Multifamily Housing Blog

Renting Energy Efficient Apartments: 2012 Concept Community Part 1

2012-01-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a good article shared by a colleague this morning that points out an opportunity of interest to multifamily housing owners and builders. It was written by John K. McIlwain who is the Senior Resident Fellow and J. Ronald Terwilliger Chair for Housing at the Urban Land Institute.

If you saw the video from an earlier post you might recall that there are mixed views on whether anyone is willing to pay for energy efficiency these days. My bet is that the tide is already turning and one of the big selling points for Gen Y will be energy efficiency. The article is called "How Home Builders Are Selling Green"

Here is the key takeaway from the full article:

This is a trend that the apartment industry in particular needs to watch. Its market is far younger than the homebuying market, a differentiation that will continue to grow as the young members of generation Y defer homebuying into their early and middle 30s. This, the largest generation ever, is also the one most committed and sensitive to the cost and use of energy. They are, by and large, an increasingly values-driven group, and climate considerations, sustainability, and reducing the use of energy are at the heart of their values. In short, the prime market for apartments is the greenest market in U.S. history.

We are about to formally announce a new project that will dig deeper into this debate called the 2012 Concept Community. More to come...soon! Rendering courtesy of KTGY Architects.

MFE March Issue Preview: Print is not dead yet!

2012-01-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

Eventually I plan on tackling more of how the print vs online debate is playing out in B2B media channels but for now I thought I would kick it off with the recent news of Google's newest ad campaign (in print!) and a plug for an upcoming issue of MFE of course.

Here is a quote from a recent piece in AdAge:
The "Good to Know" campaign is an important branding effort for Google as internet users' concerns about how their personal data is used continue to mount. In the ads, Google seeks to tell consumers that there's a value exchange and that they reap benefits, such as more-personalized search results, in return for the company's knowledge of their search history.

Obviously Google has reached a point in its growth where it must consider all channels of advertising to accomplish a variety of different goals. There is a tremendous amount of opportunity to excel as an online marketer these days but there is no one silver bullet out there, even for THE dominant web presence known as Google.

Find where your prospects are engaged and do something...anything...to help solidify your value proposition and complement your direct selling efforts. More to come!

Here are those March Issue Highlights...print ads are still available!

Cover Story: TBA (A profile of a leading Multifamily REIT)

Leasing Season
The focus of this story will be on providingclear advice and strategies for multifamily property managers for the 2012leasing season.

Apartment Life:

What’s happening in the corporate/temporary housing side of propertymanagement, and how does that help or distract from mainstream, traditional propertymanagement?

Product Studio: Security

Regional Outlook:Detroit

Bonus Distribution: MFE Leadership Summit and Apartment Finance Today Conference

Total Reach: 60,323 multifamily executives via print and digital edition (unduplicated)

Closing: Feb 2, 2012

MFE Leadership Summit: 2011 Interviews

2012-01-23T11:35:00.000-08:00

Another event quickly approaching is the MFE Leadership Summit which is held annually in Vail, CO. I just found this video that I "produced" with my flip video camera in 2011. If you haven't been it might help give you a better feel for what folks get out of the event.

The dates this year are March 8-10, 2012. We have a great group of attendees, sponsors and produce the event in cooperation with Doug Bibby and the NMHC.

Apartment Finance Today Conference 2012

2012-01-23T10:01:00.000-08:00

Four Seasons, Las Vegas

It's about time to start thinking about the Apartment Finance Today Conference in Las Vegas. This is the first time we are in this location and we are doing it in style (with a sub $200 room rate!).

You must be an owner, developer or operator to attend but we have great sponsor programs that include a table top in our Sponsor Room, which is also where we have all of the networking functions.

Here is a summary of what you can expect:

Fundamentalsare phenomenal. Interest rates are at historic lows. Debt and equity sourceswant nothing more than to leverage hugely profitable yield opportunities thatwill come from putting capital to work in the apartment space right now.

But whetherit’s new construction, value add, or a permanent loan, your biggest challengeis to get investors and lenders to look at your deal, to get your project inthe ground now, to get the chance to ride what promises to be a strong upwardcycle.

At thisyear’s event, held April 2–3, 2012 at the luxurious Four Seasons Las Vegas,you’ll find a dozen interactive sessions, beneficial networking opportunities,first-rate speakers, and must-attend programming designed exclusively forapartment developers and owners.

