Author: ipgocorp

ALLEN, TX – Drever Capital Management of Tiburon, CA and The Alder Group of Allen, TX have launched construction on a new 243-unit active adult apartment brand in Allen to meet the growing demand for moderately priced, amenity-rich senior rental housing.

Named Alders at Twin Creeks, the jointly-developed 243-unit retiree residential community is located off Highway 75 in the master-planned community of Twin Creeks. It’s aimed at the Baby Boomer generation, the largest demographic group in the U.S, which turned 70 years old this year. Minimum age is 55.

The location is adjacent to a six-acre park and within a half mile of both the Twin Creeks Hospital and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen. It is minutes away from The Village at Fairview with Walmart, Target, Macy, Whole Foods and the Allen Premium Outlet Mall.

Drever Capital Management, winner of the 2016 annual IMM Commercial Real Estate Award for “Socially Responsible Developers,” said the concept will have extensive activities, amenities, flexibility and a resort-like atmosphere. First phase will be completed in December, 2017.  The new brand will be rolled out nationwide.

Noah Drever, senior managing partner of Drever Capital Management, believes the new brand exemplifies the firm’s socially-impactful commitment by helping solve the affordability crisis plaguing seniors today. “On average, our units are larger with better appliances, finishes and floor plans than traditional senior housing,” he added. “We are able to offer Class A living accommodations and location at a rental price point that is substantially below traditional independent living communities.”

Alders at Twin Creeks will occupy eight acres and will feature an 18,000 square foot recreational area with an oversized pool, cabanas and commercial outdoor grill kitchen. Additional community amenities include a state-of-the-art senior fitness spa, movie theatre featuring SMART Board® screening technology, arts and crafts studio, pet park, epicurean café and complementary shuttle service to and from the Metroplex.

Each unit has its own balcony and comes equipped with granite countertops, GE stainless steel appliances, side-by-side washer/dryers, energy efficient lighting and water heating and eco-friendly plank flooring. Competitively priced rental rates will start near $1,400 per month. Units range in size from 730 square-foot one-bedrooms to 1280 square-foot two-bedrooms, two baths.

Co-developer Tim O’Hanlon, president of The Alder Group, says the apartments will be “vibrant and architecturally distinctive. Maxwell Drever and his team are the ideal partner. They’ve been buying, upgrading and redeveloping lifestyle apartments and senior communities for the workforce middle income resident for 45 years. We also specialize in high-end apartments and have the same mindset—develop lasting tenant relationships and make the everyday extraordinary.”

Drever Capital Management and The Alder Group were introduced by Dallas apartment broker, Bryan O’Boyle, senior vice chairman of ARA, A Newmark Company, who says the “phenomenal location sealed the deal” for the partners. He contends Allen’s explosive growth is “ideal” for active adult residents who want to be close to their sons and daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Allen, Texas has been described as the “jewel” of the Dallas Metroplex. The city’s median annual income is $101,000 compared to $58,000 for Dallas/Fort Worth. Some 62% of Allen’s residents are white collar professionals and there’s a wave of baby boomers flooding into the 55 to 75 demographic, according to local officials.

The city of Allen is also experiencing strong growth in employers and in the workforce, says Dan Bowman, executive director of Allen Economic Development Corp. Toyota’s North American headquarters is relocating there. State Farm Insurance’s large Cityline Development is underway. Kone Elevators and Escalators is moving in. The local workforce is projected to grow 16.9% annually through 2019, almost triple the national average of 5.9%.

Says Bowman: “Senior rental housing will do very well in Allen, especially if it is moderately priced.”

Steve McCoy, president of Drever Construction Co. in Dallas, will oversee the addition of residential and recreational amenities and will work alongside the general contractor, KWA Construction Co. of Dallas which is building Alders at Twin Creeks.

Architect Frank Polacio, principal of Architectura of Plano, TX, was commissioned to design the property.

Drever Capital Management and its principals have pioneered in impact investing since 1968 and has built or redeveloped 170,000 workforce apartments valued at over $20 billion.

ATLANTA, GA – MAA and Post Properties announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Post Properties, Inc. will merge with and into MAA, creating a Sunbelt-focused, publicly traded, multifamily REIT with enhanced capabilities to deliver superior value for residents, shareholders and employees. The combined company is expected to have a pro forma equity market capitalization of approximately $12 billion and a total market capitalization of approximately $17 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, each share of Post common stock will be converted into 0.71 shares of newly issued MAA common stock. On a pro forma basis, following the merger, former MAA equity holders will hold approximately 67.7 percent of the combined company’s equity, and former Post equity holders will hold approximately 32.3 percent. The all-stock merger is intended to be a tax-deferred transaction. The merger is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of the approval of a majority of both the MAA and Post shareholders. The parties currently expect the transaction to close during the fourth quarter of 2016.

