.

F. Russell Hines, executive vice president of Monument Realty, said financing for the $170 million Park Center project required that buyers be in place for 25 percent of the units before settlements could take place. But by the time the company started selling the units in September, the market had started to slow, and the size of the project made it difficult to continue, Hines said. Ultimately, only 50 units were sold before Monument notified its buyers last month that it would not convert the complex, he said. Apartments in the buildings at 2601, 2701 and 2801 Park Center Dr. will remain rentals.

Both companies said deposits, with interest, had been returned to those who had signed contracts. Both also said they would continue with other condo projects in the region.

"We're still pretty bullish about the residential market in the long run," Hines said. "It's just that right now, there are some markets where we probably got a little bit ahead of ourselves."

Wood Partners, a national developer of multifamily housing, said its project had generated buzz, with 4,000 potential buyers signing up over the Web and more than 1,000 showing up at its sales opening party at a restaurant in Annapolis on March 9. But only 27 contracts were signed over the next 30 days, said Dean Wilson, director for the Mid-Atlantic region for Wood.

"That's not where we needed to be," he said. "We're opening the leasing doors this week as we speak."

The developers said their decisions make economic sense as the apartment market tightens. Leisch, of Delta Associates, estimated that rents would rise 5 to 8 percent this year.

Leisch said condos being marketed instead as rental apartments is a "healthy thing" for the condo market and noted that such moves were not unusual in a transitioning real estate market, one he said is returning to normal after a superheated period.

Wilson, of Wood Partners, said: "We have some patient capital that can ride the ups and downs. We have to be more sensitive to market swings and . . . make sure that when the music stops, we always have a chair to sit in."

Phoenix Condo Converters Seek Buyers

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Developers are delaying or dumping plans to convert some Phoenix-area apartment complexes into condominiums.

A year after they pulled more than 7,000 apartments off the market, condo converters are finding that buyers in many areas are not interested in paying top dollar for a refurbished rental unit, particularly now that the Valley's housing market is slowing and prices for single-family homes are beginning to drop.

"The condo-conversion market is not the frenzy it was a year ago," said Pete TeKampe, an apartment specialist at Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real estate brokerage. "It is rapidly decelerating."

Apartment experts say some developers got carried away in conversion mania, overpaid for buildings and now must run them as rentals rather than selling fast and getting out.

Some of the projects were hits, particularly those in pricier areas of the Valley, where affordable housing is at a premium. But, in other cases, developers are having problems persuading anyone to buy. Some market professionals say vulnerable complexes include those in central Phoenix, where buyers can pay just a little more for a new unit that was built as a condominium.

"The viable deals in great locations like Scottsdale still have good sales velocity," said Tyler Anderson, an apartment broker at CB Richard Ellis, a commercial real estate firm. "The deals that will be challenged are those buildings that didn't look like a condo to start. You just had people trying to cash in."

Condo converters descended on the Valley in the wake of the wave of investor speculation that pushed up prices for single-family homes. They saw a chance to market for-sale housing to first-time buyers who couldn't afford a house or to people who wanted the no-yardwork lifestyle.

The condo-reversion trend has hit in other areas where too many condos were built too quickly. Southern Florida is one example. The turn in the Phoenix market demonstrates how quickly trends come and go in the area's volatile housing business and the inherent hazards for investors.

Developers count on selling some of the conversions to people who already lease the apartments. Yet some of these residents find the prices too high and look for other places to live.

A woman moving out of the Hawthorne Condominiums, on Third Avenue near Indian School Road in Phoenix, said Thursday that she had been leasing a two-bedroom, 1,040-square-foot apartment. When the complex went condo, she rejected the proposed sales price of $230,000.

She said she was a former real estate agent in California and was leery of condo conversions. "I've been on the downside of a market before," she said.

Consumers were caught in the condo-conversion craze and often forced out of their apartments. Now, they may be caught in a situation where their condo complex is being turned back into for-rent housing. But they have protections.

"To turn a condo conversion back into an apartment complex, you need the approval of every buyer," real estate attorney Christopher Combs said.

He said some condo-conversion developers may be giving cash incentives to buyers to get them to turn back the units.

The Valley's apartment market has been squeezed as condo conversions remove inventory. Grubb & Ellis-BRE Commercial estimates that more than 7,000 apartments were taken off the rental market by converters last year. The combination of fewer apartments and higher prices for single-family homes pushed apartment rents higher. Marcus & Millichap said asking rents would rise 3.2 percent to $735 per month in the Valley this year while vacancies declined. Vacancy was projected to decline fractionally to 7.4 percent in 2006.

But there is a twist to how conversions are affecting the rental market. Experts say a lot of the buyers were investors who now have dumped them back on the market as rentals. TeKampe said that 27,000 apartments have been announced as conversions since 2004 and estimated that half went to investors, with 70 percent in some projects.

"The condo-conversion market has not been driven by the end user, Joe and Betty Home Buyer," he said.

Reid Butler, a Valley apartment and condo developer, said a lot of the investor units aren't reselling.

"Many investors bought five to 10 units in a condo-conversion project and need to hold them for a year so they don't have to pay capital gains," he said. "So now, they are hiring management firms and renting them."

Terry Feinberg, president of the Arizona Multihousing Association, said his trade group is trying to assess the impact of the flood of investor rentals hitting the market. He said some couldn't rent them for as much as they need to cover the monthly mortgage payments. He wonders if those condos are headed for foreclosure.

Feinberg believes there were too many unsophisticated investors snapping up condos. He compared their behavior to tech investors in the 2000 stock market.

"Why did so many people lose money in 2000 when the dot-coms crashed?" he asked. "The investor behavior is the same. Some people get in at the end of a trend. They have bad timing."

Developers are delaying or dumping plans to convert some Phoenix-area apartment complexes into condominiums.

A year after they pulled more than 7,000 apartments off the market, condo converters are finding that buyers in many areas are not interested in paying top dollar for a refurbished rental unit, particularly now that the Valley's housing market is slowing and prices for single-family homes are beginning to drop.

"The condo-conversion market is not the frenzy it was a year ago," said Pete TeKampe, an apartment specialist at Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real estate brokerage. "It is rapidly decelerating."

Apartment experts say some developers got carried away in conversion mania, overpaid for buildings and now must run them as rentals rather than selling fast and getting out.

Some of the projects were hits, particularly those in pricier areas of the Valley, where affordable housing is at a premium. But, in other cases, developers are having problems persuading anyone to buy. Some market professionals say vulnerable complexes include those in central Phoenix, where buyers can pay just a little more for a new unit that was built as a condominium.

"The viable deals in great locations like Scottsdale still have good sales velocity," said Tyler Anderson, an apartment broker at CB Richard Ellis, a commercial real estate firm. "The deals that will be challenged are those buildings that didn't look like a condo to start. You just had people trying to cash in."

Condo converters descended on the Valley in the wake of the wave of investor speculation that pushed up prices for single-family homes. They saw a chance to market for-sale housing to first-time buyers who couldn't afford a house or to people who wanted the no-yardwork lifestyle.

The condo-reversion trend has hit in other areas where too many condos were built too quickly. Southern Florida is one example. The turn in the Phoenix market demonstrates how quickly trends come and go in the area's volatile housing business and the inherent hazards for investors.

Developers count on selling some of the conversions to people who already lease the apartments. Yet some of these residents find the prices too high and look for other places to live.

A woman moving out of the Hawthorne Condominiums, on Third Avenue near Indian School Road in Phoenix, said Thursday that she had been leasing a two-bedroom, 1,040-square-foot apartment. When the complex went condo, she rejected the proposed sales price of $230,000.

She said she was a former real estate agent in California and was leery of condo conversions. "I've been on the downside of a market before," she said.

Consumers were caught in the condo-conversion craze and often forced out of their apartments. Now, they may be caught in a situation where their condo complex is being turned back into for-rent housing. But they have protections.

"To turn a condo conversion back into an apartment complex, you need the approval of every buyer," real estate attorney Christopher Combs said.

He said some condo-conversion developers may be giving cash incentives to buyers to get them to turn back the units.

The Valley's apartment market has been squeezed as condo conversions remove inventory. Grubb & Ellis-BRE Commercial estimates that more than 7,000 apartments were taken off the rental market by converters last year. The combination of fewer apartments and higher prices for single-family homes pushed apartment rents higher. Marcus & Millichap said asking rents would rise 3.2 percent to $735 per month in the Valley this year while vacancies declined. Vacancy was projected to decline fractionally to 7.4 percent in 2006.

But there is a twist to how conversions are affecting the rental market. Experts say a lot of the buyers were investors who now have dumped them back on the market as rentals. TeKampe said that 27,000 apartments have been announced as conversions since 2004 and estimated that half went to investors, with 70 percent in some projects.

"The condo-conversion market has not been driven by the end user, Joe and Betty Home Buyer," he said.

Reid Butler, a Valley apartment and condo developer, said a lot of the investor units aren't reselling.

"Many investors bought five to 10 units in a condo-conversion project and need to hold them for a year so they don't have to pay capital gains," he said. "So now, they are hiring management firms and renting them."

Terry Feinberg, president of the Arizona Multihousing Association, said his trade group is trying to assess the impact of the flood of investor rentals hitting the market. He said some couldn't rent them for as much as they need to cover the monthly mortgage payments. He wonders if those condos are headed for foreclosure.

Feinberg believes there were too many unsophisticated investors snapping up condos. He compared their behavior to tech investors in the 2000 stock market.

"Why did so many people lose money in 2000 when the dot-coms crashed?" he asked. "The investor behavior is the same. Some people get in at the end of a trend. They have bad timing."

Developers are delaying or dumping plans to convert some Phoenix-area apartment complexes into condominiums.

A year after they pulled more than 7,000 apartments off the market, condo converters are finding that buyers in many areas are not interested in paying top dollar for a refurbished rental unit, particularly now that the Valley's housing market is slowing and prices for single-family homes are beginning to drop.

"The condo-conversion market is not the frenzy it was a year ago," said Pete TeKampe, an apartment specialist at Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real estate brokerage. "It is rapidly decelerating."

Apartment experts say some developers got carried away in conversion mania, overpaid for buildings and now must run them as rentals rather than selling fast and getting out.

Some of the projects were hits, particularly those in pricier areas of the Valley, where affordable housing is at a premium. But, in other cases, developers are having problems persuading anyone to buy. Some market professionals say vulnerable complexes include those in central Phoenix, where buyers can pay just a little more for a new unit that was built as a condominium.

"The viable deals in great locations like Scottsdale still have good sales velocity," said Tyler Anderson, an apartment broker at CB Richard Ellis, a commercial real estate firm. "The deals that will be challenged are those buildings that didn't look like a condo to start. You just had people trying to cash in."

Condo converters descended on the Valley in the wake of the wave of investor speculation that pushed up prices for single-family homes. They saw a chance to market for-sale housing to first-time buyers who couldn't afford a house or to people who wanted the no-yardwork lifestyle.

The condo-reversion trend has hit in other areas where too many condos were built too quickly. Southern Florida is one example. The turn in the Phoenix market demonstrates how quickly trends come and go in the area's volatile housing business and the inherent hazards for investors.

Developers count on selling some of the conversions to people who already lease the apartments. Yet some of these residents find the prices too high and look for other places to live.

A woman moving out of the Hawthorne Condominiums, on Third Avenue near Indian School Road in Phoenix, said Thursday that she had been leasing a two-bedroom, 1,040-square-foot apartment. When the complex went condo, she rejected the proposed sales price of $230,000.

She said she was a former real estate agent in California and was leery of condo conversions. "I've been on the downside of a market before," she said.

Consumers were caught in the condo-conversion craze and often forced out of their apartments. Now, they may be caught in a situation where their condo complex is being turned back into for-rent housing. But they have protections.

"To turn a condo conversion back into an apartment complex, you need the approval of every buyer," real estate attorney Christopher Combs said.

He said some condo-conversion developers may be giving cash incentives to buyers to get them to turn back the units.