Scheduled Speakers (more to come):

RonTerwilliger, Keynote

DavidAbromowitz, Center for American Progress (tentative)

JerryAscierto, Apartment Finance Today

Doug Bibby,NMHC

Tom Booher,PNC Real Estate

DavidDurning, Prudential Mortgage Capital

Mel Gamzon,Senior Housing Investment Advisors

Lee Harris,Cohen Esrey

Guy Johnson,Johnson Capital

Rich Kelly,LumaCorp

CharlesKrawitz, Fifth Third Bank

BrentLittle, Fountain Residential Partners

HeidiMcKibben, Fannie Mae

JohnMcManus, Apartment Finance Today

TripStephens, ZOM

Here is a complete outline of the programming:

MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2012

General Session

1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Vision for 2012: Editorial Advisory Board & Leadership Roundtable

For the pastfew years, real estate executives and multifamily leaders have predicted thatthe apartment sector is riding a boom period unparalleled in recent history.For 2012 to live up to the hype, and be ripe with new deals and developments,innovative financing, and revenue-generating opportunities, companies willrequire a clear strategic vision. This panel of a dozen industry leaders fromacross the debt and equity, operations, and development segments of themultifamily business will offer their no-holds-barred insights, perspectives,and forecasts for the coming year.

Coffee Break 2:30 p.m. – 3 p.m.

General Session

3 p.m. – 4 p.m. Sound and Fury: Inside the GSEReform Debate

With morethan two-dozen bills still in circulation around housing financing reform, thefuture of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is precarious at best. Yet despite thefrenzy of activity, the debate has been placed largely on hold until after the2012 election. In this panel, industry watchers and lobbyists discuss theunderlying currents on Capitol Hill and take a hard look at what the currentpiecemeal legislative attempts for action could mean for the future of theGSEs—and the apartment industry that relies on their financial security.

Keynote Session

4 p.m. – 5 p.m. J. Ronald Terwilliger: My Life as a Developer

RonTerwilliger, the man likely responsible for developing more units than anyonein the industry’s history, will offer his insights into how the current cyclediffers from past cycles, and how you can best position your company to ride thenext great upturn. During his 25-year tenure at the helm of Trammell CrowResidential, Terwilliger established the firm as the nation’s most prolific andbest-run development firm, providing a model of best practices for the industryto emulate. But he’s also a powerful advocate in the housing industry, havingestablished the ULI Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing, and serving aschairman of Enterprise Community Partners and Habitat for Humanity’s globalcapital campaign. This keynote presentation will also include his thoughts onthe future of housing finance, the government’s role in supporting workforceand affordable housing, and what the future of the government-sponsoredenterprises means to your business.

5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Networking Reception

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast & Roundtables

Hot Topics Roundtables

Description:Join your colleagues for a moderated, informative breakfast conversation aboutchallenges and opportunities within the various apartment sectors and nichesseeing growth in recent years.

• Affordable Housing

• Student Housing

• Seniors Housing

• Distressed Assets

Keynote Session

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Meet the Money: AFT Takes You Inside theArt & Science of the Loan

The lendingenvironment is a fickle one these days. What’s in favor (and available) one dayis out of reach the next. In this interactive, provocative, fast-paced session,the editors of Apartment Finance Today bring borrowers and lenders to the tableto offer the inside scoop on who’s lending, on what terms, and for what typesof assets. On one side of the table, borrowers, ranging from Class Aacquisition experts to value-add owner/operators to niche developers. On theother side, lenders who represent institutional, government, and bank moneyacross the board. This panel of all-stars will offer insights into exactly whatit takes to close a deal in the current environment.

10:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. CoffeeBreak

General Session

11 a.m. – 12 p.m. Openingthe Gates: Equity Investors Step up Their Game

Afterretreating to the sidelines and cinching their purse strings through the heightof the recession, equity investors re-entered the new development andrecapitalization markets in 2011. Now, as the industry navigates another yearof uncertain yields and frenzied activity, equity investors have committed todeploying capital before it’s too late. This panel of equity investors willoffer their thoughts on where return expectations are headed, how risk levelsare evolving, and where to find the right partner for your next deal.

12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch & Roundtables

Join yourcolleagues for a moderated, informative lunch conversation about dealmaking,financing, and operational trends in a number of local markets around thecountry.

