Table of Contents March 2007

FEATURES

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  New Kids on the Block

  They don't pay rent or condo fees, let alone have a line of credit. They're not the best at following community rules, and they'll likely leave your common areas looking like a hurricane hit. Do these residents sound like the last people you'd want living at your latest project? Guess again.

   

• Last Resort

  Cynthia Lucas did everything she could to salvage the relationship. The senior vice president of WRH Realty Services in Jacksonville, Fla., advised her client, the owner of a large apartment building, that his planned cuts in office and maintenance staff would undermine service and quality at the...

   

Cover Story

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  Golden Opportunities

  If a penny saved is a penny earned, then Berkshire Property Advisors has earned many pennies indeed. At every stage of a property investment and every level of the company, Berkshire searches for the “alpha,” the seemingly small factors in acquisitions, renovations, and management that add up to...

   

FROM THE EDITOR

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  Mouse Tales

  It's easy to mock the mouse. After all, when you visit Walt Disney World in Florida, you see Mickey's image everywhere: on drink coasters, t-shirts, and even a security guard's jacket. (Imagine a gold-embroidered outline of Mickey Mouse's head, including those unmistakable ears, paired with the...

   

CORNER OFFICE

• Speed Needs

  As apartment executives know all too well, the technology landscape is changing rapidly—and constantly. Cable firms are rushing to deliver phone service, phone companies are starting to provide video programming, and American consumers are being bombarded with offers for new content and services...

   

NEWS + NUMBERS

Stat of the Month

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  Stock Option

  Avalon Bay Communities recently became the fourth multifamily REIT company named to the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500, an index fund that includes a sample of 500 of the top companies in the country's leading industries. AIMCO, Archstone, and Equity Residential are the other apartment companies on...

   

Direct Reports

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  Rooms for Rent

   

• Chicago Bound

  Pinnacle, a Seattle-based property management firm, has opened a new Illinois office to help with its expansion efforts in the Chicago market. The company has been active in the market for many years, but now plans to dramatically grow its management portfolio from 2,000 units to more than 10,000...

   

• Meeting the Market

  In an effort to compete more effectively with the conduit market and to grow its lending portfolio to include smaller, riskier deals, Freddie Mac has reorganized its multifamily division.

   

Regional

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  Peachy Keen

  The winding, twisting road to overall apartment market improvement is typically marked with hiccups and false starts. But after overcoming some bumps along the way, Atlanta appears to be back on track.

   

PEOPLE + PLACES

Apartment Life

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  Exercising Room

  When The Bascom Group bought the 170-unit Park Wilshire in Los Angeles several years ago, the eight-story apartment building lacked a fitness center. But, the Irvine, Calif.-based owner identified vacant space that could be turned into a fitness center—1,000 square feet in a basement that was a...

   

Facelift

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  Banking on Success

  Banking has long been the stock in trade of Charlotte, N.C. Two of the country's largest banks are headquartered there, not to mention a Federal Reserve branch and more than 218 branches of 20 other banks. When one of those branches pulled out of a multi-tenant office building on Tryon Street, the...

   

Corporate Ladder

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  Smart Development

  There may be only two true certainties in life—death and taxes, of course—but according to Greg Vilkin, housing isn't far behind.

   

SALES + SOLUTIONS

New Developments

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  Condo Oasis

  What's in a name? In Mezzo's case, it might be more than you think.

   
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  The Cheval Apartments

   

Tech Specs

• Build or Buy?

  Lane Co., an Atlanta-based third-party manager of more than 30,000 units, has always maintained a dedicated practice for public housing clients. “It may not be the most profitable stuff in the world, but we believe in doing it from a community-oriented perspective,” says Dan Haefner, Lane's chief...

   

PRODUCT STUDIO

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  Product Studio

  Try out some unconventional countertops.

   
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  Hot Surfaces

  Move over, granite. For years, this durable yet classy stone has been a must-have for high-end residential projects. But inventive developers are now moving beyond granite to find unique materials that set their projects apart from the competition.

   

LANDMARKS

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  Historic Gas Co. Lofts

  The property, which encompasses three buildings, was formerly the headquarters of the Southern California Gas Co. Located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, the buildings were constructed at various dates from 1924 to 1960.