The Valley's apartment market has been squeezed as condo conversions remove inventory. Grubb & Ellis-BRE Commercial estimates that more than 7,000 apartments were taken off the rental market by converters last year. The combination of fewer apartments and higher prices for single-family homes pushed apartment rents higher. Marcus & Millichap said asking rents would rise 3.2 percent to $735 per month in the Valley this year while vacancies declined. Vacancy was projected to decline fractionally to 7.4 percent in 2006.

But there is a twist to how conversions are affecting the rental market. Experts say a lot of the buyers were investors who now have dumped them back on the market as rentals. TeKampe said that 27,000 apartments have been announced as conversions since 2004 and estimated that half went to investors, with 70 percent in some projects.

"The condo-conversion market has not been driven by the end user, Joe and Betty Home Buyer," he said.

Reid Butler, a Valley apartment and condo developer, said a lot of the investor units aren't reselling.

"Many investors bought five to 10 units in a condo-conversion project and need to hold them for a year so they don't have to pay capital gains," he said. "So now, they are hiring management firms and renting them."

Terry Feinberg, president of the Arizona Multihousing Association, said his trade group is trying to assess the impact of the flood of investor rentals hitting the market. He said some couldn't rent them for as much as they need to cover the monthly mortgage payments. He wonders if those condos are headed for foreclosure.

Feinberg believes there were too many unsophisticated investors snapping up condos. He compared their behavior to tech investors in the 2000 stock market.

"Why did so many people lose money in 2000 when the dot-coms crashed?" he asked. "The investor behavior is the same. Some people get in at the end of a trend. They have bad timing."

Sales at Southeast Orlando Condo Community Hit $27 million

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One of the first condominium conversions in Orlando aimed specifically for the affordable-minded, first-time buyer is ringing up sales at a fast clip.

Miriada, a 260-unit garden-style condominium community located on Dixie Belle Drive just south of Curry Ford Road in southeast Orlando, has topped the $27 million sales mark with 150 of the residential units sold, according to Jenny Goodman of Signature GMAC Real Estate. Signature is handling the sales and marketing of the 12-year community formerly called Royal Palms Apartments.

Miriada is being developed by Miles Development Partners, an Atlanta-based multifamily development and management company that owns several developments in Orlando and the Tampa Bay area.

Miles Development has pumped in more than $10 million for the transformation from what once was a run-down rental apartment complex into what has become a showcase residential community in just more than seven months.

Miriada offers units based priced under $200,000, according to Miles Development Partners Project Manager John Huckaby.

Units for the one-, two- and three-bedroom units -- all of which feature separate dens with closets -- offer between 830 and 1,192 square feet of living space. Base prices range from $159,900 to $199,900.

All of the units have been totally refurbished inside and out and feature gourmet kitchens with stainless steel appliances, including a wine cooler and refrigerator, granite countertops, hardwood floors with matching cabinetry, black slate tile in master baths, full-size washers and dryers, and ceiling fans.

"We wanted to keep prices below $200,000 and enhance our appeal to first-time buyers who for the most part have been priced out of the housing market," Goodman says.

Miles Development Partners, a subsidiary of Miles Properties Inc., a multifamily ownership and management company founded in 1990, was looking at a February 2007 sellout but may have to revise those early projections if Miriada maintains its current pace.

Miriada is one of several condominium communities in the area in which Signature GMAC is handling the sales and marketing. The company, one of Central Florida's largest locally owned and operated real estate companies with 10 offices and nearly 250 sales partners, also is handling Park Central Condominiums near the Mall at Millenia, Serenata at MetroWest and Urbana in Hunter's Creek.

Signature GMAC posted $400 million in sales last year.

Phoenix Apartments Sell for $28.8Mln

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Atherton-Newport Investments has paid $28.8 million for Morgan Park Apartments, a 428-unit complex in Phoenix. The Irvine, Calif., firm purchased the property from a San Francisco area investor that had purchased it last year. Morgan Park sits at 8902 North 19th Ave. in Phoenix's Sunnyslope submarket. It has one- and two-bedroom units. Atherton-Newport plans to renovate the property and could convert it into condominiums.

Condos, Shops May Spring Up After City Razes Most of Beloved Tigers Ballpark

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DETROIT -- Rumored for years, the final days of Tiger Stadium are approaching fast and if city officials get their way, stores and condos will replace the one-time home of baseball legends Ty Cobb and Al Kaline.

Details are scarce, but Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is expected to announce next week he intends to demolish the 94-year-old stadium soon to make way for a mixed-use development of 150 condos atop 40-50 retail shops on the 8.5-acre site.

The city has yet to secure developers, however, and still must seek bids for the plan that would maintain the original entrance of the stadium as a gateway and leave the baseball diamond as a park for Little League games and festivals.

The proposal follows years of criticism that the stadium was left to rot after the Tigers moved to Comerica Park following the 1999 season. The proposal was developed by neighbors at Greater Corktown Development Corp. and has been in the works since last fall.

"I loved this plan since Day One," said George Jackson, president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. charged with making the proposal a reality.

"I just couldn't talk about it. This is the first time in years we saw something that wasn't pie in the sky. Yes, the stadium will be demolished, but we will have respect for the historical significance of the site and also practical uses for the park."

Jackson said a handful of developers have expressed interest, but he declined to name them.

Razing the structure will cost $2 million to $5 million, which the city hopes to recoup by selling the stadium piece by piece at auction.

Cost estimates are premature, and Jackson said details won't be firmed up for about six months. Sources close to the decision said the stadium will be razed as soon as fall.

"It's time to move forward," said Ceeon Quiett, spokeswoman for Kilpatrick. "This represents a true collaboration with the community and our desire for economic development."

Some of Kilpatrick's other announcements about redevelopment plans haven't come to fruition. Plans to convert the ramshackle Michigan Central Depot train station into police headquarters, for instance, have gone nowhere.

And, as recently as April, city officials recommended building a replacement for Joe Louis Arena on the site of Tiger Stadium, according to documents obtained by The Detroit News.

"I'll believe this when I see it," said Peter Comstock Riley, president of Michigan and Trumbull LLC, which submitted seven plans to re-use Tiger Stadium.

"The city is just tired of people like me calling them out. The stadium has become too much of a pain in the (rear). I'm not against action, but this is ridiculous. It's not happening."

R. Scott Martin, executive director of the Corktown group, said the proposal "is absolutely going to happen."

"We have developers calling two to three times a week eager to move this forward," he said.

Treading on sacred ground

There has been a surge of speculation about the demise of Tiger Stadium since The News reported in March that city officials ruled out rehabbing the existing structure. Still, word of the deal floored fans.

Opened in 1912, Tiger Stadium is considered sacred grounds by many. It's the site that unites generations who flocked to the field to see legends from Charlie Gehringer and Hank Greenberg to Alan Trammell and Kirk Gibson.

For many, demolishing the ballpark is akin to blowing up a cathedral. Even before the stadium was built, the corner of Michigan and Trumbull was home to baseball games since 1896. Through the years, the site has been known as Bennett Park, Navin Field and Briggs Stadium.

"I went to Tiger Stadium as a kid; it'd be a tragedy to tear down the stadium," said Joe Foglia, 22, of Windsor, who watched the Tigers play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Comerica on Thursday.

Those who live near the stadium, however, welcomed the news. Louis Coban, 32, who can see the park from his front yard, said "anything would be better. They need to do something with it. It will help business around here."

Detroit, which owns the stadium, has paid Tigers owner Ilitch Holdings Corp. about $400,000 a year to maintain the defunct park. That pool of money, which came from a Tigers ticket surcharge in the 1990s, expired this spring.

A group of preservationists has accused city officials of conspiring with Ilitch to destroy the stadium by neglect and ignoring scores of redevelopment plans. News of the pending announcement didn't quell the drumbeat of criticism.

"There's no accountability, and if there is no accountability, they can do whatever they want," said David Malhalab, a retired Detroit police officer.

Jackson called the naysaying a "smear campaign" and invited critics to support the field by giving money to its upkeep. The Corktown plan calls for a community-led conservancy to maintain the portion of the ballpark to be surrounded by shops and condos.

Karen Cullen, a spokeswoman for the Ilitches, said they had no role in deciding the future of the stadium. Critics have questioned what the money spent for maintenance bought -- especially since the interior of the stadium appears to be crumbling -- but Cullen said the city called the shots.

"It's up to the city what to do with the ballpark," she said. "They tell us what they want us to do, and we do as we are told."

Jackson called many of the earlier proposals to redevelop Tiger Stadium "weird" and unfeasible.

A long time coming

The News obtained those proposals and city memos about the future of the stadium through the Freedom of Information Act. The documents, more than 500 pages in all, show developers proposed everything from RV parks to a Hispanic university.

The documents, however, also reveal that a few developers submitted plans as long as five years ago that city officials deemed worthwhile. For undisclosed reasons, however, they were rejected.

An April 26 memo by community planning official Clarence Lee stated the city was leaning toward a plan to convert the stadium into a "destination-type development (for a) new Joe Louis/Red Wings Hockey Stadium."

Jackson said the pending plan has the backing of neighbors and should satisfy most in Detroit. The city had considered approaching a big-box retailer such as Wal-Mart, but neighbors did not support that idea, he said.

"If we went to a vote in the city, there would be a landslide to tear it down," Jackson said.

Trapper's Island Project Adds Fuel to Condominium Boom

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Jayo Construction Inc. has begun preliminary demolition work on a $75 million development that will add up to 106 new condominium units to downtown Boise.

The 10-acre Trapper's Island project will be built west of Americana Boulevard, abutting Kathryn Albertson Park, across the street from Ann Morrison Park and a short bike ride from Julia Davis Park.

Developer Doug Jayo said construction on the high-end condo units will begin this fall, with the completion date depending on how well the units sell.
Area development experts say the boom in downtown condominium construction is being fueled by aging baby boomers who are increasingly abandoning the suburbs for downtown living.

There were almost 300 condo units in the planning stages at the beginning of 2006, with most already under contract, according to an informal survey by the Idaho Statesman.
"I'm not pioneering downtown condos," Jayo said. "Everything that has already been built has been successful. And I think that proves that there is a need for this kind of project."

The development will consist of 19 three-story buildings. Each unit in a building will be allocated two spaces in an underground parking area. The units will range in size from 1,800 to to 2,600 square feet, and will be priced between $700,000 and $1.2 million.
Cory Riddle, interim chief review analyst with Boise's Planning and Development Services Department, said the project has received a conditional use permit to build residential housing in an area zoned for commercial use. Riddle said a hearing is scheduled next month on the request to modify the building plan to increase the number of condominiums to be built.

Jayo said he expects the project will be so popular that he has asked permission to expand the number of units from its original 85 to 106.
He said the project will not require flood insurance, despite its proximity to the Boise River, and it will sit 3 feet above the flood-level mark established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Riddle confirmed that Boise Public Works has also determined the area where Trapper's Island will sit does not sit in the flood plain.
Marketing experts who will sell the units are counting on the proximity of the three area parks to give the luxury project a sense of neighborhood.

"It will be a place where the neighbors will be able to get to know each other," said John Holland, president of Holland Realty and marketing director for Trapper's Island.

Holland said the 272 acres of public park near the development represent an area almost one quarter the size of Central Park in New York.

