May 2006 Table of Contents

The Industrial Revolution may be a thing of the past, but many of the old mills that produced flour, wool, cotton, and more still stand today as testimony to the manufacturing economy that helped grow our country in the 1800s. Some of these aging behemoths are being razed to make way for progress, but others are finding new use as residential and commercial properties in cities around the country. Read more

It seems like the cruelest of ironies. At 18, an age when most suburban teenagers are still begging to borrow the car, gnashing their teeth over college applications, and trying to avoid taking out the trash, foster children abruptly find themselves on their own. Read more

America may be the famed land of opportunity, but don't discount Europe just yet. As real estate prices continue to soar in the States, waves of American investors are exploring opportunities in the European real estate market. Read more

Even as appreciation for the work of Kennedy Center architect Edward Durrell Stone grew over the past decade, the building he designed at 400 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach, Fla., faded. All the elements that make the city magical for people–sun, sea, sand–took a toll on the six-story, 64-unit building. Read more

One never knows where a first job will lead. Twenty-four years ago, Karen Tepera decided to take a job as a leasing agent. Now, as of January 2006, she's vice president of business development for JPI, where she will be responsible for building the company's third-party business. Tepera, who has a bachelor's in marketing from Texas A&M University, previously worked for Westdale Asset Management as executive vice president. Read more

When architect David J. Minno agreed to design a housing and retail project on a 23-acre parking lot in South Amboy, N.J., he didn't realize it would become a history lesson. But when the grave of a woman named Mary Ellis was discovered underneath a parking space on the future site of the Raritan Heights development, Minno, a principal with Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners of Lambertville, N.J., found himself researching Ellis' life. Read more

As high-profile successes and failures have happened in America's urban affordable housing, much of the country's rural affordable housing developments have waged a quiet and frequently overlooked battle to survive with little federal help. Now, with an average age of 28 years old, many of the Section 515 properties from the old Farmers Home Administration portfolio are starting to face hard times. Read more

It's one thing to condo-convert a just-opened luxury apartment building. Recently completed, the property likely boasts all the latest technology features, from WiFi to cable. As the condo conversion phenomenon has continued, though, there are fewer and fewer of these brand-new buildings to convert, and now multifamily owners and condo converters are frequently turning to older apartment properties for conversion. Read more

Windows and doors rank right up there on any list of big-ticket items when it comes to multifamily projects, whether they're newly constructed apartment buildings or renovated projects. The up-front costs are bound to take up a big chunk of any budget. And then there are the very real sound, energy, and maintenance issues that kick in down the line, especially when it comes to windows. Read more

In its past life, the Kennedy Biscuit Lofts were once known as the historic F.A. Kennedy Steam Bakery–and the birthplace of the famous Fig Newton cookie. The cookie factory, built in 1875, was spared from the wrecking ball when Forest City Enterprises and Keen Development Corp. teamed up to transform the building into a modern multifamily residence in 1990. Read more

The big story among this year's MFE Top 50 was a shift from public to private life. Read more

Without a doubt, 2005 was the year to be a condo developer. Just look at the Novare Group's year-end performance. The Atlanta-based condo developer set a company record with 1,486 starts, breaking ground on four significant properties. "In 2005, we were in ramp-up mode, working on a lot more projects than we were in 2004," says Jim Borders, Novare's president. Read more

Equity Residential went on a major shopping spree last year. Its biggest purchase: the $809 million acquisition of Trump Place, a collection of three high-rise apartment towers on Manhattan's Upper West Side. "It's fun to be in the multifamily business again," says David Neithercut, president of the Chicago-based REIT. "We ended the year well above plan on our operating performance, and we exceeded our expectations on our transaction volume." Read more

Nothing compares to the sweet taste of victory. Just ask MFE's Top 50 multifamily managers. After several years of negative market conditions, operating fundamentals finally began to favor the apartment industry in 2005 as the economy slowly improved and the condo boom led to a healthy business equation of more apartment demand than supply. Read more

There were a lot of tax credit syndication deals that Todd Crow, senior vice president at PNC Multifamily Capital, simply had to walk away from in 2005. With tax credit pricing eclipsing the watershed mark of a dollar per credit for the first time last year, and yields slipping down into the 5 percent range, some deals that the firm otherwise would have pursued had to be let go because returns simply weren't good enough. Read more