• Northeast Corridor

• Southeast

• Texas

• California

• Pacific Northwest

• Midwest

General Session

1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. To the Max: How to Push NOI to New Heights

As a streamof residents flees homeownership and flocks to apartment living, the opportunityto maximize revenue and net operating income is huge. Whether through rentmaximization, resident retention, innovative renewal strategies, ancillaryincome and revenue sources, or cost cutting measures, this panel of operationalexperts will offer advice, tips, and strategies for making every dollar drivevalue. Guaranteed, you’ll walk away from this high-energy, conversational panelwith at least a dozen ideas on how to make every initiative impact the bottomline.

General Session

2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Construction Capital‘s Comeback: Beyond theBlueprint

Description:After a 2010 that saw a drastic reduction in starts and a 2011 that saw only aminor uptick in new development activity, 2012 is poised to be the multifamilyconstruction sector’s busiest and most successful year since the start of theGreat Recession. But as shovel meets dirt across the country, developers aresimultaneously digging for dollars, ready to work closely with banks, the FHA,and other lenders to ensure their construction plans see life beyond theblueprint. This panel of developers and lenders offer their observations on thecurrent state of construction lending—and how to make the development boomlast.

3:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. Coffee Break

General Session

4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. A Renter’s World: Apartment Finance Today’s Annual Economic Outlook

Description:Economists and researchers alike agree that 2015 may mark the peak of aneconomic recovery that favors renters and apartment fundamentals. But noteveryone is convinced that a renter nation is here. This panel brings togethersome of the housing industry’s brightest economists to discuss the outlook forrent fundamentals and local market metrics in an ever-changing economy. Don’tmiss this informative, data-driven panel, which will be sure to offer all-newinformation on the numbers that matter most to you.

5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Networking Reception

Building Product Specification Insights

2012-01-19T05:11:00.000-08:00

Interviews conducted with industry executives at the MFE Conference 2011. This is a follow-up to a formal research survey we conducted in August 2011 analyzing how building product specification is being conducted in multifamily housing.

We tackle both renovation and new construction trends.

NMHC Annual Meeting 2012: Day 2

2012-01-18T21:09:00.000-08:00

Meetings continued in earnest...

For a summary of key points in real time check the Twitter feed here: http://www.nmhc.org/Content/ServeContent.cfm?ContentItemID=6479

For all the talk and optimism you still get the sense that industry players are trying to figure out how to best move forward. After years of stagnation, budget cuts and doing "more with less" have we forgotten what it looks like to manage business in a boom?

Maybe it is time to get back to basics: define your value proposition, re-visit your brand promise, look to best of breed vendors for assistance. Get back to focusing on your core business...and make sure people know what that is...the tactical executions will take care of themselves.

Just a thought...

Here is a bit more from the radio feed.

March 2012 Issue of Affordable Housing Finance

2012-01-18T11:13:00.000-08:00

Here is an overview of the features we are working on. Both debt and equity providers will have great reason to take a look at this issue.

Closing is Feb 1, 2012

FINANCE:

Affordable Housing’s Top Lenders:

Jerry is surveying the nation’s top affordable housinglenders of 2011 and will be putting together a list of the Top 25 as well asinterviewing many of them about their plans for this upcoming year.

Tax Credit Equity:

Donna is doing her annual year-end survey and look aheadwith national syndicators as well as the state and local equity funds. Thissurvey always yields important data for the industry.

Neighborhood Revitalization:

The Citi Foundation made a commitment to the HousingPartnership Network to support neighborhood revitalization since nationaldollars may be coming to an end in this arena. The grant awards will fund 10different neighborhood stabilization initiatives over a two-year period, andthe Housing Partnership Network members will meet often to share their resultsas part of a peer review.

SOUTHEAST:

TBG Residential and Lane Co. have rebuilt a seniors LIHTCproject in Tuscaloosa that was destroyed by an F-5 tornado last spring.

Metro 510: Donna will be writing about Sage Partners’ Metro510 in Tampa.

Georgia QAP: Georgia is making some changes to its qualifiedallocation plan, including a change to allow for awards for scattered-sitesingle-family work.

10 Green Building Predictions for 2012 from Earth Advantage Institute

2012-01-18T05:54:00.000-08:00

"Green multifamily homes. As a corollary to the urban density trend, Earth Advantage Institute has seen a large spike in Northwest multifamily building certifications this past year. The increased interest by building owners and operators in energy efficiency savings coupled with 2011's 17% growth in multifamily homes (McGraw- Hill) means that we can expect to see a rise in certifications in this sector, especially in progressive regions."

