AUSTIN, TEXAS — Vesper Holdings has announced the launch of its in-house student housing management company Campus Life & Style (CLS) to manage its rapidly growing portfolio of off-campus apartment communities. Based in Austin, the CLS team will be led by COO Jim Sholders, who most recently served as senior vice president at American Campus Communities. To lead the new company’s design side, Vesper has tapped top New York interior designer Jon Call.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Austin-based developer Johnson Trube & Associates is developing Skyloft, a Class A student housing property one block from the University of Texas at Austin campus. Located at 507 W. 23rd St., the project will total 22 floors, with four below-grade parking levels and 18 residential levels. Skyloft will house 212 units with a mix of one- to four-bedroom units totaling 677 beds. The project will feature a rooftop pool and fitness center, 24-hour study lounges, media room and underground parking. A recent vote by the Austin City Council green-lighted the move of the historic Dabney-Horne home currently on the site, which is allowing the Johnson Trube development to move forward. The development will offer a percentage of its units as affordable housing. Johnson Trube & Associates plans to break ground in August with an opening scheduled for late July/early August 2018. Project team members include architectural firms Mark Hart Architecture and STG Design and general contractor JE Dunn Construction.
ALBANY, N.Y. — Eastern Union Funding has arranged construction financing for UP REALTY LLC for the conversion of 20 Park Street in Albany from office to residential use. Motti Blau of Eastern Union negotiated the two-year, $7.3 million loan with the Albany office of Community Preservation Corp. The four-story, 94,920-square-foot former office building is being redeveloped into 73 rental units. On-site amenities will include a rooftop deck, gym and parking. The property is connected to the Times Union Center indoor arena, the Empire State Plaza complex, additional parking and the future convention center via a covered pedestrian walkway. Construction is slated for completion by early summer.
BOISE, IDAHO — EdR and Boise State University have broken ground on a nearly $40 million Honors College and first-year residence hall. The 236,000-square-foot development is scheduled for completion in fall 2017. The honors-dedicated living-learning center and freshman housing community will feature 235 two- and four-person, private and semi-private suite-style units. A number of apartment-style units will also be included to provide alternatives for upper-division students in the Honors College. The five-story building will feature classrooms, study lounges, honors offices and dining facilities along with Internet capabilities and Wi-Fi access. EdR has financed the nearly $40 million development through its on-campus equity plan, which uses the company’s equity and financial stability to fund projects on university land. In their agreement, EdR provides financing, oversees development and construction, and is responsible for maintenance and management while Boise State provides residence life services.
ENGLEWOOD, FLA. — Love Funding, a Washington, D.C.-based lender, has provided a $17.8 million construction loan to build Heritage Oaks Assisted Living and Memory Care, a 118-unit seniors housing community in Englewood, located between Tampa and Fort Myers. Tammy Tate of Love Funding secured the 40-year, non-recourse financing through the HUD 232 program. Heritage Oaks will include 86 assisted living units and 32 memory care units in a two-story building. The initial 10-acre site will be part of a larger 60-acre campus. Phase II of development will add independent living to the community. Georgia-based CDH Partners is design architect for the project, which Florida-based Core Construction Services will build. When complete, Beacon Communities will operate the community. No timeline for construction was disclosed.
MADISON, WIS. — Brookdale Senior Living has completed the addition of 67 units and a new memory care program at Brookdale Madison West, an assisted living community in Madison. The $18 million expansion was completed in several phases. In the first phase, a 67-unit assisted living building was added to the existing 48-unit community, as well as a variety of dining options and amenities. In the second phase, the community’s initial assisted living building was updated and renovated to memory care units. The memory care section is split into two sections of 20 units each — one for those with acute memory care needs, and another to try to slow the progression of early-stage dementia.
IOWA CITY, IOWA — Dougherty Funding LLC has closed an $11.7 million acquisition loan for a 248-unit affordable apartment property in Iowa City. A majority of the units at Iowa City Pheasant Ridge Apartments were covered under a project-based Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment contract. The property was built in 1971 and recently underwent $700,000 worth of improvements such as new furnaces, roofing, kitchen cabinets, countertops and appliances. Iowa City Leased Housing Associates II LLLP was the borrower. Dougherty served as the lead lender and servicer for the loan.
WASHINGTON — U.S. commercial property transaction volume is expected to decline over the next three years to $475 billion in 2018, according to a new economic forecast from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate. The latest ULI Real Estate Consensus Forecast, a semi-annual outlook, is based on a survey of 48 of the industry’s top economists and analysts representing 36 of the country’s leading real estate investment, advisory and research firms and organizations. The survey provides forecasts on broad economic indicators such as real estate capital markets, property investment returns, vacancy and rental rates and housing starts and prices. The recently released consensus forecast calls for continued economic expansion over the next three years, but at a somewhat slower pace than the prior two years. It also anticipates continued commercial price appreciation and positive returns, but at more subdued and decelerating rates, and above average but decelerating rent growth rates in all property sectors. “Compared to six months ago, real estate researchers are predicting slower economic growth, slipping real estate fundamentals and lower returns from both the public and private markets,” says William Maher, ULI leader, survey participant and director of North American strategy for …
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has arranged a $27.5 million refinancing of a construction loan for a condominium development located at 204 Forsyth St. on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Adam Hakim, Sam Zabala and James Murad of Eastern Consolidated secured the loan, which was provided by Churchill Credit Holdings LLC, for the borrower, Charles Saulson. The borrower is developing a seven-story, 21,166-square-foot residential property at the site. Once complete, the property will feature 11 apartments — 10 two-bedroom units and one three-bedroom unit — and two parking spaces.
WILLOW GROVE, PA. — Montgomery County Housing Authority (MCHA) has partnered with Pennrose Properties to redevelop Crest Manor, a public housing community in Willow Grove that was originally built in 1963. The $17.7 million revitalization includes rehabilitation of 15 of the existing two-story twin buildings, demolition of a two-story twin building with construction of a two-story building in its place, demolition of the existing maintenance facility and the construction of a two-story building in its place. Upon completion the community will feature 15 renovated twin buildings, three newly constructed multi-unit buildings and one newly constructed community and maintenance building, all totaling more than 49,492 square feet. The redeveloped community will provide 46 affordable housing units, ranging in size from one- to five-bedroom floor plans. Wallace Roberts & Todd LLC are serving as architect for the project, and Harkins Builders is the general contractor. The project was funded by Alden Torch Finance/JPMorgan Chase, low income housing tax credits allocated by Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), PHFA PennHOMES, Montgomery County Housing Authority, Montgomery County Affordable Housing trust funds, Community Development Block Grant funds allocated by Abington Township, and Fulton Bank.