The merger brings together two highly complementary multifamily portfolios with a combined asset base consisting of approximately 105,000 multifamily units in 317 properties. The combined company will maintain strategic diversity across urban and suburban locations in large and secondary markets within the high-growth Sunbelt region of the U.S. The combined company’s ten largest markets by unit count will be Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Charlotte, Raleigh, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Worth, Houston and Washington, DC.

Commenting on the merger, H. Eric Bolton, Jr., MAA Chairman and CEO, said, “The combination of MAA and Post will establish the leading apartment real estate platform focused on the high-growth Sunbelt region of the country with significant competitive advantages to drive superior value for our shareholders, residents and employees.  The combined company will capture a broader market and submarket footprint, with improved rental price-point diversification that will support an enhanced level of performance over the full real estate cycle.  Further, the Post development platform, with a strong history of value accretive new development, supported by the newly combined company platform, will expand external growth and accretive capital recycling opportunities for MAA.” 

Said David P. Stockert, Post’s CEO and President, “This merger redefines the combined company in terms of product, capability and capacity for consistent growth.  Its unique position in the apartment REIT space and strength of its financial position should drive an advantageous cost of capital and value for shareholders of both companies.  Post shareholders are receiving an attractive value for our assets and business and a 24 percent increase in the dividend, while preserving the continuing opportunity to participate in the combined company’s ongoing success.”

DALLAS, TX – National annual effective rent growth remained nicely above the long-term average in July 2016, though continued slides in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York and Houston affected apartment rent trends, driving the national rate down to 3.1%, according to Axiometrics, the leader in apartment and student housing market research and analysis.

The July rate was the lowest since the 2.8% of February 2014.

“Some of the primary markets are seeing separation from smaller metros, which is bringing down the national rate,” said Jay Denton, senior vice president of analytics for Axiometrics. “The good news is that many markets and submarkets are still posting robust growth rates. The best performance tends to be secondary markets and suburban locations.”

Though July was the ninth month of the last 10 that national annual effective rent growth has decreased, Axiometrics expects the market to stabilize by the end of 2016, when rent growth is forecasted to be 3.2%. Rent growth remains above the long-term (1997-2015) average of 2.2%.

The occupancy rate is one sign that the national apartment market remains in good shape. Occupancy was above 95.0% — the rate at which Axiometrics considers a property or market full — for the fifth straight month and the 12th month of the past 16.

The Impact of Primary Markets

Some 20 markets among Axiometrics’ top 50 metros, based on number of units, recorded rent growth of 4.0% or higher in July. The issue is that none are what are commonly referred to as “primary markets,” such as New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Seattle, Phoenix, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Tampa St.-Petersburg are among the larger markets with the highest rent growth, but these are often considered “secondary markets,” though Seattle is considered a primary market in some circles. Markets referred to as “tertiary,” such as Sacramento, Riverside, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Nashville, make up the bulk of the top-markets list.

Meanwhile, some primary markets went negative, as the combined effects of slowing job growth and increased supply took their toll.

Houston’s -2.2% annual effective rent growth in July marked the fourth straight month the metro was below zero.

San Francisco apartments fell 1.21 percentage points to -0.7%, the first time the market was negative since April 2010.

New York apartments’ -0.2% annual effective rent growth in July was the first time it was in negative territory since January 2014.

San Jose and Philadelphia were still positive in July, but with 0.3% and 0.4% rent growth, respectively, a dip below zero is possible.

“Lower rates of job growth and an abundance of new supply have been causing decreased apartment performance in metros like the Bay Area, New York, Houston and Philadelphia,” Denton said. “The pace of construction does seem like it will subside in most areas in 2017, but relief from new deliveries will not truly be felt until 2018.”

West, South Continue Metro Dominance

The West and the South regions have housed the apartment markets with the highest annual effective rent growth for quite some time. That’s still the case, as 16 of the top 17 rent-growth metros among Axiometrics’ top 50 for July are located south of Interstate 40, west of Interstate 15 or both.

SAINT PETERSBURG, FL – TGM Associates announced the acquisition of TGM Bay Isle, a garden style apartment community with 582 units located in Saint Petersburg, Florida.