Housing Market in Transition

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National Association of Realtors chief economist David Lereah came to South Florida on Tuesday to discuss the future of housing in the region. BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN mhaggman@miamiherald.com The housing standoff between buyers and sellers in South Florida will continue for another six months, and then prices in some areas will fall, a real estate trade group economist predicted Tuesday. In some cases prices may fall by 10 percent to 15 percent, said David Lereah, the National Association of Realtors' chief economist, who spoke Tuesday in Coral Gables. But in many areas prices will still rise modestly this year, by 4 percent to 5 percent, he said. And when sellers finally bring asking prices down, pent-up demand will likely result in hordes of new buyers in South Florida. The long-expected shakeout of the real estate market now underway is healthy for a region both overbuilt with new condominiums and overrun by speculators, Lereah said. Unlike in previous real estate downturns, the economic and demographic fundamentals underpinning South Florida real estate remain strong, he added. So strong, in fact, that the Washington, D.C.-based economist is looking to buy some investment properties here himself. ''We are not in a crisis but a transition,'' said Lereah, speaking Tuesday at the International Real Estate Congress and Expo. ``I am very bullish in the long term for real estate in Florida.'' Lereah pegged the end of the housing boom to August 2005. That's when mortgage rates crept up and speculators fled. Now, he said, home sales are declining. And the inventory of homes for sale has ballooned because stubborn sellers refuse to lower prices and buyers are ever willing to wait it out. Ultimately, he said, sellers will relent. ''When a transitioning market cools, it's the sales that drop first, and then prices,'' Lereah said. Prices are likely to drop more for condos than for single-family homes, he said. But in the long term, he is optimistic. Baby boomers continue to move here, international demand remains strong, unemployment in South Florida is low, and mortgage rates -- despite inching higher in recent months -- are still at historically low levels. Just as important, Lereah said, the speculators are fleeing the market. He contends that speculators are most to blame for huge price hikes. ''Florida will be better for it with them gone,'' he said. Lereah cited the increased threat of hurricanes and the availability of property insurance as South Florida's two biggest worries. Such worries, he said, are prompting some baby boomer and retirees to look away from Florida. He noted a trend of baby boomers moving to places such as the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina. But not Lereah. ''I was at another conference down here recently,'' he said. ``I drove around looking at property myself.'' So where is the chief economist for the national Realtor association buying? ''I am not telling,'' he said.

Booming Development Set to Change Seattle's Look

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The Seattle skyline could look a lot different by the end of the decade.

Despite soaring construction costs and land prices, the downtown Seattle residential pipeline is booming with new condominium projects. Forty-nine new buildings -- 13 of which already are under construction -- are planned to be completed by 2010.

And all those buildings mean room for thousands more residents, who will need places to get groceries and the other necessities of daily life, and perhaps send children to school.

To some, it's an expansion that's long past due.

Seattle is "playing catch-up" to growing cities such as Portland and Vancouver, B.C., said Dean Jones, president of Realogics, a real estate marketing company in Seattle.

"The trend seems to be that the market is just growing into what it should have been a few years ago," Jones said.

Jones and seven other experts spoke as panelists at a Realtor symposium Tuesday night at Benaroya Hall, which showcased many of the new downtown projects. Close to 500 people got a look at models and a new three-dimensional "fly-through" animation showing the city's possible skyline in 2010.

One highlight of the symposium was 1521 Second Avenue, a 38-floor, 143-unit all-glass building scheduled to break ground next month between Pine and Pike streets. It's one of Jones' projects, and it's regarded as one of the flagship buildings of the Seattle pipeline expansion.

Each unit in 1521 Second Avenue -- averaging $1.7 million a pop -- will feature a "solarium" room with windows that fold away to create an outdoor veranda.

"It's the first project of its kind that has taken advantage of the new height limit," Jones said.

On May 12, the city extended the building height cap near the Market District from 240 feet to 400 feet. Similar changes elsewhere in the city opened the floodgates for construction of the new "tall and slender" buildings.

The higher ceiling essentially lifts a voter-imposed cap from 1988, allowing denser and more economical residential development to handle future population growth. And developers are jumping in.

Like 1521 Second Avenue, many new buildings will feature sculpted tops to give them character, said Blaine Weber, principal architect at Seattle's Weber + Thompson architecture firm. Buildings cut square off at the top are not memorable like the Space Needle or Empire State Building.

"It's a chance to create a city," Weber said, "not just a bunch of boxes where we live."

Buildings like 1521 Second Avenue are luring people downtown. It's the baby boomer generation, mostly -- once children move out, people need less space in which to live, said panelist Kate Joncas, president of the Downtown Seattle Association. Younger professionals make up many prospective downtown buyers as well.

Developers are targeting a range of incomes. New condos will cost from $300,000 to more than $2 million.

To meet demand, 10,000 new units are planned for 2010. But panelist Matthew Gardner, principal real estate analyst at Gardner Johnson in Seattle, said he expects 60 percent of that number to actually be built.

Construction costs have reached "astronomical figures," he said, limiting development. From April 2005 to April 2006, the cost of copper tubing increased 71 percent, Sheetrock 24 percent, plastics 20 percent and concrete 12 percent, he said.

Labor costs are on the rise, and urbanization in China and post-Katrina rebuilding are sucking up the supply of building materials.

Nevertheless, housing demand is strong in downtown Seattle. Emerging neighborhoods such as Belltown, Denny Triangle and the Market District are becoming popular for downtown's culture and proximity to businesses.

Right now, living downtown can be difficult. Without grocery stores or public schools, downtown residents must commute for even basic living needs.

All that's about to change, Joncas said. Infrastructure moves in when people move in; it's hard to say which comes first.

"It's sort of a chicken and egg thing," she said.

It starts in October: Whole Foods Market will open a new location at 2200 Westlake Ave., a nearly finished condo complex on the edge of the Denny Triangle neighborhood.

The prospect of bringing schools to downtown Seattle is less promising, Joncas said -- especially when Seattle Public Schools is considering closing many due to a money shortage. Most children who live downtown ride the bus to Queen Anne or elsewhere, she said.

But schools aren't on most developers' minds. Families make up about 5 percent of downtown buyers, Jones said.

The rest are single people, younger professional couples and baby boomer empty-nesters.

Weber expects the pipeline expansion to rejuvenate more rundown areas of downtown, he said. San Diego's East Village neighborhood was transformed into an elegant and diverse area in just three years.

"I see that happening here," Weber said, "but maybe even on steroids."

The Seattle expansion is more about building neighborhoods than building skyscrapers, said Kym Allen, director of public affairs at Nyhus Communications.

"Over the next five years," Allen said, "we're going to be shaping our downtown for the next hundred years."

TIMES TOWER FILLING UP

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THE New York Times Building at 620 Eighth Ave. is on a roll and close to landing another big name law firm to its roster.

Covington & Burling is reviewing a lease for about 160,000 feet on floors 39 through 43.

Sources said the 20-year pact will include options for floors 44 and 45.

Studley Chairman Mitch Steir, with David Goldstein, is leading a gaggle of brokers representing Covington & Burling, which would relocate from 1330 Sixth Ave.

A CB Richard Ellis team lead by Tri-State CEO Mary Ann Tighe and Howard Fiddle are representing developer Forest City Ratner.

None of the players would comment on the deal.

Last week, Forest City said it would buy out its partner, ING, for the 700,000 feet above the Times headquarters.

Forest City will then control floors 29 through 52 and the 24,000 feet of ground floor retail.

The law firm Seyfarth Shaw has already grabbed 100,000 feet on floors 31, 32 and 33 for the next 17 years.

Lauded by experts and pedestrians, the lease for the Apple store cube under the GM Building was named the most creative retail deal of the year by the Real Estate Board of New York.

The GM Building, at 767 Fifth Ave., is owned by Macklowe Properties.

The broker winners taking home the prize were Robert K. Futterman and Karen Bellantoni of Robert K. Futterman & Associates.

James Kuhn and Amira Yunis of Newmark Knight Frank won the coveted award for the retail deal that most significantly benefits Manhattan for representing NYU's dormitory property at 140 East 14th Street in its lease with Trader Joe's.

The most creative deal in the outer boroughs was taken home by Chase Welles of Northwest Atlantic Real Estate Services for leading Whole Foods into 220 3rd St. at Third Avenue. - at the crossroads of Cobble Hill and Park Slope in Brooklyn.

Philadelphia-based developer David Grasso is loading up on city projects.

Grasso just closed on 245 Tenth Ave., an L-shaped parcel off the corner of 24th St. for $15.37 million from Alf Naman. Grasso will develop a small, 20-condo building.

The project will be next to the High Line park created out of the former rail line.

"It will be ultra-luxury," Grasso promised.

Debra LaChance and Erin Boisson Aries of the Corcoran Group brought him the deal and will be handling the marketing.

"We heard the High Line was up and coming, and we were lucky enough to find an opportunity next to it," Grasso said.

A few blocks away at 124 W. 24th between Sixth and Seventh avenues, Grasso is rehabbing an existing loft building.

Halstead is handling that marketing as well as for his 50 Pine St., another 20-unit conversion Downtown which has three units left.

Chelsea keeps churning with activity.

Perhaps the oldest fish and tackle store in the world, Capitol Fishing Tackle Co., must now move from its longtime nest at the Chelsea Hotel on Aug. 1.

Customer Steve Kaufman of the Kaufman Organization reeled them into a 15-year lease for 2,000 feet at 132 W. 36th St., where the asking rent was in the high $50s a foot.

Kaufman, along with Barbara Raskob, repped the ownership in-house while Paul Stern and Francine Kayden of Midtown Commercial Real Estate spent many a day trolling for the best new fishing spot.

The firm, established in 1862 in Germany, relocated to America in 1897 and to the Chelsea in 1962. Current owner, Richard Collins, bought it in 1974 after working there as a salesman.

The Chelsea Hotel's shareholders also want to create one large retail unit.

Developer Named Adam Hopes for Return to Eden

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The conversion of the Boca East Apartments into The Eden has seemed like a Murphy's Law of real estate - anything that could go wrong has gone wrong.

Buyers who bought at 2002 prices - from the low $200,000s to $500,000 - and planned to move in at the end of 2004 have wondered when, if ever, they will close on their new homes. One said he had been told to get ready to close six different times, each time to be delayed again.

Adam Schlesinger, VP of Ceebraid-Signal and managing partner of the project's development group, sees an end to the string of hurricanes, rising material prices, partner challenges and permit problems. He expects workmen will be back on the site in mid-June and closings on already-completed units could start in early July.

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CONDO HOTEL IN THE WORKS

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By : LOIS WEISS

 LINCOLN Property Company of Dallas is working on early plans to develop a new condo hotel mid-block by the Peninsula Hotel on W. 55th Streer right off Fifth Ave.

The townhouses already combined are at 12-18 W. 55th St. and will include and the air rights from the landmarked 9 W. 54th St.

Other nearby air rights purchases are possible to tip the future development up over the current 120,000 buildable feet.

No one returned calls for comment.

It all means that couture-quality evening gown and bridal designer Miriam Rigler is moving after 55 years at 14 W. 55th St. to 41 E. 60th St. this fall.

Faith Hope Consolo, Joseph A. Aquino, and Andrew Becerra Jr. of Prudential Douglas Elliman's Retail Leasing and Sales Division found the dressmaker the 1,800-foot, long-term lease. Robert Hinds of Eastgate Realty worked for the building in negotiations.

Primedia is consolidating and relocating its headquarters from Fifth Avenue into roughly 135,000 feet at 261 Madison Ave. between 38th and 39th streets.

The media conglomerate, which publishes Sail, Motor Trend, Guns & Ammo and other niche publications, has 200,000 feet spread over Midtown.

"When you are in six locations, there are redundancies and loss factors all over the place," said Willem VanDooijeweert, Primedia real estate director. "Sixty thousand feet is a considerable savings."

Primedia is currently headquartered at 745 Fifth Ave. and has digs at 200 Madison, 1440 Broadway and 249 W. 17th St. It also has about 40,000 square feet in 261, and another 33,000 feet across the street in 260 Madison, both owned by The Sapir Organization, which is providing exterior signage as part of the new lease.

"It's a good match because of the existing relationship with the ownership," said David Falk of Newmark Knight Frank, who represented Primedia along with colleagues David Kaplansky and Scott Panzer.

Alex Sapir, who was just appointed president of the family company, handled the nine-month-long transaction himself. He ripped up the two current leases to accomplish the new, high-$30s deal plus build-out designed by the tenant. The space includes the third to sixth floors plus the ninth and tenth.

"We are thrilled to have the prestigious media company Primedia join our tenant roster," said Sapir.

Falk noted, "There is still pent-up demand for tenants looking for over 50,000 high-end feet in Midtown and Midtown South. But if someone has 20,000 feet on a mid-rise floor in a 'B' building, it's not like people are knocking down the door. There is demand in certain sectors and industries." Capiche?

The office building on top of Barney's at 660 Madison Ave. has been sold in an off-market transaction to Scott Lawlor's Broadway Partners for $220 million, or $863 a square foot.

