The 234 Apartment

In March of 2016, having recently been let go from the Cleveland Browns due in part to truancy and public drug use, Johnny Manziel applied to live in an apartment. The property manager who processed his application was at first delighted that she would have the opportunity to rent to the Heisman Trophy recipient from Texas A&M. But she was quickly disheartened when she realized that, due to a criminal background screening policy that she had helped create which immediately disqualified applicants who had been arrested for or charged with a crime, she could not rent to Johnny Football. His criminal background check revealed that he had been arrested for domestic violence three months prior. But since she was a fan, and because it was her personal opinion that he was innocent, she successfully lobbied her building’s ownership to restructure their screening policy to disregard arrests, and only screen for convictions (using the logic that arrests are not proof of wrongdoing). ...

James Fields, Jr. was arrested on charges he drove into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. (WSYX/WTTE) WSYX/WTTE —  The manager of a Northwest Ohio apartment complex said Charlottesville suspect James Fields Jr . moved in sometime in April and signed a year lease. Heather Schuster works for Oak Hill Investment L.L.C. as a manager and said it is her understanding that there have been no complaints against Fields during his time as a resident. The complex is located in Maumee, just south of Toledo, Ohio. She believes law enforcement has been at the complex and inside the apartment. The maintenance man told her he let the police and FBI into the unit ABC6/FOX28 was told Fields was a good tenant in terms of paying rent. Schuster said it is her understanding the Fields live alone with a cat. The manager would not divulge further details about Fields or his employment.

With prices not expected to rise, drillers seek efficiency Efficiency is the name of the game for Oklahoma drillers and out-of- state companies drilling wells in Oklahoma. Lessons learned during the two-and-a-half-year downturn have helped boost some oil and gas businesses. Comanche Nation lawsuit challenges proposed Chickasaw casino The Comanche Nation of Oklahoma has filed a lawsuit against several federal officials , claiming the Chickasaw Nation doesn ’t have the right to build a casino in Jefferson County. The Comanche Nation is seeking injunctive relief voiding a recent trust acquisition in Jefferson County by the U.S. Department of the Interior for the Chickasaw Nation ’s benefit. Some legislators not sure of support for OKC income tax proposal Even state legislators who support educational funding enhancements during the state budget crunch are torn on the philosophy behind a new initiative petition in Oklahoma City. The proposal calls for a temporary 0.5- percent tax ...

TORONTO / DALLAS, TX, Oct. 30, 2014 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust (MST.UN) ("Milestone" or the "REIT") today announced that it has completed the purchase of Villas at Shadow Creek ("Shadow Creek" or the "Property"), a 560- unit multifamily apartment community located in the Pearland submarket of Houston, Texas, for a purchase price of US$74.0 million. This acquisition was previously announced by the REIT on September 15, 2014. Shadow Creek was built in two phases in 2006 (296 units) and 2007 (264 units) and is currently approximately 95% occupied, with average monthly rents of approximately US$1,200 per unit. The Property's average in-place rents are higher than the REIT's portfolio average in part due to a higher proportion of two and three- bedroom apartment suites . Shadow Creek has the potential for a value- add program relating to unit interior upgrades . The Property features ...

Another program, run by the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board , works with the city on co-op conversions of buildings taken over from delinquent landlords. Tenants help with renovations and can eventually buy the units for low prices. About 30,000 apartments are in the program, which is administered by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Since 2003 the city’s Housing Development Corporation has also been partnering with both for-profit and nonprofit developers to create new affordable apartments — 1,767 units in 21 buildings. The benefits of promoting homeownership in this way extend far beyond the individual owners, said Andrew Reicher, the executive director of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board . “In the Lower East Side , in Harlem, in Bed-Stuy,” he said, “these owners stuck it out and struggled to improve their block, and improvements spread from their work. And they are not displaced when the neighborhood turns around.” Of course, the question fo...

WITH the median price of an apartment in Manhattan topping $1,000 a square foot, homeownership is often far out of reach. But there are options for those who cannot afford the market rate, including co-op apartments for buyers who earn a certain percentage of the area median income , or A.M.I. These buildings are scattered all over the city. Some date to the 1950s; others are brand-new and still looking for buyers. Some are limited to those who earn less than the median income -- 60 or 80 percent, for example (the median for a family of four in New York City is $83,000). Others have apartments for those earning a bit more than that sum. Many new developments try to bring in owners from different economic backgrounds, and are likely to include market-rate units as well. At one recent development, Atlantic Terrace, near the new Nets arena in Brooklyn, similar one-bedroom apartments were priced at $85,000, $113,000 and $232,000, depending on the buyer's income. A market-rate one-be...