Table of Contents May 2005

FEATURES

• 

  Green Scene

  Environmentally friendly buildings have always been trendsetters, but the expense of recycled materials, alternative energy systems, and high-efficiency mechanicals could be absorbed by only the biggest budgets. Even today, high-profile luxury buildings like New York's 293-unit Solaire high-rise...

   

FROM THE EDITOR

• 

  Condo Considerations

  Everywhere you go, you see the marks of condo-mania. In my tiny Arlington, Va., neighborhood alone, there are two new condominium projects under construction and one condo conversion in progress within a two-mile radius of our own (ahem) condo. Colorful signs at these construction sites and...

   

CORNER OFFICE

• 

  Pushing Back

  While homeownership is an important part of America's housing policy, trying to become a nation of 100 percent homeowners could have unfortunate consequences for homeowners, local communities, and the national economy. The rarely spoken truth is that there is such a thing as too much homeownership...

   

NEWS + NUMBERS

Direct Reports

• Executive Feedback

   

• Executive Feedback

   

• Executive Feedback

   

• Mini Apartments

   

• Rental Reprieve

   

• Seeking the Best

   

• Make Maps

   
• 

  Live at the Plaza

  Live at the Plaza: New York's landmark scales back on hotel rooms, adding condos and stores to the mix.

   

Regional

• 

  Urban Cowboys

  Less is more. That's always been a tough concept for Big D apartment developers to grasp, but it looks like the message finally is registering. Builders are slowing production, giving the battered Dallas apartment market a chance to recover. Even more encouraging, much of the remaining construction...

   

PEOPLE + PLACES

• 

  Dollars and Sense

  Anyone who believes that top leaders only focus on the big picture apparently hasn't spent much time with property management executives. These people may oversee the operations for a 20,000-unit portfolio across multiple states, but they can also tell you down to the dollar what their electricity...

   
• 

  Smart Growth

  When Marty Jones, president of Corcoran Jennison Cos., was featured on the cover of MULTIFAMILY EXECUTIVE in May 2000, she was keenly focused on getting her latest project in the ground. Little did she know that within two years, work on Park Square West (planned for downtown Stamford, Conn.'s...

   

Facelift

• 

  The Real Deal

  Imagine renovating six downtown warehouses of varying age, structure, and materials. It sounds like an overwhelming task, but to Trammell Crow Residential, these Houston structures represented an opportunity.

   

Corporate Ladder

• Western Frontier

  For Bobby Bull, it's all about the relationships. “The people within people within multifamily are what keep me here. I enjoy the way our industry has a unique way of bringing brokers and clients alike together,” says Bull, who became vice president and managing director for Transwestern Commercial...

   

SALES + SOLUTIONS

New Developments

• 

  Women's Retreat

  After two years of planning and design, the nonprofit Catholic Charities of the Diocese of San Diego is opening the Ninth & F Apartments. It will offer 24 units of permanent refuge for women who are homeless or fighting drug and alcohol abuse.

   

• Tropical Blend

   

Done Deal

• American Welcome

  In the 1990s, senior housing emerged as a darling of the multifamily industry, as the aging of the baby boomers spawned unprecedented growth in the assisted living properties. Then the bottom fell out. Unsophisticated operators and unchecked building activity spun the industry into a downturn that...

   

Tech Specs

• 

  Search Smarts

  One of the greatest things about the Internet is that it extends your company's reach so that you can nearly market one-to-one with your potential renters. The downside: So can your competitors.

   

PRODUCT STUDIO

• Q & A

  Terry Espy answers: What's the hottest fixture for multi-family buildings in 2005?

   
• 

  Product Studio

   

• Form and Function

  Doors and windows create the tenants' and condo buyers' all-important first impression of your property. So you want to choose products that create visual interest and provide security and functionality. Attractive doors and windows can make a building unique, allowing property managers to command...

   

LANDMARKS

• 

  Historic Ballston Park at Buckingham

  Built in the 1930s during the last years of the Great Depression, these charming garden apartments were originally intended to house the federal workers whose numbers were expanding due to the implementation of FDR's New Deal. At the time, Arlington was renowned for being on the cutting edge in...

   

MFE TOP 50

• 

  2005 MFE Top 50 - Dashed Hopes

  Like many multifamily owners, John Manning expected 2004 to be a good year. Manning, the president and CEO of Massachusetts-based Boston Capital, thought employment statistics would improve and apartment occupancies would naturally follow, bringing a respite from the economic pressures on his 130...

   

Top 50 Builders

• 

  2005 Multifamily 50 - Builders

  Michael Costa isn't waiting for a rebound in market-rate apartment construction. He doesn't need to. “We're focused 100 percent on workforce housing,” says Costa, president of Simpson Housing Solutions, a California-based subsidiary of Simpson Housing, a multi-family builder and developer based in...

   

Top 50 Owners

• 

  2005 Multifamily 50 - Owners

  For AMLI Residential, 2004 marked a year of spring cleaning as the Chicago-based REIT tidied up its portfolio by adding a number of young Class A apartment communities. “We think that the market is mispricing the older stock, and we think it's a good time to sell the older [stock], and buy brand...

   

Top 50 Managers

• 

  2005 Multifamily 50 - Managers

  Sometimes wishful thinking pays off. Just ask FPI Management, a Folsom, Calif.-based fee manager. Last February, the company nearly doubled the size of its headquarters with the hopes of dramatically growing the company's portfolio. “We designed and built our new office building with the intention...