Game, Set, Match
Canyon Capital Realty Advisers, which has famously partnered with NBA legend Magic Johnson on a variety of multifamily and mixed-use acquisition and development initiatives, announced this week the launch of a new real estate fund in partnership with Andre Agassi Ventures to facilitate the development of 75 urban school sites for charter school operators across the United States. With schools come—you guessed it—submarket household formation, suggesting there might be a larger game plan at work. As if education and community betterment through thoughtful development weren’t enough. Now we’re just waiting for Magic vs. Andre in an all-star edition of Shaq Vs.
Trophy Grabbers
The Gothamist has an interesting piece this week on Manhattan multifamily swingers. Straight out of Sex and the City, the blog looks at a NY Post exposé that visited swanky bachelor rentals in the Big Apple and concluded that trophy apartments are the latest way for moneyed NYC studs to nab a trophy wife. Do check out the racy play-by-play after the jump, but be forewarned this is graphic apartment talk at the pinnacle of the art form, and the TMI will likely have you yearning for the days of a three-paragraphs-long list of amenities, which, when you think about it, gives new meaning to the words “clubhouse theater room.”
Thinning the Herds
If the vapid superficiality of trophy apartments turns you off, check out instead the Melody, a 63-unit co-op in the Longwood section of the Bronx designed in part to combat obesity through design elements. Including exercise equipment for adults, climbing equipment for kids, and pimped-out stairways with piped-in jazz, the Melody is the first project to be built using New York City’s Active Design Guidelines, a 135-page manual on the construction of buildings that encourages exercise and mobility. The Melody will be ready for occupancy later this summer, and developers say contracts have already been signed for about 40 percent of the units, which range from $104,435 for one-bedroom apartments to $219,997 for three-bedrooms.
Editor’s note: Q&Q gives a shout-out this week to Multifamily Executive senior editor Les Shaver for filling the inbox with story ideas. Send your offbeat multifamily news leads to [email protected].