NMHC Annual Meeting 2012

2012-01-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

NMHC Annual Meeting 2012
Boca Raton Resort & Club

Rob Britt, Rich Davis, John McManus, Les Shaver and Mike DeAnzeris attending from Hanley Wood's Multifamily Group which consists of Apartment Finance Today, Affordable Housing Finance and Multifamily Executive.

There has been no shortage of coverage in the mainstream media lately. The prospects for multifamily housing look bright, but getting together at events like this really helps us to distill what is truly important for executives running multifamily companies. Over the next 2 days we hope to bring you more of the highlights from our conversations...both on and off the record.

So far we have record attendance here at the event, Dave Woodward starting CompassRock, re-connecting with Steve Lamberti @ Milestone Management...and more!

Apartment Finance Today: Deals of the Year 2010

2010-10-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the highlights on the upcoming edition of Apartment Finance Today. It is the final issue of 2010. For the most recent issue of AFT click here to go to the digital version.

November/December 2010 Summary

Special Focus: Deals of the Year 2010
AFT identifies the 10 most innovative, creative, and complex deals of 2010 and dissects the capital and development stories that made them. By Jerry Ascierto

Secondary Feature: Demographic Shifts
From Gen Y to Baby Boomers to multigenerational housing, single women, and Hispanic households, demographics tell an interesting story about the make-up of the future apartment resident base. We delve into the primary demographic drivers that will shape demand through 2015. By Jerry Ascierto

Mortgage Lending

GSEs: An examination into what the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will hold in 2011, as a new Congress and new legislation may influence capital availability. By Jerry Ascierto

Capital Markets
Note Acquisitions: In lieu of purchasing assets outright, many companies are turning to note acquisitions to enter specific markets or get a hold on various properties. We examine what makes these deals work.

Market Opportunities
Corporate Rentals: A number of apartment owners stuck with troubled buildings or high-end condo conversions are turning to corporate rental programs to generate cash flow in otherwise stagnant properties. By Les Shaver

Regional Markets
Two in-depth, data-driven articles that look at fundamentals in the South Central, with specific coverage of Dallas/Ft. Worth and New Orleans.

MFE January 2010 Edit Summary

2009-12-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

Cover Story
Behringer Harvard: While most firms are sitting on funds waiting for the right time to strike when it comes to buying up distressed assets, Behringer Harvard is taking action. The firm has been on a buying streak in the last few months of 2009 and are gearing up for an active 2010.

Bright Ideas for Distress This comprehensive, multi-part feature offers an outlook for distress across the industry in 2010, strategies and tips for managing distress, analysis of the “right time to buy,” a look at the competition for buying distressed assets, and bright ideas for dealing with distress over the next year.

Other Stories A look at multifamily housing’s first green development under the new National Green Building Standard. By NMHC

Regional Outlook: Chicago

Market Trends
An analysis of vacancy rate trends in 2009 vs. 2008, with a look at what might happen to vacancies in 2010. Strategies for property managers struggling to operate assets heading to distress or in the foreclosure process.

Product Studio: Fitness equipment

Bonus Distribution:
NMHC Annual Meeting - Boca Raton, FL
IBS Show - Las Vegas
MBA CREF Conference - Las Vegas

Why Advertise Now?

2009-07-01T09:24:00.001-07:00

Last night I was doing a search for some car audio products on Google and I was once again reminded of the power that advertising still has over us. Tens of thousands of possibilities came up for my review and on top of that there were some carefully inserted sponsored listings which caught my eye as well.

In the end my search was narrowed by the brands that I recognized and a couple of others that I researched further to determine whether they were reputable outfits.

Price only became and issue after I determined the brands that I was going to consider. Customer service, product quality and terms were considered but all else being equal I will gravitate towards what I know.

Advertising is certainly the most inexpensive way to build familiarity and in the business to business arena the ability to target your message is even more powerful.

I might not be buying as much these days but that news can only be good news for the brand leaders. The sluggish economy represents a tremendous opportunity to profit more greatly when the competition thins out. This also allows further leverage when conditions improve.

Cost cutting is a fact of life but we also must keep in mind the opportunity costs of falling off the radar.

Affordable Housing Finance July/August Issue

2009-06-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

Feature:2009 Reader's Choice Finalists
Categories Include: Historic, Green, Homeownership, Mixed-Use/Master-Planned, Preservation, Rural, Seniors, Urban and Special Needs.

FINANCING:
Tax Credit Equity: Donna will talk about the latest on the LIHTC market from the NCSHA conference.

