September 2005 Table of Contents

Susan Booker wanted to live in a place that would allow her to be active in her neighborhood as she grew older. As she did her research, she found herself immediately attracted to Wild Sage Village, a senior cohousing development in Boulder, Colo., where residents help design the project and create a community. Read more

Going to the principal's office in Atlanta's Bass High School isn't what it used to be. In the same place where students would sit in anticipation and dread, a lucky renter now enjoys a one-of-a-kind Bass Lofts apartment suite, complete with the original bank vault that once held valuables for the school. "The people who choose to live here relish it. It's still an old school. We left up several chalkboards and teachers' bookcases," says Dennis Hertlein, principal of Surber, Barber, Choate, Hertlein Architects of Atlanta. Read more

ZOM Development in Orlando is right at home under the Big Top. Since its start in 1977, ZOM has built approximately 15,000 apartments, along with office, residential, condominium, and retail spaces. Yet, ZOM has stopped building condos in the frenzied Miami market, the same city where it has constructed numerous apartments and The Hotel Victor. Read more

What's your company's greatest strength? If you answered "people," you're not alone; it's a popular response among executives today, particularly in the apartment industry, where the talent you need can be hard to find and even more difficult to keep. Read more

Within days of starting this job, I started becoming very familiar with the name Laurie Baker. I saw Baker, then vice president of property services for Camden Property Trust, listed as a speaker at industry events. I read her comments in the stories I edited. I even traded a few e-mails with her. (Obviously, I'm not the only one: At the NMHC technology conference in Houston last fall, Camden CEO Ric Campo mentioned Baker from the stage during a panel discussion and alluded to her BlackBerrying ways.) Read more

Property management goes to school, plus other industry news. Read more

With improving employment figures, steady rental demand, and ever-increasing investor interest, the Seattle market is percolating its way to a very strong brew. Read more

Revitalizing a neighborhood takes more than money– it takes patience and time. Just ask Marilyn Melkonian of Telesis Corp. When Telesis was featured on the cover of Multifamily Executive magazine in 1999, the company was still recovering from completing a 10-year effort to revitalize the Kenilworth Parkside neighborhood, a former public housing project in northeast Washington, D.C. Six years later, the company is just now laying the groundwork for phase two of the ambitious project. Read more

There can be little doubt that Ritz-Carlton hotels provide exceptional customer service. From the gracious courtesy of the front-desk staff to the comforts of a room with an expertly made bed covered with a cloud of down pillows, a visit to the Ritz always seems special, no matter how long (or short) the stay. Read more

The old saying goes, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," and that's exactly what apartment firms are doing. After losing resident after resident to the lure of low interest rates, apartment companies are paying new attention to home-buying incentive programs. Read more

Never underestimate the power of a facelift. Just look at Gramax Towers Apartment Homes in Silver Spring, Md. The former office building sat vacant for 15 years, a blighted eyesore that cast a shadow on the entire neighborhood. But as soon as the building was refurbished, the entire landscape and character of the surrounding area dramatically improved. Read more

When people say that real estate is a local business, they could be talking about LISC. Officially known as the Local Initiatives Support Corp., the nationally thinking, locally acting nonprofit provides help and money to community development organizations across the country. That's where Mark Edwards comes in. As program director for the Philadelphia LISC, he leads one of LISC's largest groups, overseeing affordable housing, commercial development, recreational opportunities, and more. Edwards, who started his new job in May, holds a bachelor's in political science from Morehouse College in Atlanta. Read more

It may not look it from the metal and glass façade, but The Helena apartments, completed in August, is quite green. Read more

Public-private partnerships are fueling a multibillion-dollar affordable housing renaissance in Philadelphia. The initiative, led by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, is restoring declining neighborhoods and spurring private development in areas where few builders saw opportunity before. Read more

Hardly a week passes without a scary news story from a major credit card company, bank, or online shopping site that the security of critical consumer data has been compromised. If these data-heavy, security-oriented companies can't adequately protect their sensitive customer information, then how will apartment companies and their business partners be able to accomplish such a task? Read more

It's all too easy to get caught up in the buzz of the latest high-tech security gadgets and gizmos. But it's often the cheap, simple strategies that have the greatest impact on a property's safety. Read more

When the Kennedy-Warren marks its 75th birthday next year, it will do so as the building it was intended to be–but only recently became. Read more