The 255,000-square-foot building was purchased in November 2003 for $160 million by current sellers, the Brener Group of Beverly Hills, with Mermel & McClain, who have filled it with high-end high-rent-paying hedge funds. No comments all around.

By LOIS WEISS

June 7, 2006 -- LINCOLN Property Company of Dallas is working on early plans to develop a new condo hotel mid-block by the Peninsula Hotel on W. 55th Streer right off Fifth Ave.

The townhouses already combined are at 12-18 W. 55th St. and will include and the air rights from the landmarked 9 W. 54th St.

Other nearby air rights purchases are possible to tip the future development up over the current 120,000 buildable feet.

No one returned calls for comment.

It all means that couture-quality evening gown and bridal designer Miriam Rigler is moving after 55 years at 14 W. 55th St. to 41 E. 60th St. this fall.

Faith Hope Consolo, Joseph A. Aquino, and Andrew Becerra Jr. of Prudential Douglas Elliman's Retail Leasing and Sales Division found the dressmaker the 1,800-foot, long-term lease. Robert Hinds of Eastgate Realty worked for the building in negotiations.

Primedia is consolidating and relocating its headquarters from Fifth Avenue into roughly 135,000 feet at 261 Madison Ave. between 38th and 39th streets.

The media conglomerate, which publishes Sail, Motor Trend, Guns & Ammo and other niche publications, has 200,000 feet spread over Midtown.

"When you are in six locations, there are redundancies and loss factors all over the place," said Willem VanDooijeweert, Primedia real estate director. "Sixty thousand feet is a considerable savings."

Primedia is currently headquartered at 745 Fifth Ave. and has digs at 200 Madison, 1440 Broadway and 249 W. 17th St. It also has about 40,000 square feet in 261, and another 33,000 feet across the street in 260 Madison, both owned by The Sapir Organization, which is providing exterior signage as part of the new lease.

"It's a good match because of the existing relationship with the ownership," said David Falk of Newmark Knight Frank, who represented Primedia along with colleagues David Kaplansky and Scott Panzer.

Alex Sapir, who was just appointed president of the family company, handled the nine-month-long transaction himself. He ripped up the two current leases to accomplish the new, high-$30s deal plus build-out designed by the tenant. The space includes the third to sixth floors plus the ninth and tenth.

"We are thrilled to have the prestigious media company Primedia join our tenant roster," said Sapir.

Falk noted, "There is still pent-up demand for tenants looking for over 50,000 high-end feet in Midtown and Midtown South. But if someone has 20,000 feet on a mid-rise floor in a 'B' building, it's not like people are knocking down the door. There is demand in certain sectors and industries." Capiche?

The office building on top of Barney's at 660 Madison Ave. has been sold in an off-market transaction to Scott Lawlor's Broadway Partners for $220 million, or $863 a square foot.

The 255,000-square-foot building was purchased in November 2003 for $160 million by current sellers, the Brener Group of Beverly Hills, with Mermel & McClain, who have filled it with high-end high-rent-paying hedge funds. No comments all around.

Maxim Magazine, Developer Slate $1.2 billion project

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By HOWARD STUTZ

The north end of the Strip has picked up another potential tenant.

Maxim magazine and Southern California-based real estate developer Concord Wilshire Partners announced plans Monday for an estimated $1.2 billion hotel-casino themed on the best-selling men's lifestyle magazine.

The magazine's publishing company said it hoped to open a 2,300-room hotel with a 60,000-square-foot casino just north of Circus Circus and Riviera in 2010.

"It's not a themed place along the lines of New York-New York or The Venetian, but it's what we would describe as a fun, stylish and modern resort with a four-star hotel that is accessible with great service and great amenities," said Barry Pincus, director of brand development for Dennis Publishing.

Concord Wilshire spent $90.25 million last year to acquire four parcels totaling 7.65 acres, according to the Clark County Assessors Office.

The largest parcel, 5.12 acres, has an entrance off Circus Circus Drive. Two smaller parcels give the property some valuable Strip frontage while a parcel of less than half an acre expands the entrance from Circus Circus Drive.

The Maxim project is directly across Las Vegas Boulevard from where Turnberry Associates and former Mandalay Resort Group boss Glenn Schaeffer said they would build a $1.5 billion Las Vegas version of the Fontainebleau, a Miami Beach hotel.

The site is surrounded by Circus Circus's low-rise motel rooms and the hotel-casino's recreational vehicle park and is in the shadow of the 40-story Sky Las Vegas condominium tower.

Concord Wilshire Chief Executive Officer Steve Sirang did not return phone calls Monday. In a statement, the company said it has $7 billion in projects under development but is new to the hotel and casino business.

In 1988, Sirang, a former stock market trader, was convicted in federal court of seven counts of bank and wire fraud in connection with bad checks and illegal fund transfers during the 1987 stock market crash. A federal appeals court upheld the convictions in 1995.

On six of the counts, Sirang was sentenced to one year imprisonment for each conviction to be served concurrently, five years suspended sentence on one count, and five years probation with a condition that he pay $1.4 million in restitution. It is unclear whether he spent any time in prison.

Dennis Publishing is aware of Sirang's convictions.

Pincus said a hotel operator and an experienced casino operator would be brought in to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Maxim. Design of the project is still preliminary, but Pincus said 2,000 of the rooms would be designated as condominium-hotel units, rooms that are owned by private investors but turned over to the hotel management and leased to guests when not in use.

Concord Wilshire, Pincus said, would handle financing for the project.

Gaming Control Board member Mark Clayton said even if Concord Wilshire is just the landlord for the Maxim hotel-casino, some investigation may be required by Nevada regulators.

"Given the criminal conviction, it seems we would have to examine the matter even if it's just an informal review," Clayton said.

With much of the land on the Strip's south portion accounted for, development activity has begun to focus on the Strip's north end.

The Sahara is for sale, the Riviera is being sold and Boyd Gaming Corp. is planning a $4 billion redevelopment of the 63-acre Stardust site.

Morgan Joseph gaming analyst Adam Steinberg said the Maxim project is a long shot from the start.

"You have two companies with no experience in the gaming industry and it's not in a great location," Steinberg said. "The subscribers list to Maxim is a decent start to a database, but they are going to have to bring in a very experienced team to run the casino."

Rob Frankel, a national branding expert, said Maxim has surpassed Playboy as the leading men's lifestyle brand magazine. If the property is built, the brand should translate easily to a Las Vegas audience.

"Maxim is what young men in Las Vegas are all about," Frankel said. "Las Vegas and Maxim are very compatible brands, far more than Playboy. Playboy was 'it' during the Rat Pack era but they are not the voice and style of young men today."

The Maxim, based on the magazine's emphasis toward the interests of a young and affluent male audience, would seem to be in the market to compete with the Palms and Hard Rock for customers. Maxim magazine has been published in the United States since 1997 and has a circulation of more than 2.5 million.

Dennis Publishing is being paid an upfront fee for use of the Maxim name. The magazine's owner would also collect an annual fee and would share in revenues generated by hotel rooms, restaurants and retail operations.

However, Pincus said Dennis Publishing would not pursue a Nevada gaming license and will not share in the casino's gaming revenue.

"Obviously, we're still in early in the project but Maxim will be actively involved in all aspects of the development of the hotel and casino," Pincus said. "We will decide the overall look and feel of the property."

Pincus said a lounge operated by Rande Gerber, who runs the Cherry nightclub at Red Rock Resort and the Whiskey Bar at Green Valley Ranch Resort, would be part of the Maxim.

Blender magazine, a music-oriented magazine operated by Dennis Publishing, would have involvement in the indoor and outdoor concert spaces.

The name, "Maxim," is not foreign to Las Vegas. A Maxim hotel-casino, not affiliated with the magazine, operated on East Flamingo Road across from Bally's for several decades. The property is now owned by Columbia Sussex Corp. and is known as The Westin.

"We think enough time has passed so there wouldn't be any confusion," Pincus said.

Urban-Style Project Will Bring taller Buildings to Bothell

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By Nathan Hurst

After decades of spreading out, suburban Bothell is about to go up.

A $125 million mixed-use project will bring the city's first mid-rise structures - plus 400 new condominiums, office, retail and restaurant space - to an area just north of the University of Washington, Bothell campus along Beardslee Boulevard near Interstate 405.

The project could be completed as early as fall 2008.

The planned complex, dubbed Bothell Gateway, is the first project in a long-range plan to bring urban-style development to the growing city, said Jeff Smith, senior planner for the city.

"Bothell used to be just some farm fields and some dairy barns, but it's changing," he said. "This is the first time we've really gotten into what I call more urban development - high suburban, low urban."

Steve Cox, whose West Ridge Land Corp. is majority owner and manager of the project, said Bothell Gateway will include 60,000 square feet of office space in a five-story tower, with condos housed in a similar-height building.

About 90,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space will surround pedestrian plazas and parklike space in the eight-building complex.

While the development is an example of the type of growth city planners are looking for, Bothell residents and leaders have yet to decide whether they want future growth to rise even further, said Smith.

Smith said Bothell's most liberal building height limits - around 100 feet - aren't located downtown. That area instead has deliberately retained a lower profile, unlike Bellevue, which has encouraged high-rise development in much of its downtown in recent decades.

Cox, a Bothell resident of seven years, said he believes the project will bring a needed public space for commerce and socializing to the city, particularly serving the needs of students at the nearby UW and Cascadia Community College campus. He said the location near the college was appealing because of the draw for retail and restaurant tenants.

Interest from potential tenants has been strong, he said, but declined to release names of possible merchants. The 9 �-acre site's location near the Exit 24 interchange from I-405 was also appealing, Cox said. However, the project's developers will have to complete a $2.5 million road upgrade project on Beardslee Boulevard and 112th Avenue Northeast to provide access to the complex.

About $800,000 of that cost will come from public funding, he said.

Cox's company purchased part of the project's parcel from the developers of Gateway Center, a project that would have brought two office buildings to the area but folded in 2001, following funding troubles.

The new buildings and plazas will be pedestrian-focused, substantially different from developments in other suburban communities, said Phil McCullough, an architect who worked on the complex's design team at Seattle-based Hackworth Group Architecture/Planning.

"It's a really strong urban design," he said. "You can compare it to the really nice urban areas in Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond where the automobile isn't the focus. Bothell's a growing community and they need these kinds of spaces."

Cox said he sees the project as just a beginning in the city's transformation.

"I believe Bothell's been overlooked by the traditional mid- and large-scale developers," he said. "But I'm local, and this is what the city is looking for."

Condos on bill at Paris Hotel

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By Margaret Jackson

When Terrence Garrett heard rumblings two years ago that the Paris Hotel would be converted into condominiums, he rented an apartment there and moved in.

He is one of two existing tenants who will buy lofts in the renovated building at 2191 Arapahoe St. in the emerging southern edge of the Five Points neighborhood.

"I just feel like it's the oasis of Denver," said Garrett, 31, who manages Lotus Entertainment LLC and a Starbucks coffee shop. "It has a very eclectic feel, and it's a very unique property."

Constructed in 1891, the Victorian building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.

It was originally named the George Hamburger Block for its builder, a German saddler and harness maker. A residence hotel occupied its upper two floors. The ground floor held three commercial storefronts and had shotgun apartments in the rear.

In the early years, the commercial space housed a tailor, a cigar manufacturer and a brewery-supply business.

When Denver's downtown area began to boom in the 1970s, developers snapped up other properties nearby. The Paris Hotel was bought by speculators who anticipated that it would be razed for high-rise development.

The 1980s recession brought those plans to an abrupt halt.

Developer Rick Borman bought the building and adjacent lots in 1988 from Bank Western, which had repossessed it after its former owners defaulted.

The bank financed Borman's purchase and provided a construction loan to restore the crumbling building, which had become a haven for drug users. Borman, who now lives in France, turned the the old hotel into apartments, where restaurateur and community philanthropist "Daddy" Bruce Randolph once lived.

The building is undergoing its second renovation, as Borman replaces the old carpet and upgrades appliances and finishes in all 17 three-level units. The lofts range from 587 square feet to 840 square feet and will sell for $161,000 to $235,000.