FHA: Are more affordable housing developers are going with FHA in the last year? The impact of tax credit changes to FHA policy. Does the great terms of 221d4 allow affordable deals to pencil out more readily?

ASSET & PROPERTY MANAGEMENT:
Software: Jerry will look at some different affordable housing applications from the end-user perspective with a couple of case studies. Mainly just a look at business process improvement achieved through compliance software.

REGIONAL MARKETS:
Northeast Overview: Bendix is going to freelance for us and write about the latest from the state housing agencies in the Northeast and how they're using the stimulus funds. He'll also look at what projects are getting done in the region.

Closing for Advertising Space Now! Call 415-250-7328 for more information.

Apartment Finance Today Conference: 2009

2009-03-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

With so many challenges in front of our economy and the multifamily housing industry, this year's conference will be more valuable than ever for all attendees. Some participating panelists include: Alliance Residential, Chestnut Hill Realty, ConAm, Cohen Esrey, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Herman & Kittle, Home Properties, Laramar Communities, Legacy Partners, Mark-Taylor, Place Properties, Trillium Residential, UDR.

Come to network and engage in the critical dialogue with your peers and the leading financial firms in the industry including: Capmark, Centerline, CWCapital, Deutsche Bank, Johnson Capital, KeyBank, PNC ARCS, Prudential, Red Mortgage Capital and Walker & Dunlop to name a few.

The 2009 Apartment Finance Today Conference, March 30-April 1, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Henry G. Cisneros, former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and executive chairman of CityView, will keynote the Apartment Finance Today Conference, March 30-April 1 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.

The celebrated housing, business, and city government leader will highlight a high-voltage lineup of multifamily owners, developers, and capital partners working out high-level plans and in-the-trenches tactics to weather the economic storm and position apartment properties large and small for a sustainable marathon run to recovery in the future.

In a luncheon keynote presentation, Cisneros plans to address a wide-ranging agenda of issues for survival amid our era's most hostile economies. His remarks will focus on the importance of apartments and rental housing, particularly in the throes of the broader housing and economic crisis.

Here are some other highlighted panels:

Apartment Industry Leadership Roundtable
How are the best and brightest apartment industry leaders coping with the uncertainty and risk of today’s economy? What are they doing to keep their business thriving during the recession and to position themselves for the future? Sit in on one of the most valuable business discussions in our industry. You will walk away with important insights from this one-of-a-kind gathering.

Equity Investment: Negotiating Your Best Deal
With high leverage deals harder to put together, finding good sources of equity is crucial—but also more challenging. This session will help explain your options, and look closely at the most active sources and their investment interests and deal terms. Plus, specific take-away tips on key deal points and specific examples of recently closed deals.

Buying Smart: Successful Underwriting in the Age of Turbulence
Buying opportunities are out there, if you know where to look and how to assess the potential for income growth. Learn the latest underwriting and financing techniques from acquisition, finance
and investment executives, to guide you in smartly assessing and acquiring apartment projects in today’s environment.

For a complete program, visit www.aptfinanceconf.com

eMail advertising

2009-03-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

I thought this was an interesting survey that was worth passing along. Anecdotally, we have definitely seen a growth of interest (and participation) in eNewsletter advertising in the past several months.

eMail Tops Online Ad Budget Change in '09

According to a survey of marketing executives by Datran Media, E-mail leads all other channels by a wide margin in terms of performance for their companies. 80.4% of more than 3,000 executives surveyed chose e-mail as a strong advertising performer, compared to 56.8% who chose search, the second leading performer.

In addition:

42.1% chose online display advertising as a strong performer
32.8% selected offline media, such as television and print
32.1% chose direct mail
22.9% selected social media
9.2% chose mobile marketing

Anticipated Online Advertising Budget Allocation in 2009 (% of Respondents)
*Media*	*Expected Change*
	*Reduce*	*Stagnant*	*Increase*	*Unsure*

Display	21.9%	33.8%	23.6%	21.1%
Email	5.7	23.0	58.5	13.2
Search	3.6	28.2	54.4	13.9
Social media	5.7	24.3	43.9	26.5
Direct mail	25.6	31.2	14.1	29.1
Offline media	34.9	24.6	13.8	27.2
Source: IPSOS Marketing & Media Survey, January 2009

