Regional news

Illinois

Corus finances luxury condos

Chicago—Corus Bank provided a $135 million construction loan to Palmolive Tower Condominiums, LLC, an affiliate of Draper and Kramer, Inc., to finance the construction of the Palmolive Building Landmark Residences, a luxury condo redevelopment here.

The renovation will yield 103 condos. Despite the size of the transaction, Corus structured the loan without a participant. This enabled Corus to provide the flexibility and responsiveness a transaction this large needs, the bank said.

Corus Bank also lent $42.3 million to 1300 North State Parkway, LLC, for the acquisition and conversion into condos of the Ambassador, a 12-story property here. The Ambassador will have 39 condos totaling 124,244 square feet and a two-story garage with 74 parking spaces.

Kensington/Marquette sells Oxford Place

Chicago—Kensington/Marquette Partners, LLC, has sold Oxford Place Apartments, a 306-unit garden-style complex, and an adjacent 13 acres of land on behalf of one of its pension fund accounts. The buyer was Investment Property Associates, Inc., and the broker was CB Richard Ellis.

Kensington/Marquette is a real estate investment management firm specializing in apartments. Its clients include pension funds, insurance companies and financial institutions. Its current assets under management are $800 million. The firm operates nearly 7,000 apartment units nationwide.

Wisconsin

NLE begins $40 million condo construction

Milwaukee—New Land Enterprises (NLE) has begun construction on a $40 million, 137-unit condominium and apartment development here. It will include 6,000 square feet of commercial space.

The city plans to sell the land for $1.8 million. Prices for the 88 condos range from $190,000 to the mid-$400,000s. Rents for the 49 apartments are not yet set, said the developer.

NLE had previously started a $30.7 million, 112-unit condo development nearby. The units there will sell for $160,900 for the one-bedroom units, and $240,000 for the two-bedroom units.

New York

Advocates put housing first

New York City—City officials announced two new housing initiatives in November. The New Ventures Incentive Program will create a loan pool to provide $200 million over five years to help pay for environmental cleanup at old manufacturing sites, preparing the ground for 10,000 new apartments.

Officials also said they will have a plan in place by April to end chronic homelessness.

Troutbrook builds $9.5 million project in downtown

New York City—Troutbrook Development has begun construction on a $9.5 million, 25-unit apartment building in downtown Brooklyn.

The new development, The Terraces at Court Street, will have for-sale units priced from $275,000 to $755,000. The mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units will range in size from 700 square feet to 1,600 square feet.

Troutbrook, a full-service real estate and development firm in Manhattan, has 140,000 square feet of projects under development.

Missouri

Robert Brothers begins luxury apartments conversion

Saint Louis—Robert Brothers Properties has begun converting an old Board of Education building here into a $14 million, 50-unit luxury apartment complex. The building is part of the redevelopment of the Old Post Office District in downtown.

Bank of America provided an $8.5 million loan and purchased $2.5 million in federal historic tax credits, and American Family Life Insurance bought $2.7 million in state historic tax credits. Rents will range from $900 to $2,500 for the one- and two-bedroom units. The project is expected to be finished in October 2004.

Georgia

Developers team to develop Inman Park Village

Atlanta—Wood Partners, Inc., has bought the 21-acre former Mead Paper Co. site and plans to transform it into a luxury mixed-use development.

Now called Inman Park Village, it will have 253 luxury apartments developed by Wood Partners, 68 condominiums developed by Ultima Holdings, and 16 single-family homes built by a joint venture between Brunning & Stang and the Columns Group. The joint venture will develop an additional 22 luxury row homes and 19 townhouses on the site. Apartment rentals will start as low as $800, with luxury homes selling in the high $700,000s.

In addition, Ultima is developing 20,000 square feet of retail space and a 4,000-square-foot restaurant here.

Florida

Douglas builds 398-unit luxury complex

Orlando—Construction has begun here on Douglas Grand at MetroWest, a 398-unit, Class A townhouse and garden-style apartment development. Units on the 28-acre property will have one-to-four bedrooms.

The developer, Douglas Partners, is a new firm made up of former executives for Trammell Crow Residential of Florida. SouthTrust Bank provided a $32 million construction loan and Real Estate Capital Partners provided joint venture equity. R.J. Twitty and Co. II assisted with the land sale, construction loan and equity placement.

Douglas Partners has three additional multifamily projects under contract in Winter Park, Sarasota and Tampa, totaling about $103 million in development cost.

California

139-unit apartment complex sold for $4.4 million

Los Angeles—Ideal Properties, LLC, bought a 139-unit apartment building and a single-family home here totaling 106,670 square feet for $4.4 million. The seller was The Werbin Family Trust. The transaction was brokered by Charles Dunn Co.

Colorado

Bridgwater sells for $36 million

Greenwood Village—Mesa Verde Villas, LLC, bought the 292-unit, Class A Bridgwater Apartments here for $36 million. The broker was Moran & Co., and the units were 92% occupied at the time of closing.

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