The property, completed in two phases in 1998 and 2004, is comprised of twenty-two residential buildings built on a 50 acre site. The unit mix consists of one, two, and three bedroom apartment flats, as well as unusually spacious townhome units with direct access attached garages. Situated in a transit-oriented location with convenient access to I-275, Roosevelt Blvd. and Gandy Blvd, Bay Isle offers a quick commute into downtown Saint Petersburg, Tampa, Westshore, and MacDill Air Force Base.

TGM will be completing a value-add program to the interiors of the apartments and positioning the community to resort style, premium apartment living. The property has an outstanding amenity package with three swimming pools, a heated spa, two state of the art athletic clubs, two outdoor kitchens with gas grills and firepit, and a large dog park with agility course.  Residents also have access to tennis courts, a putting green and a renovated clubhouse with a kitchen and pool table.

“We are very excited to bring TGM Bay Isle into our multifamily portfolio.  The property’s incredibly centralized location and best in-class amenities with access to the area’s major employment centers makes TGM Bay Isle one of the most desirable residential locations in the Tampa Bay area,” said Zach Goldman, Managing Principal and Director of Operations for TGM Associates, a SEC-registered real estate investment advisory firm based in New York City. TGM Bay Isle is managed by TGM Associates’ management brand, TGM Communities.  TGM also owns and manages on the west coast of Florida; TGM Bermuda Island in Naples, TGM Malibu Lakes in Naples, and TGM Palm Aire in Sarasota, FL.  On the east coast of Florida, TGM owns and manages TGM Oceana in Boca Raton, FL.  In late 2015, TGM sold Vintage at Abacoa and Floresta both in Jupiter, FL.

TGM Bay Isle, formerly known as Bay Isle Key, was owned and managed by Chicago, IL based Heitman.  Brokering the transaction was John Selby, Senior Vice President and Sean Williams, Senior Vice President at CBRE.

(RECAP: Meg Burns of Arlington is among 12 people named by HUD who will constitute the first-ever Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee (HCFAC). Established under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, this Advisory Panel will help HUD’s Office of Housing Counseling improve upon all the efforts to provide consumers with the knowledge they need to make informed and lasting housing decisions. The HCFAC will explore new opportunities to expand access to HUD housing counseling programs, develop new innovative strategies to support community-based counseling agencies, and identify methods to leverage resources to amplify the impact of federally funded housing counseling. This panel will also develop new metrics to evaluate the health and capacity of the housing counseling industry, specifically in the context of disaster recovery, and identify ways to improve the use of technology in housing counseling.)

(RECAP: A new cohousing community will be coming to Crozet by 2018. Emerson Commons will be located on 6.1 acres along Parkview Drive off Route 240. Cohousing originated in Denmark and started to be adopted in the U.S. in the 1980s. People in a cohousing community own their own homes, but have opportunities to participate in numerous neighborhood activities and share open spaces. Peter Lazar, who is developing the community, said features of Emerson Commons could include sharing landscaping tools, such as lawnmowers, and neighborhood activities, such as potlucks, happy hours and neighborhood breakfasts. The community will have a total of 26 residential units, with a combination of multi-family and single-family attached and detached housing.)

(RECAP: Private mortgage insurance activity rose sharply in the second quarter, grabbing the lead in market share from the FHA for the first time since the first quarter of 2015, according to a client note from Compass Point Research & Trading. According to the note, the PMI share of the mortgage insurance market rose to 37% in the second quarter, while the FHA share of the MI market fell from 40% to 34%. This is the first time private mortgage insurance outpaced insurance written by the FHA since the first three months of 2015, during which the FHA cut its annual mortgage insurance premiums by 50 basis points, from 1.35% to 0.85%, per the direction of the Obama administration. Analysts noted that the decline in FHA insurance is “notable,” because it’s the opposite of what was expected. The decline in FHA issuance could lend more political will to cutting rates again.)

SEATTLE, WA – Across the country’s largest rental markets, almost 14 percent of on-market renters have strong credit scores, relatively high incomes and could afford to buy the median home in their market. 

As the homeownership rate has declined over the past decade, a broader socio-economic swath of Americans are renting than at any time in recent history. That means people who could afford to buy are renting instead, increasing competition for limited available homes for rent, according to an analysis of financial qualifications reported via the Zillow Renter Profile feature. 

San Jose, San Diego, and San Francisco have the largest segments of on-market renters who have the credit score and income necessary to purchase a home, making those metros highly competitive for renters. Los Angeles, New York and Seattle also made the list of metros with large segments of current renters who are financially qualified to buy a home.

To determine which markets have the highest number of financially stable and thus most competitive renters vying for the attention of landlords and property managers, Zillow examined the self-reported credit scores and incomes of renters who were on the market during the first half of 2016. Zillow also looked at regional median rental and home values and competition to determine the markets with the highest share of renters who reported a monthly income equal to or greater than necessary to afford the typical rental and median home in the metro area.

