Searching for Gold: How to Navigate a Broken Condo Deal MULTIFAMILY EXECUTIVE MAGAZINE  May 1, 2008By Alison Rice Like miners panning for gold, apartment executives today are sifting through countless failed condo conversion deals in search of valuable nuggets of bargain real estate.“We see an opportunity to acquire some unique assets,â€? says Dave Woodward, CEO and managing partner of Chicago-based Laramar Group. The firm’s last four acquisitions have been broken condo properties.Such possibilities abound, especially in markets where converters looking for a quick flip have instead found themselves trapped by […]

Discounts? Yes, but a Fire Sale? No Commercial Real-Estate Debt Hasn’t Tanked Because So Many Are Seeking Bargains By Lingling Wei and Jennifer S. Forsyth WALL STREET JOURNAL May 9, 2008 The massive market for debt tied to commercial real estate is beginning to thaw as investors flush with cash are starting to buy up billions of dollars in mortgages and securities that had been stuck on the books of banks. But that doesn’t mean banks are lending — capital-starved real-estate owners and developers have yet to see relief. As […]

Regional Apartment Players Hunt Deals Sector Holds Up As Housing Crunch Yields More Renters By Nick Timiraos WALL STREET JOURNAL May 28, 2008 While most commercial-real-estate owners and developers are singing the blues these days, investors like Bruce Hellman are whistling a brighter tune. Mr. Hellman is president of Cincinnati-based Berkshire Realty Group LLC, an owner and operator of rental-apartment buildings. With 5,500 units in Ohio and Kentucky and a healthy appetite to buy more, Berkshire and regional operators like it have found one of the few sweet spots in […]

Is Self-Storage Recession-Proof ? By Poonkulali Thangavelu National Real Estate Investor May 27, 2008 Self-storage real estate investment trusts (REITs) reported total returns of more than 23% year-to date at the end of April, based on an index maintained by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. That number made self-storage REITs the best-performing of all REIT sectors, easily outperforming retail REITs, which generated returns of 10% over the same period that multifamily REITs brought in 15%. By May 23, however, self-storage returns had already declined markedly from 23% […]