Seattle luxury apartment tower to be ready in 2001 Construction of The McGuire, a $31 million high-rise apartment complex in downtown Seattle, will be complete in April 2001. Seattle-based Harbor Properties Inc. is the developer of the project, which will include a 25-story, 272-unit tower and a seven-story garage that will feature five rental townhomes. St. Louis-based McCarthy Construction is building the facility.
The 272 units in the tower will vary from 700 sq. ft. to 1,200 sq. ft. in size. Studios, one- and two-bedroom units will be offered in the tower. Rents will range from about $1,400 to $2,400 per month. The ground level of the building will contain the headquarters of Carpenters Union Local 131, which owns the land on which the complex is being built, and 9,000 sq. ft. of retail space.
The first level of the parking garage will contain retail and office space, while floors two through six will feature 233 parking spaces. The seventh level will contain the townhomes and a landscaped park.
Non-profit to create affordable housing in Phoenix Chicanos Por La Causa, a Phoenix-based non-profit group, has purchased nine apartment complexes in Arizona for $68.5 million. The organization will convert the 2,439 units into affordable apartments. The Bigelow Co., a Las Vegas-based investment group, was the seller of the properties. New York-based Insignia/ESG negotiated the deal.
The sale was financed in part through bonds issued by the Maricopa County Industrial Development Authority. U.S. Bancorp Piper Jeffrey of Minneapolis is underwriting the bonds. The San Francisco office of Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based ARCS Commercial Mortgage Co. LP arranged additional funding through the Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS) Program. The sale is the biggest in the metropolitan Phoenix area in 2000, according to Insignia/ESG.
The portfolio includes the 356-unit Brandywood, the 166-unit Canyon Walk, the 200-unit Cobblestone, the 304-unit Emerald Shores, the 486-unit Northern Point and the 215-unit Paseo Del Sol apartments, all in Phoenix; the 272-unit Casa Carranza Apartments in Mesa; the 289-unit Arbour Park and the 151-unit Grandes Cortes apartments, both in Tempe.
Prime Property purchases seven properties San Francisco-based Prime Property Capital has purchased seven apartment complexes scattered across five states for $41 million. The Independent Order of Foresters (IOF), a Canadian company with its U.S. headquarters in San Diego, was the seller of the 1,093 units. The San Diego office of Northbrook, Ill.-based Grubb & Ellis negotiated the deal.
The properties include the 167-unit Brookwood Apartments in Dallas; the 181-unit Cameron Greens Apartments in Austin, Texas; the 144-unit Imperial Point Apartments in Seminole, Fla.; the 220-unit Palm Lake Village Apartments in Palm Desert, Calif.; the 99-unit Parkside Manor Apartments in Tempe, Ariz.; the 102-unit Springcreek Apartments in Milwaukie, Ore.; and the 180-unit Waterview Apartments in Benecia, Calif.
Arbor arranges loan for Hoosier affordable units Uniondale, N.Y.-based Arbor National Commercial Mortgage LLC has provided $18.2 million in financing to The National Housing Partnership Foundation (NHP) in Washington, D.C., for the purchase of five affordable apartment complexes in Indiana. The properties total 652 units.
The 30-year loan has a fixed-note rate of 7.09% with a 30-year amortization. Arbor will deliver the loan through Fannie Mae's MBS/DUS Bond Credit Enhancement Targeted Affordable Housing Program.
The properties involved include the 194-unit Lancaster Estates in Indianapolis, the 110-unit Bradford Village in Marion, the 110-unit Bradford Square in Grant, the 150-unit Covert Village in Evansville and the 88-unit Valley View in Evansville.
Essex completes projects in California sun and Seattle fog Palo Alto, Calif.-based Essex Property Trust has completed two apartment projects: the 320-unit Fountain Court near downtown Seattle and the 114-unit addition to its Bel Air complex in San Ramon, Calif.
