Despite predictions about an impending softening in multifamily construction, builders and developers continue to expand their market reach and portfolios. Here are some of the more prominent projects and deals announced within the past few weeks:
Crescent Communities is developing a 5.3-acre, 374-unit luxury apartment community called Crescent Westshore in Tampa, Fla. This is the fifth multifamily community that Crescent has started in Florida in the past few years, and the third in Tampa. Crescent Warehouse is expected to open in the summer of 2016.
Boston-based Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation and San Diego-based MG Properties Group have jointly acquired the 768-unit Madison Park Apartments in West Anaheim, Calif. This is the largest property, by units, to be purchased in Southern California since 2013. The seller was Institutional Property Advisors. The price was not disclosed.
The Picerne Group has joined forces with Rockwood Capital and The Muller Company to build ELEVEN10 West, a five-story, 260-unit rental community on 2.76 acres in Orange, Calif. TCA Architects designed the building, which will include 43 studios, 117 one-bedroom apartments and 224,293 rentable sf. ELEVEN10 West is being designed to coincide with the City of Orange’s general plan’s mixed-use vision created in 2010. It will open for leasing in the summer of 2017.
Asset Plus Cos., the nation’s largest privately owned apartment and student housing developer, on March 17 opened Arrabella, a 232-unit luxury rental townhouse community in west Houston. Arrabella features six one- to three-bedroom floor plans. As of early April the building was 15% preleased. However, this could be Asset’s last Houston project for a while: its CEO and chairman, Michael McGrath, told the Houston Business Journal that his company would postpone building new multifamily projects in Houston until oil prices recover.
SWBC Real Estate is developing a 304-unit garden style community in Dallas called Timberview Ranch, which should be completed by the end of next year. Galaxy Builders is the designated GC on this project. Earlier this year, SWBC broke ground on a 300-unit apartment complex within Twin Creeks at Alamo Ranch in Far West San Antonio.
Asbury Park, N.J.-based developer J.G. Petrucci Co. plans to break ground this summer on a 68-unit apartment building at the Chalfont train station in Bucks County, Pa. The developer will raze what had been an institution that housed people with brain injuries. The architect on this project is Minno & Wasko, based in Lambertville, N.J.
Kushner Companies last month closed on a portfolio of 16 buildings scattered throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, N.Y., for which it paid $131.5 million. The sellers, Stone Street Properties and HIG Realty Partners, paid $73 million for that portfolio in 2012, according to the Real Deal. The deal was brokered by Marcus & Millichap.
Downtown Detroit is about to get its first new apartment development in a generation. Village Green, a luxury apartment owner and operation, has received approval to construct Statler City Apartments, for which it plans to break ground in the second quarter of next year and complete by the fourth quarter of 2017. Statler City Apartments will be a mid-rise, mixed-use community with 235 apartments and penthouses. It will be located on Detroit’s Grand Circus Park, near the People Mover line and M1 Rail.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Looney Ricks Kiss Architects wins industry honors for mixed-use, multifamily, and residential designs
Looney Ricks Kiss Architects won four Aurora Awards for its architectural designs during the recent Southeast Building Conference in Orlando, including a Grand Aurora Award for a Mixed Use Multi Family community located in the West Village area of Dallas.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, Arup, AECOM top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 75 largest international design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 International Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
See what $3,000 a month will get you at Chicago’s Aqua Tower
Magellan Development Group has opened three display models for the rental portion of Chicago’s highly anticipated Aqua Tower, designed by Jeanne Gang. Lease rates range from $1,498 for a studio to $3,111 for a two-bedroom unit with lake views.
| Aug 11, 2010
Architecture Billings Index flat in May, according to AIA
After a slight decline in April, the Architecture Billings Index was up a tenth of a point to 42.9 in May. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction employment declined in 333 of 352 metro areas in June
Construction employment declined in all but 19 communities nationwide this June as compared to June-2008, according to a new analysis of metropolitan-area employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The analysis shows that few places in America have been spared the widespread downturn in construction employment over the past year.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, Hensel Phelps among the nation's 50 largest design-build contractors
A ranking of the Top 50 Design-Build Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Arup, SOM top BD+C's ranking of the country's largest mixed-use design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 Mixed-Use Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
10% of world's skyscraper construction on hold
Emporis, the largest provider of global building data worldwide, reported that 8.7% of all skyscrapers listed as "under construction" in its database had been put on hold. Most of these projects have been halted in the second half of 2008. According to Emporis statistics, the United States had been hit the worst: at the beginning of 2008, "Met 3" in Miami was the only U.S. skyscraper listed as being "on hold". In the second half of the year, 19 projects followed suit.