Importance of Selected Advertising Goals in 2009 (% of Respondents for Each Goal)
*Goal*	*Degree of Importance*
*Goal*	*Least Important*	*Less Important*	*Important*	*Most Important*
New customer acquisition	2.6%	2.2%	32.7%	63.2%
Increased brand awareness	11.3	26.0	48.7	14.0
Increased brand favorability	11.4	26.6	48.7	14.1
Increased customer retention	5.6	7.8	43.7	42.7
Source: IPSOS Marketing & Media Survey, January 2009

2009 Marketing Tactics (% of Respondents, Multiple Response OK)
*Tactic*	*% of Respondents*
Monetizing online ad inventory	45.0%
Behavioral targeting	53.9
Customer win-back programs	28.4
Newsletters	62.0
List growth	54.2
Affiliate marketing	42.1
Direct mail	29.9
Unsure	5.2
Source: IPSOS Marketing & Media Survey, January 2009

Leadership

2008-12-21T19:13:00.000-08:00

There are several fantastic pieces in the MFE Leadership issue that published last month. If you missed it you can find the entire edition online here.

The last article, Support Structure struck me as being particularly timely given the current economic circumstances.

"Perhaps leadership is ultimately an act of selflessness, a process of listening, of tuning in to your team and providing them with the corporate assets they are yearning for. They are out there, right now. They are waiting for you to assist them in doing the right thing. They are waiting for a leader. Constantly. Everyday."

Don't let the headlines become a distraction. Keep the focus on the core business and tuning in to the team.

Multifamily Finance in Transition

2008-12-11T07:56:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Mortgage Bankers Association for Today's Weekly Spotlight on their Newslink. Tough times are upon us but long term opportunity continues to present itself. I took a few quotes out of the full article that can be found here: Commercial Lenders 'Demorph'

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Commercial mortgage bankers, once thought of as "morphing" into an auctioneer role, may return next year to a more basic but powerful position as advisor and educator to borrowers in the current climate, according to industry experts.
----
"The mortgage bankers of the world can play a tremendous role in educating and helping these borrowers through that," said Adrian Corbiere, executive vice president and partner at Cohen Financial, Chicago. "It's interesting how borrowers and developers are calling mortgage bankers now saying, 'Help, what do I do?’ That never happened before. Certainly, we view that as one way of helping educate that group and trying to get them to make a decision."
----
"That is a mortgage banking professional's 'nirvana,' being engaged as an advisor, as a consultant" said John Davis, executive vice president at Grandbridge Real Estate Capital LLC, Charlotte, N.C. "The past few years, we have been treated as a commodity, but now [borrowers] are coming back to us and seeking our consult."

990 Polk

2008-12-03T09:41:00.000-08:00

Affordable Housing Finance's Donna Kimura and Tom Borsellino attended the ‘first look’ of 990 Polk, a newly constructed energy-sustainable apartment complex for low-income and formerly homeless seniors, located in the Tenderloin neighborhood. The event incorporated an awards presentation to TNDC and Citizens Housing for their green building efforts in San Francisco and a tour of the new property. Bank of America joins the celebration by announcing a three-year national grant to Enterprise for its work in community development and green building, nationwide.

Featured speakers included Gavin Newsom, Mayor, city of San Francisco, Doris Koo, President and CEO, Enterprise Community Partners, Janet Lamkin, California State President, Bank of America, James Buckley, President, Citizens Housing Corporation and Don Falk, Executive Director, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation.

Obviously it was cool to see important and much needed projects getting completed, but the fact that the project was "affordable", "seniors", "environmentally (and economically) sustainable" made it particularly noteworthy.

And this project needed appliances, products and services no different from any other. Here is a shot of the laundry facility.

(SAN FRANCISCO, December 2, 2008) – Leading nonprofit affordable housing organization Enterprise Community Partners honored Citizens Housing Corporation and the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) today to celebrate the developers' work in building environmentally sustainable housing for low-income communities in San Francisco. Joined by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Bank of America, the awards ceremony took place at 990 Polk Street, a newly constructed low-income senior housing property in the Tenderloin neighborhood.

Click here for the Affordable Housing Finance Story.

Apartment Sector in Troubled Economy

2008-11-14T14:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a report that NMHC brought to my attention that highlights the long-term fundamentals and opportunity in our markets. There is still plenty of pain ahead but multifamily and smart community development are well-positioned.

It is hard to imagine anything you would want to invest in these days but smart money usually places its bets when the environment looks the most grim.

