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Kushner Cos. secures $300 million in financing The Florham Park, N.J.-based Kushner Cos. secured more than $300 million in financing during 1997 to fund its activities as one of the nation's leading private owners and managers of multifamily residential and commercial real estate.

For the most part, the financing took the form of 20-, 25- and 30-year self-liquidating mortgages. The mortgages involved lenders such as First Union Capital Markets, Providian Capital Corp., First Boston and The Bank of New York.

The Pizzuti Cos. breaks ground on Miranova The Pizzuti Cos. broke ground last month on Miranova, its much-anticipated multiuse residential and commercial complex in Columbus, Ohio.

The landmark development, designed by internationally renowned architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia, will feature a 26-story luxury residential tower comprising 146 river view homes and a 15-story Class-A corporate tower with more than 241,240 rentable sq. ft. of space.

Envisioned 10 years ago as an addition to downtown Columbus, Pizzuti has been working closely with the city to devise a thoughtful and strategic plan to redevelop a piece of formerly blighted industrial land and to help make the riverfront more accessible.

In addition, Miranova will also feature retail space and at least one signature restaurant.

James F. Perry & Co. closes three apartment mortgages James F. Perry & Co. closed on first mortgages for two apartment rental properties located in Orlando, Fla., and one project in Hialeah, Fla., in the amount of $6.3 million.

The loan term for each of the properties is for 10 years at a fixed interest rate of 6.88%, and the loan was sold to the Federal National Mortgage Association under the Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing Multifamily Mortgage Purchase Program by a Northeastern-based commercial banking group.

The two properties in Orlando are Lake Ivanhoe Apartments, which received a loan amount of $3.14 million, and Lake Underhill, which received a loan amount of $862,000. The Hialeah property is Lake House Apartments, which received a loan amount of $2.35 million.

Successful project leads the way for new development JPI, one of the country's largest luxury apartment developers, has begun construction on the first phase of Jefferson Estates at Lowry in Denver after scoring big with its successful "Project 2000" prototype community in Richardson, Texas. The company's recently formed $470 million venture with GE Capital Services will fund the development.

Located on a former military base, the 414-unit community is part of a major redevelopment that will include: 4,000 single-family homes; 2 million sq. ft. of office and retail space; 800 acres of parks, baseball fields and golf courses; and a college campus for 10,000 students.

JPI will serve as the construction manager for the project, which will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 627 to 1,339 sq. ft. Monthly rent will range from $750 to $1,510. The first apartment homes are scheduled to open in October, and the projected completion date for the entire community is September 1999.

Brown joins WMF as director of Western region Patrick C. Brown has been named the new director of the Western region for Vienna, Va.-based WMF Capital Corp. in Los Angeles.

With 20 years of experience in commercial real estate investment finance, Brown is responsible for the new loan origination effort.

Berkshire acquires multifamily portfolio Berkshire Realty Co. Inc., a multifamily real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in renovations and major rehabilitations, has acquired four apartment communities located in metropolitan Atlanta.

The communities were acquired for $59.7 million, including the assumption of $40.4 million of first mortgage debt and cash of $19.3 million. The portfolio includes 1,076 units with a variety of floor plans including two- and three-bedroom townhomes and units averaging approximately 1,200 sq. ft.

The properties are located in North Druid Hills, Vinings and the Sandy Springs/Dunwoody submarkets.

The acquisition of this portfolio brings Berkshire's holdings in Atlanta to seven properties consisting of approximately 2,300 units.

Colonial expands west and completes first acquisition Birmingham, Ala.-based Colonial Properties Trust, one of the largest diversified real estate investment trusts in the United States, extended its reach into Texas with the acquisition of Haverhill Apartments in San Antonio.

Colonial acquired 79.8% interest in the property for $17.2 million from Embrey Partners Ltd. Moreover, the community will be renamed Colonial Village at Haverhill.

Haverhill is a 322-unit apartment community with an average size unit of 1,019 sq. ft. and an average monthly rent of $857.

