Author: ipgocorp

HOUSTON, TX – MORGAN, a leader in upscale multifamily development, construction and property management, has started construction on its latest Pearl luxury apartment development in Houston’s Midtown district at 3120 Smith Street.

The mixed-use project features a 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market on the ground floor and 264 residential units above the store. The new development, projected to open in 2019, is located across the street from MORGAN’s first phase of Pearl Midtown, which opened in 2014.

Residents of Pearl Midtown’s second phase will have direct access to the Whole Foods Market below via elevator from the residential floors that opens into the store. Other premium Pearl amenities include a dog park and dog wash area, a bike storage room, an Uber waiting room, and a sky lounge that contains a catering kitchen with views of downtown.

The new community also will boast a co-working space, which contributes to the live/work/play design of this flagship Pearl. The community’s fitness center that overlooks the pool courtyard will offer ample cardio and circuit training equipment, as well as an outdoor yoga lawn. Other outside amenities include the large resort-style pool with a sun shelf, poolside cabanas, grilling stations and TVs. A secondary courtyard space showcases views of downtown.

Units throughout the new Pearl Midtown feature open floor plans, hardwood flooring, gas cooking appliances, and great views of the Med Center, the Galleria and downtown.

“We are very excited about the partnership with Whole Foods Market and breaking ground on this development,” said Development Vice President Philip Morgan. “Having a top-tier grocer at the base of our new Pearl is going to be an extraordinary and unique amenity for future residents, and will make an incredible impact on Midtown Houston, downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods. MORGAN owns several developments in Midtown, and we have seen the neighborhood continue to evolve over the past 15 years. Whole Foods Market’s brand and reputation will be a welcome addition to Midtown Houston.”

The project’s architect is Ziegler Cooper with interior design provided by the Carnegis Group.

FORT MYERS BEACH, FL – London Bay Homes introduced the newest multifamily residential project at Waterside at Bay Beach: Grandview, named for its panoramic views of the Gulf of Mexico and Estero Bay. Located just two miles north of Lovers Key State Park, Grandview at Bay Beach will be the first condominium tower in South Fort Myers Beach since 2008, and the final tower in Waterside at Bay Beach.

“Grandview at Bay Beach is an exciting project for us,” said Mark Wilson, president and CEO of London Bay Homes, which has been named America’s Best Builder by Builder magazine. “We have an incredible opportunity to create a truly special lifestyle experience for buyers who want the level of customization, finish and luxury appointments of a London Bay home, while also enjoying the freedom of condominium living.”

Grandview at Bay Beach will feature a modern, 11-story building designed by Bob Hall of Curts Gaines Hall Jones Architects of Tampa. The building will offer approximately 58 units with private elevator access; six of those units will be exclusive penthouses with 11-foot ceilings and two covered parking spaces per unit.

The homes will feature London Bay’s award-winning architecture and design in either a three-bedroom, or a three-bedroom-plus-den, and three-bathroom floor plan, within 2,300 to 2,800 square feet of living space.

Amenities at Grandview at Bay Beach will include a club room with fitness center and yoga room, men’s and women’s changing rooms, a catering kitchen and a large lanai with a bar. A distinct feature for residents will be two guest suites with lounge areas for their guests to enjoy privacy and access to Grandview’s amenities.

Outdoor amenities will include access to a resort-style pool and spa, barbeque area, elevated entertainment area featuring a fire pit with seating, and a 55-acre nature preserve with three miles of walking paths and nature preserve trails.

The sales center is expected to open March 2017.

(RECAP: While it is too soon to tell how the new administration will affect the construction and cost of affordable housing, the nation’s 75 million baby boomers are weighing in with their housing concerns. According to a new survey of 1000 Americans aged 55+ from The NHP Foundation, a not-for-profit provider of service-enriched affordable housing, 30% experience anxiety about being able to afford where they live at least once a month, with 42% of retirees reporting such anxiety at least once daily. When asked what causes the greatest anxiety, 46% of respondents said they worry about “the ability to afford desirable retirement living.”)

(RECAP: With the Trump administration in power, mortgage bankers see a new opening to release Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government control and reshape the housing finance system, marking a shift in the political landscape from the late Obama years.)

SEATTLE, WA – Global real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson announced that the company and its partner acquired Radius, a 282-unit multifamily community in the South Lake Union submarket of Seattle, Washington, for $141 million.

In a 50/50 joint-venture, the company and its partner invested a total of $72 million of equity, of which $58 million was funded from the December 2016 sale of The Grove, a 331-unit apartment community built in 1964 in San Jose, California. The partnership also secured a 10-year fixed-rate loan of $70 million at a rate of 4.06%, interest-only for the first five years.

“Radius is an exciting addition to our Seattle apartment portfolio,” said Shem Streeter, Managing Director of Kennedy Wilson Multifamily Investments. “Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood features some of the best rental demographics in the country, including a thriving job market and close proximity to many high growth companies. Our significant presence in the Seattle market allows us to leverage our existing operational expertise all while upgrading the overall quality of our portfolio through these two transactions.”