There are also long-term demographic trends impacting renter qualifications and competition: young adults, both the affluent and otherwise, are renting longer than ever before as they delay many of the hallmarks of adulthood that typically lead to homeownership, such as finishing their education and starting families.

In general, markets with lower homeownership rates have higher proportions of on-market renters with both strong credit and high incomes. That said, even when controlling for the homeownership rate, booming markets closely associated with the tech industry – such as San Jose and San Francisco – tend to have exceptionally high proportions of highly qualified, on-market renters.

At the other extreme, markets that tend to have higher homeownership rates, such as Houston, and metros that were particularly hard hit during the housing bust and foreclosure crisis, including Cleveland and Detroit, have lower shares of renters who report both strong credit and high incomes.

“When faced with hurdles of high prices and low inventory, first-time homebuyers are renting longer than ever before even if they are qualified to buy,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell. “San Jose, San Diego and Seattle are among the most competitive places for buyers, and the going isn’t any easier for renters – as they are competing against throngs of financially sound applicants with strong credit and high incomes. This is a conundrum for many young people who move to those cities because of their strong job markets, only to find tight inventory and steep competition standing between them and their dream home.”    

Renters can use Zillow’s Renter Profile to create a personal profile outlining their unique qualifications such as income, credit score, and employment references. Renters create the profile just once, and can share it quickly and easily with landlords and property managers.

NEW YORK, NY – Balfour Beatty Communities, as managing member of military housing projects located at Fort Detrick and Fort Carson, and SolarCity have completed the installation of more than 18,000 solar panels at Army family housing.  The solar panels are installed on multi-family housing, community centers and maintenance facilities at Fort Detrick, Maryland and Fort Carson, Colorado, to provide power to approximately 1,200 housing units across the two bases.

SolarCity designed, built and will maintain the solar power systems, and the military housing project companies (jointly owned by the Army and Balfour Beatty Communities) purchase the power they produce at a discount to local utility rates to generate savings. The installations total more than 4.7 megawatts (MW) of solar power generation capacity—Fort Carson is the larger of the projects with a combined 3 MW of capacity and the Fort Detrick installations are at 1.7 MW. 

“This partnership is yet another example of Fort Carson’s work to increase our nation’s security through energy efficiency and home-grown clean energy solutions,” said U.S. Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado. “It will support service members and their families while benefiting Colorado’s economy and environment.”

“All Marylanders are subject to more frequent and deadly heat waves and storms and 70 percent live in coastal areas, so I take very seriously the threats from climate change, as we all should,” said U.S. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “The good news is that by reducing our carbon pollution, we can slow, stop and even reverse these risks, while creating new jobs and increasing America’s energy security. SolarCity’s investment in Ft. Detrick will move us closer to our national clean energy goals. It is the type of mutually beneficial private investment that moves us in the right direction, and I applaud it.”

“This new solar panel installation at Fort Detrick is exactly what our country needs.  Having renewable, off-the-grid electricity generation is strategically important at our military bases and preventing climate change is in the best interests of our national security,” said Congressman John K. Delaney of Maryland. “This gets us one step closer to the national goal of 50×30 – 50% clean and carbon free electricity by 2030 – that Senator Cardin and I have been working on together in Congress. I want to congratulate SolarCity for their SolarStrong initiative that plans on bringing solar power to more than 120,000 military homes in the U.S.  This just goes to show that investments in clean energy are good for our economy, good for our national security, and good for the environment.”

“We are very pleased to continue the expansion of our solar energy program for military housing,” said Chris Williams, president of Balfour Beatty Communities. “Launched at Fort Bliss in 2012, our innovative collaboration with SolarCity is now enabling the delivery of cleaner, less expensive energy to thousands of military families across the country.”

The installations are part of SolarCity’s SolarStrong project, the largest residential solar initiative in American history, which now provides power across 37 military installations. 

(RECAP: HUD’s inspector general, with the support of the FBI, is looking into the city’s housing authority, according to sources close to the situation. The Inspector General’s Office conducts audits, evaluations and investigations related to HUD programs and operations. One source says the inspector general is collecting information on the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s board and how it awarded a contract to the law firm Eric O. Moody and Associates P.C. Another source says the agency is looking into a potential conflict of interest between a board member and the law firm. They would speak only on the condition of anonymity. On Tuesday, Verbena Askew, an attorney for the authority, said there was a pending “criminal investigation,” but she wouldn’t say which agency was doing it. She said it didn’t involve the board.)