Senior Influence
A new charter school in Chula Vista, Calif., is taking an unusual step to link seniors with kids: The Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School is allowing a developer to build 42 apartments on its grounds, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. By having the apartments on school grounds, educators hope to connect seniors with children in need of nurturing.
–Les Shaver
Gender Gap
Cookie-selling season is over, but the Girl Scouts are certainly keeping busy. Commercial Real Estate Women, a national trade professional association, is working with local Girl Scouts and other groups in 19 U.S. markets to introduce girls to career opportunities in the historically male-dominated real estate industry. Junior high and high school girls will take hard-hat site tours, learn about the leasing and management process, and shadow industry professionals.
–Rachel Z. Azoff
View With a Room
Residents of the Odyssey Condominium in Arlington, Va., can keep a close eye on the outside world, thanks to a 13-story glass curtain wall offering panoramic views. The 274-unit building, which opened in April, boasts a rooftop pool, a fitness center, and about 6,500 square feet of retail space. The project was developed by Monument Realty and Lehman Brothers and designed by Shalom Baranes Associates Architects.
–Rachel Z. Azoff
Reversal of Fortune
Conversions turn back to apartments.
For well over a year, South Florida has faced a glut of projects slated for development or conversion to condos. Finally, the conversion pipeline has backed up, and at least six projects, totaling 1,551 units, are returning to the for-rent market, according to Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research and Consulting, a market research firm in Deerfield Beach, Fla.
One of the six, the Gateway Club at Orchid Lakes in Boynton Beach, actually had a grand opening sale, but that didn’t go too well, according to McCabe. He says the main reason for these kinds of problems is supply–specifically, the 62,804 units in 22 complexes that have been converted over the last few years. Now, converters are offering concessions, like a year’s mortgage payment, a year’s association fees, a 5 percent commission for realtors, and upgraded stainless steel kitchen packages to entice buyers.
Dick Donnellan, CEO of Apartment Realty Advisors, a broker based in Boca Raton, Fla., noticed the slowing in the final quarter of 2004. “The deals aren’t selling as quickly as they used to,” he says.
The beneficiaries of all of these condo conversions have been apartment owners. Both Donnellan and McCabe say they’ve seen rent increases in the 30 percent range.
Even with rent increases, there’s still debate about whether properties bought for extremely low cap rates as condos can survive as apartments. “These deals can pencil out as apartments with the right financing,” Donnellan says. “Obviously, the deals that are highly leveraged are more vulnerable.”
–Les Shaver