Radius is a class-A apartment community located in Seattle, WA. The property was built in 2015 and consists of 282 apartments offering tenants a modern, amenity-rich lifestyle. Radius’ amenity package includes two rooftop decks, gaming room, fitness center, and a private resident media room.

Radius is located directly across the street from the world headquarters and main campus of Amazon and walking distance to over 10 million square feet of additional Amazon office space. The property is also walking distance to employers such as Facebook, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and a future 607,000 sq. ft. Google campus. Radius is next to many shops and restaurants, and is conveniently located near major freeways, providing quick access to the I-5, SR-99 and downtown Seattle.

The company now has an ownership interest in 10,430 units across 41 communities in the State of Washington.

NEW ORLEANS, LA – 365 Connect, a leading provider of award-winning marketing, leasing, and resident technology platforms for the multifamily housing industry, announced that the company has received a gold AVA Digital Award for its Marketing Syndication Platform. This prestigious international award recognizes 365 Connect’s capabilities to deliver innovative and creative solutions to meet the rapidly-changing needs of the multifamily housing industry.

The AVA Digital Awards is an international competition that acknowledges the excellence of creative professionals responsible for the planning, concept, direction, design, and production of digital communication. The winning entries are selected by an international panel of judges. This year’s competition boasted thousands of entries from countries across the globe with entrants ranging from corporate marketing and communication departments to media conglomerates and Fortune 500 companies.

365 Connect was recognized by the AVA Digital Awards for its innovative Marketing Syndication Platform, which delivers automated listings with real-time updates to high-traffic housing search engines and classified websites. Ultimately, it offers a fully-integrated solution that eliminates redundant marketing efforts and seamlessly updates pricing, imagery, content, and availability from a single platform. The platform is proven to reduce operating expenses while simultaneously increasing qualified prospect traffic for multifamily housing operators.

Administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, which oversee many award and recognition programs, winning entries are selected from an array of specialized categories. These categories include advertising, marketing, branding, strategic communication, and electronic media. Recognizing the highest standards of excellence, an AVA Digital Award is a tremendous achievement that acknowledges outstanding talent within the marketing and communication industries.

365 Connect Founder and CEO, Kerry W. Kirby, stated, “365 Connect is pleased to have its technology platform acknowledged on an international level, and we are truly honored to receive this highly acclaimed award. Our focus is to connect both future and existing residents with where they live by providing a host of services, resources, and communication tools. This award emphasizes our dedication to meeting our clients’ needs of optimizing lead flow, reducing marketing spend, and extending their communities reach across the web.”

To date, 365 Connect has received a total of 44 international, national, and regional technology awards, illustrating its dedication to delivering leading-edge technology. The 365 Connect Technology Platform is highly recognized by its industry peers for its unique ability to market communities across the Internet, automate social media, and deliver services to prospects and residents on any device. Today, 365 Connect’s innovative technology platforms are utilized across the nation, aiding the most respected multifamily housing operators by providing them with the ability to manage their marketing, leasing, and resident services from a single sign-on interface.

DANBURY, CT – Marcus & Millichap announced its Institutional Property Advisors (IPA) division closed the sale of, a 192-apartment home multifamily community located in the hills of Danbury, Connecticut. The $32.25 million sales price equates to just under $168,000 per unit.

“The property is a value-add investment opportunity with large, well-designed apartment homes and stunning vistas overlooking Ridgewood Country Club just minutes from the Richter Park Golf Course,” said Victor Nolletti, an executive director who heads the Northeast for IPA’s Northeast and Florida team. “Previous ownership constructed a club room, fitness center and leasing center that positions the property to further benefit from an easy-to-execute floor plan reconfiguration.”

“Danbury has solid historic occupancy and effective rent growth,” added Steve Witten, an executive director of IPA in the Northeast and Florida. “The city attracts lifestyle renters, renters by choice and young professionals, and provides them all with urban and suburban lifestyles at significantly less cost than comparable rental housing options in the Stamford-Norwalk metro and Westchester County.”

Nolletti and Witten, along with Eric Pentore, an IPA associate, and Wes Klockner of Marcus & Millichap’s New Haven office, represented the seller, Par Hillcroft LLC, and procured the buyer, Timberline Real Estate Ventures LLC.

The community is located at 10 Clapboard Ridge Road in Danbury, 20-25 minutes from Stamford and 30-35 minutes from White Plains, New York. Local employers include Boehringer Ingelheim Corp., Danbury Hospital, Pitney Bowes, UTC, Duracell Inc., GE, Lowe’s and the Danbury Fair Mall.

IRVINE, CA – CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI) and HPI Forecast for December 2016 which shows home prices are up both year over year and month over month.

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased year over year by 7.2 percent in December 2016 compared with December 2015 and increased month over month by 0.8 percent in December 2016 compared with November 2016, according to the CoreLogic HPI.

The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that home prices will increase by 4.7 percent on a year-over-year basis from December 2016 to December 2017, and on a month-over-month basis home prices are expected to increase by 0.1 percent from December 2016 to January 2017. The CoreLogic HPI Forecast is a projection of home prices using the CoreLogic HPI and other economic variables. Values are derived from state-level forecasts by weighting indices according to the number of owner-occupied households for each state.

