High Stakes

Big name Las Vegas condos take a hit.

10 MIN READ
Ivana Trump's highly publicized condo project in Las Vegas is up for sale–and its future is unknown.

Paul Hawthorne/Staff/Getty Images

Ivana Trump's highly publicized condo project in Las Vegas is up for sale–and its future is unknown.

Unfair Treatment

A fair housing report claims discrimination.

The stories of people leaving New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities after Hurricane Katrina drew sympathy from many people around the country, including the apartment industry. But a recent report from the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) claims apartment owners may not be treating evacuees equally.

Shortly after the hurricane, NFHA had both black and white testers call apartment complexes in 17 cities across five states to ask for an apartment. In 43 of 65 instances (66 percent), the report says, white callers were favored over black callers. (Though not always reliable, it is often possible to detect a person’s race by his or her name and manner of speaking, says Shanna Smith, president and CEO of NFHA.)

The discrimination took a variety of forms at the same apartment complexes. “It ranged from outright lies by telling the African-American that nothing was available and telling the white [person] that two or three apartments were available to telling the African-American the security deposit was $250 and then telling the white [person] that it was $200,” Smith says.

After the over-the-phone testing, NHFA actually sent testers out to five apartment communities. It says black testers encountered racism at three of the five sites. Based on both phone and in-person experiences, NHFA filed five complaints with HUD for discrimination faced at properties in Texas, Florida, and Alabama.

In response to the situation, the National Multi Housing Council posted HUD guidance on the NMHC Web site reminding members of their fair housing obligations. Though Jeanne Delgado, vice president of property management for NMHC, doesn’t deny that there probably is some discrimination against Katrina evacuees, she says it’s important to remember how the industry stepped up after the hurricane. “Our emphasis from day one has been one of reaching out and helping,” she says.

–Les Shaver

Online Update

Want more industry news? Sign up for Multifamily Executive Business Update, our online newsletter, which will now go out twice monthly, thanks to online editor David Moran (davidmoran@hanleywood.com). The first e-mail of the month will feature stories from Multifamily Executive; the second e-mail of the month will highlight the latest apartment news. To subscribe, visit hanleywood.sparklist.com/subscribe/memberlogin.tml.

Slammed Door

The loophole that football players from college powerhouses Iowa and Virginia Tech exploited to live for free–or close to it–in Section 8 housing has finally slammed shut. In late 2005, President Bush signed a bill that requires students to include parental income or any financial aid that exceeds tuition when they apply for Section 8 housing certification.

–Les Shaver

Uncharted Waters

Run out of land to develop? Take your product out to sea with a ship-based condominium project. One of the latest proposed luxury liners: the Orphalese, which plans to offer 200 condo units priced between $1.8 million to $10 million. The ship is expected to set sail in 2008.

–Rachel Z. Azoff

Save the Date

Mark your calendars for the 2006 Multifamily Executive Conference, which will be held Oct. 4-6, 2006, at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

Bargain Living

Indianapolis offers the most affordable housing of any of the nation’s big cities, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index for the third quarter of 2005. The index includes both single-family and multifamily for-sale property in major metros with populations over 500,000.

–Rachel Z. Azoff

Westward Move

After spreading its roots in the Southeast, Washington, D.C., Texas, and Colorado, Wood Partners of Marietta, Ga., has announced that it’s entering the competitive Southern California market. The firm, which topped Multifamily Executive’s 2005 list of builders, hired Frank Middleton to become a director of development and establish the firm’s Southern California operations.

–Les Shaver

Legal Help

Looking for advice regarding your next affordable housing project? A new book from the American Bar Association covers everything from financing a new affordable development to preserving an existing property. To order The Legal Guide to Affordable Housing Development ($94.95), visit www.ababooks.org or call the ABA service center at 800-285-2221.

–Alison Rice

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