Table of Contents February 2012

FEATURES

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  Fasten Your Seat Belts

  2012 promises to take multifamily’s drivers on one hell of a ride.

   

Cover Story

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  Niche Guys Win

  Meet five multifamily firms that know how to make the most of their very specific markets.

   

FROM THE EDITOR

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  Safer at Any Speed

  I’m as averse to change as the next guy. When I got to have someone as talented, prolific, and energizing as Shabnam Mogharabi do a perfectly good job of motivating her team; producing important print, online, and in-person products and platforms to engage you; and creating value for our titles in...

   

NEWS + NUMBERS

Stat of the Month

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  Sour Vintage

  A slew of five-year CMBS loans will come due this year, but how will they refinance?

   

Direct Reports

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  Landmark Legal

  Last month, Christopher Hanback, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of the Holland & Knight law firm, expressed optimism that a district-court judge would uphold a summary judgment rejection in a case the Justice Department (DOJ) filed against Dallas-based JPI Apartment Construction. Others...

   

• Cool for School

  A pioneer of the student housing industry, GMH is plotting its second act.

   
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  Market Mojo

  The returns are starting to come in from 2011, and it looks like apartment owners were the winners. Earlier today, New York–based Reis reported that vacancy fell to 5.2 percent. That’s the lowest number since late 2001. New Haven, Conn., with a vacancy rate of 2.1 percent, and New York City, with...

   
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  Low Treasury, LIBOR Lasting?

  The benchmarks upon which floating- and fixed-rate loans are based have been incredibly low for awhile now—but how long can it last?

   
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  Freddie Ready to ARM Value-Adds

  The market for repositioning deals is expected to pick up this year, and Freddie Mac is taking "a hard look at its adjustable rate programs" to better tailor them to value-add plays.

   

Regional

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  Energy Star

  Long known as the energy capital of the world, resource-rich Houston is fast developing additional assets that make the metro a shining multifamily market.

   

PEOPLE + PLACES

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  Diligence Gut Check

  A lot of unexpected findings can come up during the project vetting process. Here's a sample of some of the more intriguing ones.

   

One to Watch

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  Capital Gain

  As head of finance for HighPoint Holdings, Pat Sullivan wants to expand the ?apartment owner’s portfolio by speaking the language of institutional investors.

   

Facelift

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  Small Order

  New York’s Lower East Side, once home to tenement buildings, is slowly being gentrified. The changes include a slew of small, stylish condos such as the one at 60 Orchard Street

   

SALES + SOLUTIONS

New Developments

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  The Continuum

  The Continuum houses University of Florida grad students in an atypical complex that incorporates a repurposed historic church, retail space, and multiple modern amenities.

   

Tech Specs

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  Open for Business

  These three industry giants have reaped the returns of retooling their websites into multitransactional platforms.

   

PRODUCT STUDIO

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  Sleek Functionality

  Today's kitchen and bath products are smarter, healthier, quieter, and just plain cooler than ever before.