Borman first offered the condos to building tenants, who were paying an average of $800 a month for the units.

Two wrote contracts, as have another two new buyers, and interest in the remaining units is high, said Alyssa Jahns, an agent with Kentwood City Properties who is marketing the condos.

Most recently, the ground- floor space has housed restaurants that took advantage of a lush interior courtyard garden. Among them were the fondly remembered La Coupole Cafe and Tiramasu, where Jahns had her wedding-rehearsal dinner.

The Buenos Aires Grill opened Tuesday in that space.

LCOR, CAlSTRS Aim for $1Bln of Apartment Investments

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LCOR and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, which last year formed a venture that invested in two East coast apartment properties, are looking to build a substantial presence in the sector.

The venture, LCOR Residential Associates has $287.5 million in equity commitments, the bulk of which comes from CalSTRS. That could be leveraged into some $1 billion in investments, which would involve the development or acquisition of properties as well as condo conversions and property redevelopments. Targeted markets would include Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York as well as other select East-coast areas.

When the venture was formed last year, it was seeded with $100 million in equity.

The venture is developing North Bethesda Center, a mixed-use property on a 32-acre site in North Bethesda, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C. The first phase of the property will encompass a 312-unit residential component and a 65,200-square-foot grocery store, which combined will cost $110 million to complete. The entire development will have 1,250 apartment units, 1 million sf of office space and 202,000 sf of retail space.

LCOR and CalSTRS last year paid $73 million for a vacant building at 225 E. 34^th St. that is being redeveloped into the Charleston, a 191-unit residential condominium project. Before that, it paid $61 million for Ravens Crest, a 444-unit apartment property in Manassas, Va.

LCOR, a Berwyn, Pa., developer, has had a relationship with CalSTRS since 2003.

Trump Tower Financing Hits that Gray Phase

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By Michael Hinman

Staff Writer

TAMPA - Three months have passed since ground was broken for Trump Tower Tampa on Ashley Drive. And as the foundation nears completion and developers look to go vertical, two crucial questions remain: Who is going to build the 52-story structure and where is the money coming from?

Those questions have been asked in abundance by observers, even fueling speculation once again that the $225 million project is in jeopardy. Ask anyone at SimDag LLC, the company partnering with The Trump Organization on the tower, however they'll say there's nothing to worry about.

"You've got to remember that the sales response for this project, even after (a unit price) increase, has been phenomenal," said David Hooks, spokesman for the Trump Tower Tampa project. "The foundation work is continuing, and because of that, there's an opportunity to improve the terms of the financing being negotiated. The developers are taking that opportunity to finalize the best terms possible."

Still waiting for the announcement

When the ceremonial groundbreaking took place March 2, SimDag CEO Frank Dagostino admitted higher costs for construction material pushed the overall price tag of the tower by $75 million. While SimDag was able to eat some of those increases, more than $40 million had to be passed on to condominium buyers looking to buy units for between $700,000 and $6 million.

At the same time, however, Dagostino said two different financing companies were being approached to foot $200 million, with SimDag investing the other $20 million. He declined to reveal the names of those companies but said they would be named before the month ended.

Keeping the financial backers under wraps has nothing to do with the overall viability of the project, Hooks said. It's all about getting the best deal, something Kimberly Graham, a senior VP at Bank of America, said is very possible.

"It's different with all of our developers," said Graham, who works in the bank's commercial real estate division. "Some of our developers will start construction before we close a loan because they want to get started. Usually, though, they won't start until after closing."

Condominium construction, especially in Florida, remains big business, and there is a lot of money available in the financial market for projects like this, Graham said.

"Presales take care of that," she said. "If you get a reasonable deposit, that normally satisfies any concerns."

Should be no surprise

Even with a price increase at Trump Tower Tampa, nearly all the buyers were retained, Hooks said. Knowing foundation work won't be completed until August, SimDag officials decided there was time to try and work the best deal while continuing presales of a select number of the 192 units.

The same has been said for finding a contractor, which SimDag has been looking for since ending Turner Construction's involvement in April.

SimDag officials, however, shouldn't be too surprised that these issues are fueling speculation of an early demise to the project, said Byron Moger, senior director of the Capital Markets Group of Cushman & Wakefield.

"There's definitely enough turmoil in the retail condominium market that it's not surprising that people are questioning transactions," Moger said. "But if they continue to have the presales that have been announced, then there shouldn't be any problem in getting financing."

Trump Tower Tampa is one of a half dozen Trump-themed projects under construction or recently completed in Florida. They include the Trump Grande Ocean Resort & Residences in the Miami area; two projects in Fort Lauderdale: Trump International Hotel & Tower and Trump Las Olas Ocean Resort & Residences; Trump Hollywood in South Florida; and a trio of 45-story towers in Sunny Isles Beach.

Everywhere you turn ...

When Trump Tower Tampa is completed in late 2008, it will be just six stories shorter than the famous Trump Tower in New York City that was completed 25 years earlier. However, the two cities will hardly be unique in having "Trump Towers."

More than a dozen other Trump Towers are being built or already finished in various cities across the country and overseas. The largest one by far is Trump Tower Chicago, which will be the second largest tower in the city at 92 stories when it's finished, around the same time as Tampa's, at an estimated cost of $750 million. That's 20 stories larger than Trump World Tower in New York City, which had its 72 stories completed in 2001 for $300 million.

Other projects are under way in Philadelphia, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Toronto and even Panama City, Panama. Probably one of the most unique-looking designs is coming out of the Middle East where a 48-story tower that looks like it just stepped out of a science-fiction film is expected to be completed in Dubai for $600 million by the end of 2009. That design recently replaced the original plans drawn up in 2004 that would have constructed a Trump Tower that resembled a blooming tulip.

$100Mln Condo Project to Rise in New Orleans City Center

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A group of New Orleans developers has announced plans for a $100 million condominium project in New Orleans' Central City. The land, once intended for a grocery store, sits at the corner of Felicity and Carondelet streets. Elie Khoury purchased the five-acre property for $7 million. The project will include 765 units in three buildings and a handful of service-oriented retailers. All three of the buildings will have underground parking.

$400M Project in Brookhaven

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By Lisa R. Schoolcraft Staff Writer The Sembler Co. plans two major regional power centers in metro Atlanta, including a massive project near Oglethorpe University. The St. Petersburg, Fla.-based developer will build a mixed-use center on Peachtree Road near Cross Keys Drive. To be called Brookhaven Place, the $400 million project will have 1,200 residential units, in a mix of apartments, mid-rise condominiums and townhouses. In addition, it will have 600,000 square feet of retail space, 15 restaurants, and a five-story, 150,000-square-foot class A office tower, said Jeff Fuqua, Sembler's president of development in Atlanta. "This is the largest piece of land that existed on Peachtree [Road] since they built the [Phipps Plaza and Lenox Square] malls," he said. "It's a true, mixed-use project on this site." Brookhaven Place should be complete in 30 months, Fuqua said. Sembler, which has also built Perimeter Place, Lindbergh Plaza, and Edgewood Retail District, wants to use many of the elements from each of those projects in Brookhaven, Fuqua said. "It will be twice the size of Lindbergh, but will have the feel of Perimeter." "This section of Peachtree is really great, but the commercial along that corridor is really ratty," he said. "This is going to change the dynamics of that whole corridor. This is going to do what Edgewood and Lindbergh do, spur a lot of other quality investment in the corridor." Dawsonville development Sembler is also planning a 626,699-square-foot power shopping center in Dawsonville, north of Atlanta, on the southwest corner of Dawson Forest Road and Georgia 400. Possible tenants for that center include Target, Kohl's, Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls, Belk, Lowe's, Best Buy, Michael's, Staples, PetSmart, and seven out parcels, according to the company's conceptual site plan. "This is a large-scale development near the Premium Outlet Mall," Fuqua said. None of the potential tenants have committed yet to the Dawsonville project but "we have a ton of tenant commitment." Sembler expects to close on the Dawsonville land at the end of the year and open the power center 15 months after that, he said. Sembler's plans in Brookhaven and Dawsonville highlight trends discussed in Marcus & Millichap's retail research report for the first quarter, which said retail is continuing to follow redevelopment in downtown areas of Atlanta. Retail is also following residential development into Atlanta's far suburbs, the report said. Development of new multitenant retail space should continue "at a brisk pace this year, reaching 6 million square feet after 5.9 million square feet were completed in 2005," the report said. The Peachtree Corners/Norcross submarket will be fastest-growing as big-box stores and retail centers are built in Buford, Lawrenceville and Lilburn, the report said. Development will also reach into the southern suburbs "with big-box retailers leading the charge" into areas such as Peachtree City and Stockbridge, the report said. Brookhaven Place will be developed on 50 acres Sembler bought May 1. The property is now occupied by the 523-unit Peachtree Garden apartments. Sembler Bell Brookhaven LLC, a joint venture between Sembler and Greensboro, N.C.-based Steven D. Bell & Co., bought the land from Richard Garber, CEO of Peachtree Garden Apartments Inc., for $66 million, according Alan Wexler, president of Databank Inc., an Atlanta commercial real estate research firm. That averages out to $1.3 million an acre. Breaking the mold Fuqua said he does not have retail tenant commitments at Brookhaven, but Target, a frequent big-box retailer in Sembler projects, won't be one of them. "But it's going to be upper-end retail," he said. "Probably the best retail mix we think you can have. We're going to break the mold on this one. We've learned a lot from other deals we've done around the country." Brookhaven Place "will be more vertical, with more parking deck than the others," Fuqua said. "We're taking the best elements from the projects we've done from Florida to here and putting them to use. This will be more lifestyle retail." Most of the residential units will be built by well-known residential developers, he said, "But we haven't signed anyone yet." But the Brookhaven Homeowners and Neighborhood Business Alliance has some concerns about displacing the working class residents at Peachtree Garden apartment for higher-end housing, said Kevin Hughley, the Alliance's president. "We try to look at what developments are coming to Brookhaven and that they not have a negative impact," he said. Peachtree Gardens is roughly 60 percent Hispanic and 40 percent African-American and all are working-class people "who don't make a bunch of money," Hughley said. Rent at the apartments run from $500 to $700 per month. "We hope that Sembler makes sure the housing will fit all income levels," he said. "The size of the project is going to be a concern, too, and the impact it will have on the neighborhood." The alliance is taking a positive view of Brookhaven Place "but we have concerns we think need to be addressed," Hughley said.

 

Record Sales Boost Toronto Real Estate

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Home sales in the Toronto, Canada, metro area reached an all-time high in May, as prices continued to grow, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported today. The 9,434 transactions that took place last month were 2 percent higher than May 2005 and nearly 2 percent above the previous monthly record of 9,275 sales set in June 2004, according to TREB. "This result is very positive for a number of reasons," said TREB President John Meehan. "We are seeing strong sales totals, yet the pace is very steady and controlled, which is a good sign. This speaks to the overall health of the (Greater Toronto area) housing market." The Scarborough waterfront was one of the most active areas during the month, as Guildwood and Scarborough Village saw 33 percent more transactions than during May of last year. A strong increase in sales of condominiums and townhomes helped fuel the increase, though the majority of transactions were detached homes. Willowdale, in North Toronto, saw 25 percent more homes change hands than during May 2005, with condominiums showing the largest increase of any housing type. Immediately north of Willowdale just outside Toronto city limits, Thornhill showed a 34 percent increase in overall sales compared to last May. The average price of an existing home in the metro area rose to $365,537 in May, up 5.5 percent from $346,474 reported a year ago. The Toronto Real Estate Board serves more than 23,000 Realtors throughout the Greater Toronto area.

Luxury Condo Project for Sale in Philadelphia

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By: Natalie Kostelni

Mariner Commercial Properties has put 1441 Chestnut St., a luxury condominium tower project across from Philadelphia City Hall that has yet to be developed, on the market. While no asking price has been set, the land and the approved project could sell for as much as $60 million, according to one estimate. The building would cost about $300 million to construct.