APARTMENTS RATED BEST INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY IN 2009

Our message about the long-term strength of the apartment sector was reinforced this week with the release of the annual Emerging Trends in Real Estate report by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The report, which says that commercial real estate markets will bottom out in 2009 and flounder for much of 2010, singles out apartments as their number one “buy” recommendation. According to the industry experts surveyed for the research, commercial real estate faces its worst year since the 1991-1992 industry depression, with ongoing drops in property values, more delinquencies and foreclosures and crimped property cash flows.

However, the authors say that distress in the housing market is benefiting apartments and that moderate-income apartments in core urban markets near public transportation offer the best buy in the commercial real estate sector for the second year in a row. In its “Best Advice for 2009” section, the report recommends a return to basics approach in property management, staffing up asset managers and leasing pros, going green to cut energy expenses, buying or holding multifamily, purchasing distressed condos near public transportation and investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts, as they will lead the market’s recovery. More information is available at http://tinyurl.com/5gkssc

MFE/DEV Conference 2008

2008-10-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

If you weren't at the MFE & Developer Conferences this year you missed a truly great event. I say this because the people who attended this year came with a passion and eagerness to learn/share that I haven't seen in many years.

Attendance was up over the past several years (when most events have been down this year), the programming was on the mark and the speakers were world-class. Here are some quotes I wanted to share from participants:

"Nice to see you…..great job hosting this event……smart crowd, smart sessions….great overall."

"Just wanted to drop you a note and let you know I thought the conference was great! You did an amazing job lining up great speakers to present interesting, relevant and important information."

"That was the best conference I have been to in years. Excellent in every way. Better than shows that have much bigger budgets and more staff. Way to go your excellence showed at every turn!"

"Congratulations on getting another done....and in these tough times...that is a major accomplishment."

"Lots of good content, you attracted a great crowd and everyone I talked to was very pleased that they made the trip and got something tangible out of it. Congratulations. Well done."

Obviously I am proud of what we do, and love to see our staff get a pat on the back for all of the hard work, but these quotes are as much a testament to our sponsors, exhibitors and attendees as they are to our own folks. The people matter and we have some great ones involved as partners.

Kudos to all involved.

Here is the link to the Conference Highlights:
Multifamily and Development Industries Converge on Vegas

Quote of the day

2008-10-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

I lifted this quote from a recent Mark-Taylor press release but I think it is a case study consistent of the theory I cited in the previous couple of posts.

“Market conditions change but confident and thoughtful management does not,” said Dale Phillips, president of Mark-Taylor Residential. “ We certainly feel the effects of increased competition with home rentals and failed condo conversions. However, we have nearly doubled our size in the past two years. Owners are calling us to ensure their investments are getting the best care possible. Our team is comprised of dedicated, hungry, and talented people who want the best for the company, and it really comes through during the tough times. ”

In addition, here is some insight on recent marketing strategy from the same release.

Mark-Taylor is one of few apartment management companies to “brand” itself through marketing promotions online, onsite, on the radio, through special events and even its own YouTube channel (mark-taylor.tv). Owners contribute to branded leasing campaigns so every community benefits from a consistent message and offer, paying a fraction of what it would cost to launch a campaign independently.

Going to market with this type of creativity and ambition is exciting to see these days. There is not much we can do about the market conditions and while we all are experiencing a huge economic headwind, and have to work 3 or 4 times as hard to achieve success, it is a worthy battle that will pay off.

"Gutsy Marketers"

2008-09-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

As I write this post my ticker shows that the DJIA has fallen 7% today. Obviously there are many companies and individuals worried about survival in this current economic climate. For those more fortunate, "cost containment", "weathering the storm" and "efficient investment" are all terms that are still at the top of the priority list.

Burt Helm writes a solid article in the latest issue of Business Week in conjunction with its Best Global Brands feature that I found inspiring despite today's chaos.

Best Global Brands - Gutsy marketers spend into the teeth of a recession. Several of BusinessWeek's 100 Best Global Brands are doing exactly that

I thought the quote below was particularly interesting because it can apply to our business and the business of our customers.

"In good times, people are less apt to try new things. In bad times, they have to start to do things better." - Martin Puris (Ad exec who coined the phrase "The Ultimate Driving Machine" back in 1974 when consumer spending tanked and gas prices soared much like we are seeing today).

Don't assume that the only message here is to spend more to protect your brand or be a savvy marketer. The answer is much more strategic and involves a top-level directive that mobilizes your entire organization. Start answering the important questions like: how will we define success? What is the role of marketing in our organization? How do we communicate more effectively with our customers to show that we can offer a solution that helps them do things better?