“As of the end of 2016, the CoreLogic national index was 3.9 percent below the peak reached in April 2006,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “We expect our national index to rise 4.7 percent during 2017, which would put homes prices at a new nominal peak before the end of this year.”

“Last year ended with a bang with home prices up over 7 percent nationally, led largely by major metro areas,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “We expect prices to continue to rise just under 5 percent in 2017 buoyed by lack of supply and continued high demand.”

November data was revised. Revisions with public records data are standard, and to ensure accuracy, CoreLogic incorporates the newly released public data to provide updated results.

SOMERVILLE, TN – FOURMIDABLE, a national real estate property management and brokerage firm currently managing 15 communities throughout Tennessee, announced the opening of Turnrow, its newest community in Somerville.  

“FOURMIDABLE is proud to be part of the city and looking forward to managing such an upscale community,” said Michael Schocker, President of FOURMIDABLE. “Turnrow is going to be a wonderful addition to the Somerville area.” 

Turnrow offers residents 56 one, two and three bedroom homes. The newly constructed, energy efficient community features fully equipped kitchens with dishwasher, and in-unit washer and dryer.

The community will also offer residents an outdoor pool, business center, fitness center, furnished clubhouse and complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the property.

Turnrow is being developed in cooperation with the Tennessee Housing Development Agency under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. The general contractor is BACAR Constructors of Nashville, Tenn. The developers for the property are Turnrow 2015 Limited Partnership.

The first residents moved into their beautiful new homes in January. Rental rates for Turnrow range from $490 to $590 a month. There are income limitations for residential applicants based on the area median income, but no direct rent subsidies are offered at the community.

FOURMIDABLE is a national real estate management and brokerage company that specializes in managing, marketing and leasing market rate, tax credit, senior and family government assisted, public housing and rural development apartment communities. Founded in 1975, FOURMIDABLE currently manages 87 communities in 10 states, with more than 9,256 units under management.

LAUREL, MD – GoldOller Real Estate Investments announced it has purchased The Seasons Apartments a 1088-unit property located in Laurel, Maryland. The Seasons is GoldOller’s largest single apartment investment and its first asset in the Washington D.C. – Baltimore area.

Situated on 70 acres and containing over 900,000 rentable square feet, The Seasons has been a gem of Howard County Maryland for decades.  Located just off I 95, and an easy 20-mile commute to either Washington D.C. or Baltimore, The Seasons is in the heart of the 4th largest market in the United States.

The Seasons offers multiple recently renovated spacious one, two and that three bedroom floorplans including both garden style apartments and very unique town homes; resort style amenities include two swimming pools, tennis courts, fitness facility, child playgrounds, dog parks, and a clubhouse that includes a coffee bar and cyber cafe.  With its exceptional location, diverse floor plans, community amenities, and an amazing site based team, The Seasons consistently enjoys high occupancy, currently at 95%.

“We are thrilled to include The Seasons as a GoldOller community.  It’s an exceptional property in a fabulous Harris County Maryland location that just keeps getting better,” said Richard Oller, GoldOller’s Chairman. “We are also delighted that this exceptional investment opportunity continues to extend our national footprint in the Northeast corridor.  As a Philadelphia based company with most of our holdings in the Midwest and Southeast, it’s exciting to increase our presence closer to home,” Oller said.

According Jake Hollinger, GoldOller COO and principal, The Seasons Apartments will undergo enhancements to the property including renovations to apartment interiors, the fitness center, the clubhouse, landscaping, and new and enhanced amenities. Residents will also enjoy our signature GO resident services, which includes sophisticated package handling, complimentary fitness programs, and customized life style service designed to enhance the community experience. “Our extraordinary team knows how to deliver results by creating a unique experience at each property from day one. We’re excited for the opportunity to deliver our enthusiasm, creativity, and commitment to our residents that each new acquisition presents,” Hollinger said.

Jill Hinton, VP of Operations said: “We are accustomed to acquiring very large communities, but each transition is a test of our skills and resources.  I am so proud of our remarkable GO team (training, marketing, accounting, facilities) and the enthusiastic Seasons site staff who embraced us.  They made the transition seamless and allowed us to focus immediately on the resident experience.  This week we hit the ground running with a week of fun ‘meet and greet’ events attended by about 500 residents.  There is nothing better than to see smiling facing abound; that’s really what it’s all about. We have already begun introducing our signature Life on the GO amenities and programs to enhance The Seasons community experience and ensure that every resident truly feels that This is Home,” Hinton added.

GoldOller Real Estate Investments (Goldoller.com) was formed in 2008 by industry veterans Richard Oller and Jeffery Goldstein. GoldOller is an emerging leader in the multi-family housing industry and an innovative owner-operator of apartment communities throughout the United States. GoldOller owns and operates apartment communities in 18 States valued in excess of 1.5 billion dollars, containing about 14,000 units.

Multifamily Management Services, a GoldOller affiliate, provides third party management to communities containing about 30,000 units, while other affiliates develop, own, and operate condominium, office, hotel, industrial, and retail assets. GoldOller has corporate offices in Philadelphia and New York City, as well as regional offices located in Kansas City, Atlanta, and Orlando.