Developer Tim Mahoney's Mariner company of Ardmore, Pa., and local philanthropist Brook Lenfest recently received approvals and settled a five-year legal dispute surrounding the 58-story, 844,000-square-foot building. Once completed, it would be the tallest residential building in the city. The site is 22,433 square feet.

The project, called 1441 Chestnut St., will include 279 condominiums, a 4,000-square-foot spa and a 6,000 square-foot rooftop sun deck with pool. The Mariner project will also carve out room for high-end retail and a restaurant facing Chestnut Street.

Mariner also retained an option to include a 160-room hotel. If the hotel is incorporated, it would reduce the number of condo units to 208. A ground breaking was expected by January 2007. Whether that will remain as a target date would be up to a new owner.

With the legal dispute resolved and zoning approvals in place, Mariner has received unsolicited offers to buy the project. "It seems that some of the largest real estate developers in the country are as bullish on Philadelphia's future as we are," Mahoney said in a statement.

Mariner retained CB Richard Ellis (NYSE: CBG) to explore all of the potential opportunities regarding the project, including its outright sale.

"It's arguably the premier development site in the city based on what's planned and what can be developed," said Robert Fahey, an investment broker with CB Richard Ellis who is marketing the project. "It's a very well thought-out project and has received a lot of interest."

Arden Group of Philadelphia has plans to construct a competing $250 million, 48-story building that is being marketed as the Residence at the Ritz Carlton. It would be located at the former One Meridian site, which sits adjacent to 1441 Chestnut.

Proposed $3 billion Las Vegas Development Scrapped as Market Softens

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LAS VEGAS - The site of a proposed $3 billion hotel, condominium and casino complex backed by George Clooney has been sold to a competitor, the latest in a series of high-rise projects here that have been scrapped before groundbreaking.

Real estate developer Related Las Vegas and its partners - Las Vegas-based Centra Properties and Clooney's business partner, nightclub owner Rande Gerber - told The Associated Press they have scrapped plans to build the "vintage Vegas" resort and plan to return condo reservation deposits on Monday.

Edge Group, developers of the adjacent W Las Vegas condominium-hotel project, paid Related and its partners $202 million  for the 25-acre site - more than twice what Related paid a year ago for the plot just off the Las Vegas Strip.

Related Las Vegas President Marty Burger said rising construction costs and slowed sales forced the group to rethink its 4,400-unit complex. A redesign that added more hotel rooms to the mix would have meant adding more casino space, he said.

"For us, it became more about gaming than the residential community we were trying to build," Burger said. "We're the largest developer of residential property in the country, and we saw ourselves getting away from what we do best."

When first announced in August, Clooney pitched the project, to be called Las Ramblas, as a resort with a classic, tuxedo-and-martini feel. Clooney said he was disappointed by the sale, and hasn't given up on real estate.

"I'll donate my profits from the sale to the African Debt Relief Project," Clooney said in a statement. "And I guess I'll find someplace else to gamble."

Edge Group said it plans to develop an upscale, boutique hotel-casino complex, noting it will now control 50 acres in the immediate area. "We can control what the identity is there," said Adam Frank, president of Edge Group.

Related Las Vegas - the local development arm of The Related Companies in New York and The Related Group of Florida - made a splash in the Las Vegas market last year, announcing plans for the 11-tower Las Ramblas, the two-tower Icon condominium complex and a master plan for the heart of the city's urban renewal effort.

Talks with the city fell apart and Icon was canceled in January.

Las Ramblas was named for a fashionable and pedestrian-friendly area in Barcelona, Spain, that boasts a promenade and cafes. The fates of several condo projects are uncertain and others have been canceled in the past year, according to Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas real-estate research firm.

What's Next For the Real-Estate Market?

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 By Lauren Baier Kim

Here's a look at what's new in real-estate markets across the U.S. from around the Web. (Some links may require registration or subscriptions.)

A tale of three housing markets

The metropolitan real-estate market in the U.S. can be split up into three distinct categories, says The Advocate, in an article that reports upon the findings of Christopher Cagan, director of research and analytics for First American Real Estate Solutions.

Click Here to Read More.

Phoenix Apartment Complex Sells for $9.2 M

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Biltmore Palms Apartments, located near the intersection of 24th Street and Indian School Road, has been sold for nearly $9.2 million and is headed for condominium conversion.

The 106-unit apartment complex, built in 1982, totals 84,570 square feet. It was sold by Biltmore Palms LLC of Carmichael, Calif., to Biltmore Condominiums at the Palms LLC, with Brett Polachek and Todd Braun of Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona's Southwest Apartment Group handling the transaction.

According to Polachek, the new owner plans to renovate both the interior and exterior of the property and offer it for sale as condominiums.

The apartment complex is located at 2625 E. Indian School Road.

Cushman & Wakefield is a privately held real estate services firm with 189 offices in 57 countries around the world.

Phoenix apartment complex sells for $9.2M

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Biltmore Palms Apartments, located near the intersection of 24th Street and Indian School Road, has been sold for nearly $9.2 million and is headed for condominium conversion.

The 106-unit apartment complex, built in 1982, totals 84,570 square feet. It was sold by Biltmore Palms LLC of Carmichael, Calif., to Biltmore Condominiums at the Palms LLC, with Brett Polachek and Todd Braun of Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona's Southwest Apartment Group handling the transaction.

According to Polachek, the new owner plans to renovate both the interior and exterior of the property and offer it for sale as condominiums.

The apartment complex is located at 2625 E. Indian School Road.

Cushman & Wakefield is a privately held real estate services firm with 189 offices in 57 countries around the world.

Fifth Avenue Apartments Going Condo

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Fifth Avenue Apartments in St. Petersburg has been sold to Vision 193 LLC for $16.5 million. The price represents $85,492 per unit and $103.62 per square foot. Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co. handled the sale for both buyer and seller.

Fifth Avenue Apartments, built in 1969, is a 193-unit garden-style apartment community with eight 4-story buildings on 6 acres.

The units were delivered to the buyer free of debt and Vision 193 intends to convert the apartments to condos, Marcus & Millichap said in a release.

Luxury Condo Project for Sale in Phila

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By: Natalie Kostelni

Mariner Commercial Properties has put 1441 Chestnut St., a luxury condominium tower project across from Philadelphia City Hall that has yet to be developed, on the market. While no asking price has been set, the land and the approved project could sell for as much as $60 million, according to one estimate. The building would cost about $300 million to construct.

Developer Tim Mahoney's Mariner company of Ardmore, Pa., and local philanthropist Brook Lenfest recently received approvals and settled a five-year legal dispute surrounding the 58-story, 844,000-square-foot building. Once completed, it would be the tallest residential building in the city. The site is 22,433 square feet.

The project, called 1441 Chestnut St., will include 279 condominiums, a 4,000-square-foot spa and a 6,000 square-foot rooftop sun deck with pool. The Mariner project will also carve out room for high-end retail and a restaurant facing Chestnut Street.

Mariner also retained an option to include a 160-room hotel. If the hotel is incorporated, it would reduce the number of condo units to 208. A ground breaking was expected by January 2007. Whether that will remain as a target date would be up to a new owner.

With the legal dispute resolved and zoning approvals in place, Mariner has received unsolicited offers to buy the project. "It seems that some of the largest real estate developers in the country are as bullish on Philadelphia's future as we are," Mahoney said in a statement.

Mariner retained CB Richard Ellis (NYSE: CBG) to explore all of the potential opportunities regarding the project, including its outright sale.

"It's arguably the premier development site in the city based on what's planned and what can be developed," said Robert Fahey, an investment broker with CB Richard Ellis who is marketing the project. "It's a very well thought-out project and has received a lot of interest."

Arden Group of Philadelphia has plans to construct a competing $250 million, 48-story building that is being marketed as the Residence at the Ritz Carlton. It would be located at the former One Meridian site, which sits adjacent to 1441 Chestnut.

Condo prices jump $90K

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By IAN WILSON

City condos jumped an average of nearly $90,000 in value over the last year, pushing prices to their highest levels ever, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Stats released by CREB today show the average condo price in May rose 49% from the same month of 2005 to a record $270,861.

From April to May, condominium values increased an average of 5.6%.

The number of condos changing hands was also up for the month, climbing from 861 a year ago to 1,001 last month.

Activity in the condo market was echoed by the entire home realty sector.

There were 3,550 combined residential sales in May, another record for the month, and the average sale price soared 43% from $249,719 in May 2005 to $358,214 last month.

"The Calgary and regional real estate market continues to unfold with numbers predictable to the strong economic climate," said CREBpresident Kevin Clark.

"With the summer market soon upon us, we would anticipate a softening of unit numbers in the weeks ahead, but the prices to remain on a positive trajectory."

Single-family homes made up the bulk of the sales, accounting for 71% of all realty transactions in the city.

The average price for single-family dwellings is creeping towards the $400,000 mark.

After rising 43% from a year ago, it now sits at $396,694.

In the single-family category, just over 58% of people bought within the $300,000-$499,000 range.

The luxury market also continues to zoom along -there were 48 single-family homes valued at $900,000 or greater bought in May, compared to 21 sales for the same month of 2005.

So far in 2006, there have been 196 sales in that area, up from 89 during the first five months of last year.

And those who like their space and can afford to pay for it also boosted rural sales.

A rural home in Calgary jumped from an average of $488,522 last year to $786,477.

Just buying rural land now costs an average of slightly less than $500,000.

Meanwhile, even mobile home values are escalating.

The average sale price for a mobile home in May 2005 was $35,831 - it now sits at $41,880.

To Market, To Market, To Buy: Condo Hotel Overview

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By Marion  Edward

While condo hotels and variations thereof in the fractional ownership market are expanding in brand affiliation, geographical offerings and emerging residence alternatives such as private residence clubs and deeded destination clubs, the plethora of choices has necessitated ongoing educational seminars to offer advice to developers, financiers, prospective owners and managers and service providers to this niche industry. Information Management Network ("IMN") offered its biannual symposium 2nd Annual Florida Symposium on Financing, Developing & Operating Condo Hotels at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida May 22-23. The two-day conference attracted more than 650 attendees from the national and international sectors and featured practical working sessions for participants attending the moderated panels and presentations. The Hollywood conference featured 28 sessions including specialized programming for New/Prospective Owners, Small Property Owners, In-Depth Regional Market Roundtables; Unit Rental Management, Sales Compliance.

Workshop Leader for the Condo 101 Panel and Session Chair for the Amenities agenda, David J. Schwartz, managing principal, The Management Consortium, Inc. Hospitality Advisory Services based right there in Hollywood comments: "I grew up in the business," Schwartz notes, "When I was 8, I handed out towels at the pool deck to people like Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. My family's background was resort hotels. This is the kind of business you love or hate because it's 24/7. My circle included many apartment and Condominium developers who never did hotels. It was only natural that I became an Advisor to them on Condo Hotel development."

Schwartz discusses some basic differences between condo hotels and hotels: "With condo hotels, you're dealing with guests and owners. Owners believe they can go any place, do whatever they want, and at no extra charge-They think they own it all.Thus the average hotel manager is not equipped to deal with this and often fail. In fact, in Florida you must have a CAM(Community Association Management license. Some will have separate buildings for the condo portion and the hotel."

Regarding branding, Schwartz continues: "Some areas like South Beach, Florida are considered brands unto themselves. Most of South Beach hotels are not branded and have their own cachet People from certain walks of life identify with that. In this case, the area becomes the brand. Adding a hotel brand on top of that may or may not give the hotel saleability. Banks believe hotel brands lend saleability and thus be a good loan candidate.

Schwartz recalls: "Back in the late 90s when I was part of a real estate and hospitality group based in NYC, I would see the same people flying down to Florida every Fri night and flying back up Monday morning. If I am coming down to Florida a lot and spending $250 a night on a hotel, while pulling in $.5 million on Wall Street, I can buy a condo (which can be the very same room) and not only have a place to stay but also own something that appreciates in value.The people who buy these things are not stupid.They know the management company will rent it out when you're not there."

