The 234 Apartment

DEVELOPMENT Apartment tower in Bay Village wins approval An apartment tower in Boston’s Bay Village neighborhood cleared a key hurdle this week when it was approved by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals. Despite concern from some residents that the 199-foot building was out of scale with the low- slung brick neighborhood behind it, ZBA members voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the project. Transom Development wants to put 133 apartments on what’s now a surface parking lot and empty lot alongside the Revere Hotel. They hope to start construction in spring of 2018. — TIM LOGAN TRANSPORTATION Peter Pan reaches settlement in disabilities discrimination case A Massachusetts bus company accused of discriminating against passengers with disabilities has reached a settlement with federal prosecutors that resolves the allegations. The US attorney’s office in Boston said Wednesday that Peter Pan Bus Lines Inc. violated federal law by failing to ensure its motor coaches were access...

WASHINGTON — Homebuilders pulled back sharply on construction of apartment complexes in July, causing housing starts to tumble to a three-month low. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that housing starts fell 4 .8 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million. Groundbreakings for multi- family buildings such as apartments slumped 17.1 percent, while single- family house construction slipped 0 .5 percent. Home construction has increased 2.4 percent year-to-date, but the gains have done little to offset the dwindling number of homes listed for sale. The shortage of properties for sale has pushed prices up at a faster pace than income growth, making home ownership less affordable for many would-be buyers. Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities , said that because of the lack of homes on the market "builders are attempting to meet that need but are hamstrung to a degree by shortages of skilled workers" and land restrictions...

NASHVILLE – Officially known as the Low- Income Housing Tax Credit Program administered by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency , an initiative that could have brought up to three housing developments to Sevier County resulted in none of the three proposals being selected for awards of tax credits. Had any of the three proposals been approved, the development would have represented the first time since 2012 that a multifamily housing development in Sevier County received state allocations in the form of tax credits from the agency. Proposals for tax credits were made in February by private developers across Tennessee for either the construction of new units or the rehabilitation of existing units. On Tuesday, THDA released the results of its ranking system for projects proposed across the state. Michael Blade, THDA's director and assistant legal counsel for multifamily development , verified that none of the three projects proposed for Sevier County made the cut. "N...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc agreed to sell property group Archstone to two real estate investment trusts for about $6.5 billion, taking advantage of a strong market for apartments and marking an end to a 2007 gamble that helped push the investment bank into bankruptcy. The buyers, Equity Residential ( EQR.N ) and AvalonBay Communities Inc ( AVB.N ), will split the assets 60-40 and will also take on Archstone's debt, for a total transaction value of $16 billion. Lehman collapsed at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, in part because of soured real estate bets , including the $23. 7 billion leveraged buyout of Archstone. The firm filed for bankruptcy and has been liquidating assets to pay back creditors , who are still owed more than $30 billion. Archstone, one of the largest owners of U.S. apartments, has a large portfolio of properties in metropolitan areas, where apartment buildings have been pricey and difficult to come by. The acquisition would...

Summit Ridge luxury apartment development on River Road in Allentown" alt="Construction has resumed at the Summit Ridge luxury apartment development on River Road in Allentown" /> Construction has resumed at the Summit Ridge luxury apartment development … (MICHAEL KUBEL, THE MORNING…) April 30, 2013 | By Peter Hall, Of The Morning Call Nearly three years after construction stalled at the Summit Ridge Apartments on Allentown's east side, a New Jersey real estate firm has picked up where the project's bankrupt developer left off. After foreclosing on the property and winning an $8.3 million verdict in Lehigh County Court , Diversified Realty Associates of Summit, N.J., aims to complete the luxury apartment buildings by the end of the year. The project's hiatus, which left some residents living amid an abandoned construction site , was the result of former developer David Connolly 's financial meltdown that led federal prosecutors to charge him l...

Benson Gathany moved into his first dorm room at University of Georgia’s Boggs Hall on Aug. 6 with every intention of moving out as soon as possible. This freshman history major from Atlanta is currently in supplementary housing at Boggs, living in a study room turned dorm room with three other roommates. Gathany picked his housing assignment with freshmen criminal justice major Anthony Belvedere in late May. The two freshmen went onto the UGA Housing website and chose what they thought was a typical dorm in Boggs since it had the same floor plan as the others. “This room number came up as a normal, cookie- cutter Boggs room ,” Belvedere said. “We chose it completely randomly. There were other vacancies.” About a month after they chose the dorm, housing emailed them their other roommates’ names, which is when they realized they would be in supplementary housing. “If we had looked at the fine print, it showed that there were four slots for that room,” Gathany said. “So we couldn’t ...

The value of new construction starts in July advanced 6% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $728.1 billion, it was reported by Dodge Data & Analytics. Leading the way was a 26% jump by the nonbuilding construction sector , which reflected an improved level for public works and the start of two massive power plants , located respectively in California and New York. Residential building in July increased 8 %, as multifamily housing rebounded after three consecutive monthly declines .  Running counter was a 7% slide for nonresidential building following its 14% hike in June, as both office buildings and hotels retreated from June’s elevated activity , outweighing a sharp rise for healthcare facilities in July.  During the first seven months of 2017, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis were $411.9 billion, down 1% from the same period a year ago.  Dampening the year-to-date performance for total construction was a steep 44% decline for t...

The value of new construction starts in July advanced 6 % from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $728.1 billion, according to the most recent report from Dodge Data & Analytics.   Leading the way was a 26% jump by the nonbuilding construction sector , which reflected an improved level for public works and the start of two massive power plants in California and New York.   Residential building in July increased 8 %, as multifamily housing rebounded after three consecutive monthly declines . Running counter was a 7% slide for nonresidential building , following its 14% hike in June, as both office buildings and hotels retreated from June’s elevated activity , outweighing a sharp rise for health care facilities in July.   During the first seven months of 2017, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis were $411.9 billion, down 1% from the same period a year ago. Dampening the year-to-date performance for total construction was a steep 44% declin...