Fountain Court contains 98 studios, 147 one-bedroom units, 40 one-bedroom units with a loft and 35 two-bedroom units. Amenities include high-speed Internet access, a health club, indoor pool and views of Puget Sound. Essex has a 51% ownership interest in the partnership that developed the property and also has the right to acquire the remaining 49%.
Mid-America buys Georgia complex Memphis, Tenn.-based Mid-America Apartment Communities has purchased the 200-unit Huntington Chase Apartments in Warner Robbins, Ga., for $11.6 million. The property was constructed in 1998. John C. Brown of Northbrook, Ill.-based Grubb & Ellis Co. represented the seller, Macon, Ga.-based LandSouth.
In other LandSouth news, the company has appointed Brown and Herb S. Chase, both senior vice presidents of Grubb & Ellis' Apartment Services Group in Atlanta, as the exclusive brokers for the sale of Preston Hills at Mill Creek, a 464-unit, high-end apartment complex located in suburban Atlanta that will be complete this summer. The complex is adjacent to the 2 million sq. ft. Mall of Georgia in Gwinnett County, Ga., northeast of Atlanta.
Reilly provides loans for three Texas properties McLean, Va.-based Reilly Mortgage Group has closed on $19 million in loans on three multifamily complexes in Georgetown, Texas. The 10-year loans carry an interest rate of 8.21% with a 30-year amortization and were originated under the Fannie Mae DUS program.
The properties involved were the 176-unit Apple Creek Apartments, which received a $5.1 million loan; the 240-unit Indian Creek, which received an $8.8 million loan; and the 110-unit Westwood Townhomes, which received a $5.1 million loan.
California Investment Fund makes Arizona purchases Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis has arranged the sale of two Tempe, Ariz. apartment complexes for a total of $48.9 million. New York-based WC Investors LP was the seller; Sacramento, Calif.-based California Investment Fund was the buyer. The properties involved in the transaction were the 660-unit, 472,040 sq. ft. Meridian Corners and the 402-unit, 286,492 sq. ft. Willow Creek.
Roseland opens technologically advanced tower Those looking to surround themselves with the latest technology has to offer may find the apartment complex of their dreams in Jersey City, N.J. Short Hills, N.J.-based Roseland Property Co. has opened the 26-story, 283-unit Portofino, located on New Jersey's Gold Coast across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
The $ 55 million complex offers residents the RoseLink Networked Apartment technology package, which offers an array of phone, video and Internet services. Each apartment features Bell Atlantic Ready telephone wiring that allows up to four separate lines in each unit. Also, surround-sound speakers have been installed in every living room.
As for Internet service, residents can use InterQuest Communications Inc.'s Dedicated Connectivity program for high-speed Internet access that does not require phone lines or dialing in to a server. Finally, digital video network wiring allows residents to monitor their children while in another room using a video camera placed in a child's room. Parents can view the image on a television monitor in the kitchen. Residents can also receive DirectTV in their units.
The complex offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Amenities include a fitness center, heated outdoor pool and conference room. Each unit features individually controlled heating and air conditioning, living and dining rooms with hardwood floors, and microwave ovens.
Roseland developed Portofino as part of a joint venture with Jersey City, N.J.-based Garden State Development Inc. and The Seltzer Group, headquartered in New York. The complex is also part of Roseland's "Gold Key Club," which allows companies to rent units at Portofino for their employees.
In other industry news:
* The Washington, D.C.-based National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) recently released its Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions for second-quarter 2000. Interviews for the survey were conducted in April. More than 60% of the respondents said that market tightness, as measured by rent increases and vacancy rates, was unchanged from this past January, when they were interviewed for the first-quarter survey.
Meanwhile, 43% indicated that the volume of apartment property sales had declined since January. That percentage is a significant decrease from the fourth-quarter 1999 survey, when 63% of the participants noted declining sales.
Approximately half of the respondents said that mortgage-financing conditions were worse in April than in January, while 61% said equity-financing conditions were unchanged compared with January.