On the subject of brands, Schwartz comments: "Brands have a large guest data base and sophisticated reservation systems. The brand is the flag- the identity of the project. Some won't give you the right to their brand without hiring their company to manage the site. (You can also hire a third party to manage your property or do it yourself.) Flags cost a lot of money, and therein lie some of the problems: PIP (property improvement program)-you have to be able to afford that flag. The paradox is: brands are going to cost you as a developer, and you have to determine if the brand will be profitable after you do your PIP to bring it up to brand standards. Most condo developers look to sell out a project and this is a way, they believe they can have an enhanced product and sell it faster. With hard contracts, the bank will give the funding. Speed is of the essence since you, as the developer, have your money tied up in stages. You want to work with OPMs (Other People's Money). The objective is to get the development 40-50% sold out."

On the subject of sales, Schwartz notes: " Most Condominium Developers only care about selling units.not about the running of the hotel condo. Hotels are most often apartments with hotel amenities." Schwartz adds that in Miami Beach owners did indeed sell hotel rooms as opposed to apartments in the 40s, following a pattern that still is in vogue in Latin America and Europe. SEC regulations in the USA changed that. Schwartz notes: "The successful hotel brand will always yield a bigger market for renting hotel rooms. . .it is chic to say you have an apartment at The Ritz Carlton. . . ." Schwartz points out, "Along with that, you have a definitive high level of FF&E and services."

When it comes to service, Schwartz is more guarded: "Five-star service: Everybody claims that's what they are presenting but nobody knows what that service involves. At the upper levels of service, there is a greater proportion of staff to guest ratio, and only at that high level do brands substantially invest in training."

Service is a part of branding, and Schwartz notes brands help drive sales. "Buyers don't know from standards. They invest in a name, e.g., the Trump brand draws. The Trump organization does its own standards enforcement." Schwartz explains, "That's when the brand is actually important: to make money."

There are different branding arrangements as well. Schwartz says: "In Florida and some other states, you can be a CHA (the highest designation of hotel training) but that doesn't mean you can manage a condo hotel. One of the necessary requirements in Florida is CAM (Community Association Manager's) license in Florida. Even if you were from The Pierre in NYC, it doesn't mean you are licensed to run a condo hotel." Schwartz notes requirements vary but that most training is through experience. "It's a matter of licensing more companies and practicing good managememt," Schwartz comments.

You can brand your own management; buy the brand and have a third party use their company management or use the brand's management company. The brand's property management company often puts investment rights of its brand and a percentage of ownership into the management contract. Schwartz believes management companies today should share some of the risk as well as the rewards.

Additionally, owners need to find something unique to sell. The typical condo hotel needs to have at least a kitchenette "even to make a cup of coffee in AM or nuke a corn muffin," says Schwartz as he adds,

The condo hotel industry segment as we know it today is still experimental in many ways. "History is still being written in all these things.all the answers are not there yet but will unfold as more and more hotel properties come aboard."

Session Chair for the Private Residences, David M. Disick, Esq., president of David M. Disick & Associates capital raising and business planning for development, explained the difference between condo hotels and private residence clubs (PRCs):

"The PRC is a higher, upscale form of fractional ownership and usually single site.I've spent time researching city clubs and the club industry in America at the high end resort development. PRCs offer the same real use of home ownership at a fraction of the price. Options are non equity; indirect equity."

Disick points out: "Non-equity and indirect equity are generally multi-site clubs of single family homes, but there is no individual fractional fee simple real estate interest."

Disick has created an alternative ownership structure with Elysian Deeded Destination Club. Owner-Members own a fractional fee, simple real estate interest in the vacation home of their choice with priority use rights in that home plus use rights throughout the network. Thus, Owner-Members can have all the advantages of individual real estate ownership such as mortgage financing leverage, ability to sell their interest on the open market through real estate brokers whenever and to whomever they wish and benefits of potential real estate appreciation without feeling tied down to only one vacation property.

Moreover, under Disick's structure where acquisition of homes is phased according to membership sales, investors have secure hard asset values in the cost of the real estate."

Disick says, "There are interesting synergies between Private Residence Clubs and Deeded Destination Clubs on the one hand and the hotel condo upscale products as they appear to investment motivation." Disick notes with regard to the PRC and Deeded Destination Clubs: "While people want it to appreciate, it's really a personal use product." All options to residential alternatives are quickly becoming a mega segment which Disick believes "if you market them together, there will be economies of scale and management."

Disick illustrates the phenomenon of a return to urban sites as competitive purchase options for suburbanites and/or business clients. "DC and NY.are a reflection of the current lifestyle buzz," he says. "They're good for business or suburbanites' desire to eat drink and be merry on the weekends."

As a Panel participant on the financing involved in the condo marketplace, Disick notes: "We need to demystify the business of raising money. Everyone asks, "How do you raise money?" I reply: "Hotels sell rooms, airlines sell travel; banks sell money. Rather than genuflect before the authority figure, the developer is responsible for generating the confidence of the capital sources in his commitment to the project and his business plan."

Disick refers to his recent publication, "The Art and Science of Raising Capital for Developers" and recommends: "As an art, commit your passion for your deal. With the science, anticipate every possible thing that might go wrong. Show this to investor. Lay out the plan in detail." Attendees' interests centered around the exploration of financing options, development alternatives, security concerns and sales and marketing recommendations.

Disick illustrates that versus the 50% traditional costs of sales and marketing for the timeshare segment, the Deeded Destination Club varies between approximately 10% for a club of single-family residences or up to 15-20% for a multi-unit project..

Disick also illustrates the importance of the Relationship sales. Disick advises: When you learn the ins and outs of the client's psyche, you discover what they are looking for.there's a dynamic established that can be cultivated." Disick has many strategies for creating a sense of urgency after establishing the client bond, and he advises those interested in this aspect of hospitality services to keep themselves apprised of opportunities by attending and conducting seminars such as the May Florida event.

Disick also believes the subject of service is the distinguishing characteristic that complements upscale properties. "Generate a feeling of belonging" for the owner. This can vary from airport pickup to specific family celebrations and commemorative Tiffany personalized gifts or monogrammed skis/golf bags, or choosing to devote a portion of profits to charity...

The segue to out of the box thinking was actually a programmed topic to conclude IMN's two-day seminar, and Steven Ferry, Founder and Chairman of the International Institute of Modern Butlers was one of the panelists. Commenting on the panel, and previous presentations, Ferry notes that everyone is trying to articulate the concept of "home" for this niche of the hospitality industry. Ferry says, "It should be a slam dunk!" Of course, the butler concept is not a top-of-mind awareness in the USA, and seems to be somewhat alien to the pragmatic outlook of Americans. However, for those who regard this aspect of service conducive to the cultivation of the wow factor and the sizzle in service, the butler concept seems consistent with the fact that investors in this aspect of hospitality are investing, often, in second "homes" as well as in a security/investment.

For Ferry, marble baths and luxurious appointments are not the essence of the upscale sector; they're expected. "Service is private," and such amenities as spa, personal treatments and skills a butler brings occur within the personal space, "en suite". "Butlers have what it takes for the wow factor," quips Ferry. "They create the home within the hospitality environment." At the international level, butler service is a traditional part of cultures; it's only in the USA it needs to be cultivated as a non-intrusive component to the upscale residential sector.

As residential alternatives expand and investor expectations become more defined, the emergence of more sophisticated product and service offerings will guarantee a better quality of life as well as a more clearly defined differentiation of the client experience.

Beacon Capital Seen as Buyer of San Francisco's Rincon Center

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By Jillian S. Ambroz, Commercial Real Estate Direct Senior Writer Beacon Capital Partners LLC is said to be buying the sprawling mixed-use office and residential complex in San Francisco known as Rincon Center. The Boston investment firm is believed to be paying about $275 million for the 1.2 million-square-foot complex near the waterfront in the city's Financial District. Beacon declined to comment. The property, which consists of about 533,000 sf of commercial space and 320 apartments in three buildings, is being sold by a venture between Blackstone Real Estate Advisors and Glenborough Realty Trust. It went on the market late last year through Eastdil Secured. At the time, the residential and office portions were being offered separately, according to sources. The office portion was expected to pull in between $150 million and $200 million, while the residential portion .quot; shopped as a condo-conversion play .quot; was valued at north of $77 million, based on area comparables. The Blackstone venture acquired the property in 1999 through foreclosure from lender Citigroup. The venture acquired the land beneath the buildings from the U.S. Postal Service before the property's loan went into default. Rincon Center was constructed in two phases in the late 1980s by Perini Group and Pacific Gateway Properties for an estimated $200 million. Three years ago, the Blackstone venture tried to shop the complex through Eastdil, but pulled it off the market when it didn't reach its strike price of $175 million. At that point, the property was refinanced with an $83 million loan that was securitized through GS Mortgage Securities Corp. II, 2003-GSFL VI. The loan matures in August. The property is also encumbered by $37 million in mezzanine debt. Rincon Center consists of a five-story office building at 101 Spear St. and two 22-story office and multifamily towers at 121 Spear St. and 88 Howard. The office portion totals about 470,000 sf, with ground-floor retail totaling about 63,591 sf. The property also has an underground parking garage. It occupies a full city block bounded by Mission, Howard, Spear and Steuart streets. The property's office occupancy rate was about 90 percent at the end of 2005, according to Realpoint. But the property is facing the possibility of major lease roll-over in the next year. Pacific Bell Directory, the largest tenant at the property, recently renewed its lease through 2013, but downsized its space to 163,889 sf from 203,824 sf. The second-largest tenant, National Union of Fire Insurance, occupies about 30 percent of the office space and is facing a lease expiration in July 2007. The upside is the San Francisco office market is on the upswing. Asking rents climbed 8 percent to $31.16/sf in the first quarter of 2006, compared to $28.85/sf a year ago. And vacancy dropped to 14.2 percent in the quarter from 15.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005, and 19.4 percent for the first quarter of last year. About 838,000 sf of space was absorbed this year through March, according to Reis Inc., building upon last year's 3.6 million sf of absorption. If a sale goes through, it would be an unusual buy for Beacon, which primarily invests in high-profile office properties. But the firm is branching out a bit into the residential sector with a condominium project in Seattle and some residential development in the Fort Point Channel area along Boston's waterfront.

Goldman Sachs Lends $224.3Mln for Miami Development

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Goldman Sachs Commercial Mortgage Capital has provided $224.25 million in financing for Downtown Dadeland, a mixed-use development in Miami. The property, which is still under development, will have seven mid-rise buildings on a 7.43-acre site. The project includes 126,448 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space, 416 residential condominiums and a two-level underground parking garage with 900 spaces. The residential condos are 90 percent pre-sold, while the retail space is about 50 percent pre-leased. The Goldman financing takes out $125 million in construction debt that was provided two years ago by GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp. and KeyBank Real Estate Capital. GMAC is now known as CapMark. Its Boca Raton, Fla., office arranged the financing. A total of $180 million of the Goldman debt was funded, with the remaining $44.25 million to be funded over the coming two years. The financing has a two-year term, but could be extended for a third year. The property is being developed by a venture led by Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a real estate fund that targets investments in minority neighborhoods and is backed by basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Canyon-Johnson committed to invest $40 million in the development. The site of the project was purchased four years ago by Gulfside Development for $22 million. The site previously housed an auto dealership and is bordered by North Kendall Drive, South Dadeland Boulevard and US-1, across from the Dadeland Mall, one of the country's top-performing malls.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Goldman Sachs Commercial Mortgage Capital has provided $224.25 million in financing for Downtown Dadeland, a mixed-use development in Miami. The property, which is still under development, will have seven mid-rise buildings on a 7.43-acre site. The project includes 126,448 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space, 416 residential condominiums and a two-level underground parking garage with 900 spaces. The residential condos are 90 percent pre-sold, while the retail space is about 50 percent pre-leased. The Goldman financing takes out $125 million in construction debt that was provided two years ago by GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp. and KeyBank Real Estate Capital. GMAC is now known as CapMark. Its Boca Raton, Fla., office arranged the financing. A total of $180 million of the Goldman debt was funded, with the remaining $44.25 million to be funded over the coming two years. The financing has a two-year term, but could be extended for a third year. The property is being developed by a venture led by Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a real estate fund that targets investments in minority neighborhoods and is backed by basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Canyon-Johnson committed to invest $40 million in the development. The site of the project was purchased four years ago by Gulfside Development for $22 million. The site previously housed an auto dealership and is bordered by North Kendall Drive, South Dadeland Boulevard and US-1, across from the Dadeland Mall, one of the country's top-performing malls.