$32.5 million acquisition by Asset Investors Corp. Denver-based Asset Investors Corp. has purchased three contiguous manufactured housing communities in Orlando, Fla., for $32.5 million in cash. The purchase consists of two adult communities and one family community with a total of 919 developed homesites and expansion capacity for an additional 230 homesites.

Asset Investors, a REIT that primarily invests in and manages manufactured housing communities serving adult residents, funded the acquisition with nonrecourse long-term debt, which is consistent with its plans to moderately leverage its communities.

The company now holds interests in 24 manufactured housing communities in Florida, Arizona, New Jersey and Pennsylvania involving approximately 4,580 developed homesites, 810 sites ready for homes and 1,960 sites available for development.

Nomura provides loan for Longyear Estate Nomura Asset Capital provided $22.5 million in financing to developer Cortland Properties of Norwood for the construction of luxury condominiums at the Longyear Estate at Fisher Hill in Brookline, Mass. The deal was arranged by Meredith & Grew Inc. Oncor International arranged the 3.5-year equity and construction loan.

The Longyear Estate was built in the late 1800s and by 1906, the mansion had been fully reconstructed at its present Fisher Hill location.

The original residence, approximately 30,000 sq. ft., will be renovated to accommodate six new residences. In addition to its existing manor, four buildings in the neo-Classical Italian style will be erected within the eight-acre hilltop estate. The project, which will include up to 49 condominiums, is expected to be completed over a three- to four-year period.

PNC Bank Corp. to acquire The Arcand Co. Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank Corp. has agreed to acquire Portland, Ore.-based The Arcand Co., an investor in affordable housing nationwide.

The acquisition increases PNC's role in affordable housing and continues the company's drive to become a premier national commercial real estate financial services company, providing the full range of credit, investment and capital markets products and services.

Arcand's name will change to Columbia Housing Corp. upon its expected closing date of July 31, and founder Robert Arcand will retire.

The Arcand Co. has a portfolio of $1 billion with more than 22,000 units in 43 states. The company has raised more than $300 million from major corporations and otherinstitutional investors in the past five years for investment in affordable housing.

Kensington Capital closes $51 million in loans Six-month-old Kensington Capital, a real estate investment banking firm based in Dallas, has provided financing for more than $51 million in commercial and apartment loans during its first quarter in Texas, Florida and Minnesota.

The Shelton, a 124-unit, high-rise apartment building, in Dallas received a $13.6 million loan. Other apartment financings were in the amount of $9.4 million for a 240-unit apartment in Carrollton, Texas, and $16.5 million for a 416-unit apartment in Houston.

Kensington Capital offers debt and equity financing for existing and future commercial, multifamily and health care properties through a variety of lending programs.

The Citation Club sold to an investor for $45 million The Citation Club Luxury Apartment community in Delray Beach, Fla., was sold to an institutional investor for $45.4 million. Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis negotiated the sale.

Located in Palm Beach County, the 404-unit apartment community is located on 40.4 acres with net rentable area of 471,160 sq. ft.

After undertaking the largest multifamily real estate investment trust (REIT) merger so far this year, the newly formed Archstone Communities is back in the news with a rating from Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Co. (DCR) that's anything but bad.

DCR has assigned its "A" rating to Archstone Communities Trust's $905 million outstanding senior unsecured notes due 1999 to 2026 and "BBB+" rating to its $283 million outstanding cumulative preferred stock. Archstone (NYSE:ASN) is the successor to Security Capital Atlantic Inc. and Security Capital Pacific Trust, which merged into the newly created entity last month.

The DCR rating actions effectively upgrade Atlantic's $150 million outstanding senior unsecured notes and $50 million outstanding preferred stock from "BBB" and "BBB-," respectively, and assign initial ratings to Pacific's $755 million senior unsecured debt and $233 million preferred stock. The rating outlook is stable.

The DCR ratings reflect favorably on Archstone's experienced and deep management team, good asset and market diversification, moderate balance sheet leverage and stable cashflow.

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