Elad Properties to Pay $142Mln for Manhattan Condo Conversion

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Elad Properties has agreed to buy Citigroup's building at 250 West St. in Manhattan for $142 million. The 371,000-square-foot property with a landmarked fa�ade will likely be leased back by the financial services giant for two years while plans to convert the property to luxury residential condominiums are solidified. Sources say the retail and residential conversion would entail 250,000 sf that would garner well over $1,000/sf. The property was marketed by Cushman & Wakefield.

Condo Site Forms German Website Link

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Posted on Sat, May. 20, 2006

US Condo Exchange, which markets and sells condominiums online, announced it has formed a strategic alliance with German real estate website, ImmobilienScott24.

The site, which means

PropertyScout24 in English, will show condominium listings marketed by the Coconut Grove-based company.

US Condo Exchange co-founder and Chief Financial Officer James Haft said the move is part of a larger strategy to market and sell condos internationally. The company previously inked a similar listing agreement with Primelocation, an online real estate portal in the United Kingdom.

Hoping the Sizzle Will Sell the Steak in Condo Slowdown

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May 31, 2006

By Christine Haughney
From The Wall Street Journal Online

At a party in Fort Lauderdale last month, guests in clingy cocktail dresses grooved on stage with singer Wyclef Jean and even tried to pull off his black-and-baby-pink striped tie.

A week later, in Las Vegas, party-goers attended a reception hosted by actress Pamela Anderson, who was surrounded by a small army of models dressed in black bikinis, white hard hats, tool belts and yellow "Do Not Cross" construction tape.

Last Tuesday night, a half dozen invited guests attended an exclusive Manhattan screening of "The Devil Wears Prada" with the movie's star, actress Meryl Streep, among others, before attending a dinner and charity auction of clothing worn in the movie.

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Hoping the Sizzle Will Sell the Steak in Condo Slowdown

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May 31, 2006

By Christine Haughney
From The Wall Street Journal Online

At a party in Fort Lauderdale last month, guests in clingy cocktail dresses grooved on stage with singer Wyclef Jean and even tried to pull off his black-and-baby-pink striped tie.

A week later, in Las Vegas, party-goers attended a reception hosted by actress Pamela Anderson, who was surrounded by a small army of models dressed in black bikinis, white hard hats, tool belts and yellow "Do Not Cross" construction tape.

Last Tuesday night, a half dozen invited guests attended an exclusive Manhattan screening of "The Devil Wears Prada" with the movie's star, actress Meryl Streep, among others, before attending a dinner and charity auction of clothing worn in the movie.

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Hot Housing Markets Start to Cool, While Others Being to Heat Up

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May 25, 2006

By Amy Hoak
From Marketwatch

If you hang your hat in Hanover, N.H., the value of your home is not growing as much as it once was. But own a place in "Steady Eddie" Overland Park, Kan., and its rate of appreciation is just as it always has been: consistent.

"It does not fluctuate tremendously," said Karen Bergin, a Coldwell Banker broker in the community not far from Kansas City, Mo. "It doesn't seem to change no matter what's going on in the economy." The area is used to its modest 4% to 6% appreciation rate over the past 12 to 18 months, she said.

Hanover, however, is bracing for appreciation rates of 5% to 7% this year, said Ned Redpath, an area broker. The rates are more realistic than last year's appreciation, which hovered around 12% to 15%, he said.

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Hot Housing Markets Start to Cool, While Others Being to Heat Up

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May 25, 2006

By Amy Hoak
From Marketwatch

If you hang your hat in Hanover, N.H., the value of your home is not growing as much as it once was. But own a place in "Steady Eddie" Overland Park, Kan., and its rate of appreciation is just as it always has been: consistent.

"It does not fluctuate tremendously," said Karen Bergin, a Coldwell Banker broker in the community not far from Kansas City, Mo. "It doesn't seem to change no matter what's going on in the economy." The area is used to its modest 4% to 6% appreciation rate over the past 12 to 18 months, she said.

Hanover, however, is bracing for appreciation rates of 5% to 7% this year, said Ned Redpath, an area broker. The rates are more realistic than last year's appreciation, which hovered around 12% to 15%, he said.

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Hot Housing Markets Start to Cool, While Others Being to Heat Up

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May 25, 2006

By Amy Hoak
From Marketwatch

If you hang your hat in Hanover, N.H., the value of your home is not growing as much as it once was. But own a place in "Steady Eddie" Overland Park, Kan., and its rate of appreciation is just as it always has been: consistent.

"It does not fluctuate tremendously," said Karen Bergin, a Coldwell Banker broker in the community not far from Kansas City, Mo. "It doesn't seem to change no matter what's going on in the economy." The area is used to its modest 4% to 6% appreciation rate over the past 12 to 18 months, she said.

Hanover, however, is bracing for appreciation rates of 5% to 7% this year, said Ned Redpath, an area broker. The rates are more realistic than last year's appreciation, which hovered around 12% to 15%, he said.

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Slower Homes Sale Open Up An Opportunity for Some Buyers

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May 31, 2006

By James R. Hagerty
From The Wall Street Journal Online

POMONA, N.Y. -- The cooling market for real estate brought Michael Termine and Uso Mbanefo together.

Mr. Mbanefo, a 43-year-old entrepreneur struggling to launch a clothing-design company, had fallen behind on his mortgage payments. He needed to sell his four-bedroom house here quickly to avoid losing it in a foreclosure. That's when Mr. Termine, a 32-year-old novice real-estate investor, stepped in.

One afternoon in early April, Mr. Termine visited Mr. Mbanefo's office in a strip mall and offered to pay $400,000 for his house. Mr. Mbanefo showed Mr. Termine fliers for nearby homes offered at $600,000 or more. Mr. Termine pointed out that the inventory of unsold homes here, as in many parts of the country, has nearly doubled over the past year. Even so, Mr. Mbanefo said that he might be able to refinance his home, spruce it up and sell it for $500,000.

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Relocating Your Family: How to Find the Town Right for You

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May 30, 2006

By Sue Shellenbarger
From The Wall Street Journal Online

Question: My husband and I are moving with our three teenagers to the New York City area from Minnesota, and we'd like to avoid communities that seem very materialistic. How can we assess community values before moving?

-- S.W., Minnesota

Answer: I'd start with some Web research to identify target towns. HomeFair.com and BestPlaces.net offer free city comparisons on climate, transportation, crime and other elements of community life. SchoolMatch.com provides comparative school data for $34 per school. Once you've narrowed your list, Suzanne Murdoch, a consultant manager for Impact Group, a St. Louis relocation-and-outplacement concern, suggests zeroing in on particular attributes.

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Luxury Condo Project for Sale in Phila.

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Philadelphia Business Journal - Wednesday

by Natalie Kostelni
5/31/06

Mariner Commercial Properties has put 1441 Chestnut St., a luxury condominium tower project across from Philadelphia City Hall that has yet to be developed, on the market. While no asking price has been set, the land and the approved project could sell for as much as $60 million, according to one estimate. The building would cost about $300 million to construct.

Developer Tim Mahoney's Mariner company of Ardmore, Pa., and local philanthropist Brook Lenfest recently received approvals and settled a five-year legal dispute surrounding the 58-story, 844,000-square-foot building. Once completed, it would be the tallest residential building in the city. The site is 22,433 square feet.

The project, called 1441 Chestnut St., will include 279 condominiums, a 4,000-square-foot spa and a 6,000 square-foot rooftop sun deck with pool. The Mariner project will also carve out room for high-end retail and a restaurant facing Chestnut Street.

Mariner also retained an option to include a 160-room hotel. If the hotel is incorporated, it would reduce the number of condo units to 208. A ground breaking was expected by January 2007. Whether that will remain as a target date would be up to a new owner.

With the legal dispute resolved and zoning approvals in place, Mariner has received unsolicited offers to buy the project. "It seems that some of the largest real estate developers in the country are as bullish on Philadelphia's future as we are," Mahoney said in a statement.

Mariner retained CB Richard Ellis (NYSE: CBG) to explore all of the potential opportunities regarding the project, including its outright sale.

"It's arguably the premier development site in the city based on what's planned and what can be developed," said Robert Fahey, an investment broker with CB Richard Ellis who is marketing the project. "It's a very well thought-out project and has received a lot of interest."

Arden Group of Philadelphia has plans to construct a competing $250 million, 48-story building that is being marketed as the Residence at the Ritz Carlton. It would be located at the former One Meridian site, which sits adjacent to 1441 Chestnut.

GuestInvest Sets Sight on U.S. Real Estate Investors

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UK entrepreneur, Johnny Sandelson, leads Europe's burgeoning Condo Hotel Market

24 May 2006

Hollywood, Florida | GuestInvest, the UK's first condo hotel company, is expanding its portfolio of London-based properties to meet growing demand from US investors for European real estate.

GuestInvest CEO and founder Johnny Sandelson today announces the launch of Nest, a luxury 170-room hotel in Paddington, central London. Investors buy their own fully maintained room at Nest, stay there for free and receive a percentage of the room's income, which is let out by the hotel on their behalf throughout the year.

Johnny Sandelson said: "The GuestInvest model gives buyers a fantastic opportunity to invest in what is undoubtedly one of the UK's fastest growing property investment initiatives. We are really excited to be offering US investors this opportunity to buy rooms in our latest property, Nest."

With London hotel occupancy rates at a high, Nest will offer savvy US investors strong financial returns as well as a convenient base to access the rest of Europe.

Rooms at Nest have been designed by exciting new UK architects Cowie Dalgleish Montgomery who, in an unique collaboration with leading British super yacht builders Pendennis, will apply boat builder ingenuity to the hotel's design. Rooms will be tailored specifically to the business traveller, offering comfortable, contemporary yet affordable accommodation with 24-hour concierge service, and accessible international transport links. Guests at Nest will be offered the ultimate sleep experience with a choice of bespoke beds, handmade by world-leading manufacturer Savoir, who construct beds from natural materials for some of the world's top hotels.

Rooms at GuestInvest's debut condo hotel, Guesthouse West in Notting Hill, which opened in April 2004, sold out within weeks, and Nest is already selling well among UK and overseas investors.

The US condo hotel market reaches saturation as UK and Europe takes off

Condo hotels are gaining popularity in the UK and across Europe, with GuestInvest leading this burgeoning market.

The growing interest is evident as recent analysis from leading real estate service and money management firm, Jones Lang LaSalle, reveals that $475 billion was invested in commercial real estate globally in 2005. This figure is predicted to rise further in 2006 as investors scour the globe in search of a yield.

With a career spanning 15 years specialising in innovative luxury real estate projects, Sandelson has ambitious plans to expand GuestInvest's portfolio beyond the UK. He plans to create a global network of condo hotels - potential markets include the US, Asia and Europe - allowing room owners and hoteliers to benefit from an international room exchange programme.

With the US market becoming saturated, particularly South Florida, GuestInvest is an attractive alternative for US investors. According to Smith Travel Research, as of March 2006, condo hotel rooms make up 98,142 rooms or 19.5 per cent of the hotel rooms currently under development in the US.

Who's buying condo hotels?

Condo hotels are often owned by suburban baby boomers, using stock market profits after the dotcom collapse and favorable interest rates to buy a second home in major cities. Real estate investments are also rising among ageing populations, pension funds and individuals, as priorities switch from growth to income.

"Our buyers are classically early adopters. They are very clever, they have money and they can see where the growth in property investment is going to come," said Sandelson.

About GuestInvest | GuestInvest, created by seasoned UK developer Johnny Sandelson, is a scheme designed to promote the sale of hotel rooms to investors, launched in April 2004. Under the GuestInvest concept, investors can buy their own room in a hotel, stay there for free and receive a return on their investment by allowing the hotel to let the room out for the remainder of the year.