In the B2B world we don't have the multi-million dollar marketing budgets but we are closer to our customers then a multi-national brand like Apple or Coca-Cola. We also are fortunate to be aligned with an industry that maintains extremely strong fundamentals and prospects for long-term growth. Let's not sell ourselves short on the invaluable resource we all can access even when capital is in short supply: creativity.

Online Advertising

2008-09-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

There was a recent article in a publishing trade that does a fantastic job explaining the full power of online advertising. It is very easy to try to adapt consumer metrics to business to business media and become consumed with clicks, conversions and the ever-elusive ROI factor. I can assure you that there is no silver bullet. It will continue to be a challenge to quantify the direct impact of advertising, even as it moves online and we are able to leverage some extremely powerful technology tools.

The following chain of events explains how many people perceive online advertising and how many folks in my business sell it.

Impression -- Click -- Visit --Sale

This is a bit of an oversimplification but the point is that many can fall into a trap that either undervalues the investment or worse yet causes us to set an unreasonable expectation for measuring success.

Below is a more complete view:

The more familiar we become with online advertising, the more we begin to understand the strengths of this medium (and weaknesses) and ways which we can create integrated programs that allow us to build our brand, deliver more information and reach well beyond the boundaries of print.

As more firms in our industry figure out a web strategy, the more challenging it will become to stand out in this high speed world. Therein lies the immediate opportunity: those who get there first will distance themselves quickly. If you are interested I have some multifamily-specific case studies that I would love to share. We will also be holding a seminar at the MFE Conference to give a primer to our exhibitors and sponsors firsthand.

There is no question that our customers are using the web to run their business and all of us should get engaged in the dialogue. It doesn't cost anything to explore and if nothing else it is exciting to see how the landscape is changing daily.

Click here for the complete article in Publishing Executive.

MFE Leadership Issue: November 2008

2008-09-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

Many of you have seen the promotional material but I felt it was important to grab one of our editors to describe the Multifamily Executive Leadership Issue.

MFE's Annual Leadership Issue is due out in November and we are thrilled with the concept and excited to see the final execution. Many of Multifamily Executive advertisers are participating in this special issue and there is still time to add your name to the list. Click on the video below to here more about the project:

Here are some of the highlights:

Doing More with Less: Advice from top industry leaders about running a company during an economic slowdown

Culture Club: How different leadership methodologies affect company culture

Inspirational Anecdotes: The best lessons that industry leaders have learned

How They Lead: Profiles of military, political and cultural leaders and what multifamily management can learn from them

Leadership Lifestyles: Industry execs talk about their lifestyles and plans for the future

Fannie, Freddie & Multifamily: Business As Usual

2008-09-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I called into a Conference Call that was graciously hosted by Peter Donovan and his team at the CBRE Multi Housing Group.

According to Phil Weber, (Senior Vice President of Multifamily, Fannie Mae) it will be "business as usual" for the multifamily group at Fannie Mae. He classified Fannie's book of business in multifamily as being in excellent shape and that the newly formed conservatorship will not change the current business model.

Peter Donovan indicated that even some of the larger multifamily transactions will not be subject to regulator review. Fannie and Freddie (although Mike May was not on the call) will continue to manage the day to day operations on the multifamily side.

Peter Donovan believes that this move by the government removes the uncertainty from the market and will have a positive impact on a multifamily market with extremely solid fundamentals.

Click here for a recording of the call.

There is quite a bit of interesting information in the first 30 minutes or so; it is worth a listen.

Fannie, Freddie and Multifamily

2008-08-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

We all know that the GSE's have been extremely active (and profitable) in the multifamily debt markets lately despite the broader market fallout and impending bailout.

The question that I ponder daily is: Will Fannie and Freddie continue to be the go to source for multifamily finance as we move towards 2009? And if not, what are the alternatives?

In somewhat interesting industry news today, Fannie Mae pulled out of further investment in the "The Mid-America Multifamily Fund I" which was a three year joint venture with Mid-America Apartment Communities on a goal to raise $500MM for acquisitions. Certainly makes sense given their focus on capital preservation, but it also gets you thinking about the potential collateral damage outside the debt markets.

Here is an excerpt from the Reuters article:

Fannie Mae halts purchases for Mid-America Fund

"While we will be the first to acknowledge that direct real estate investment and real estate lending are two different animals, and expect multifamily lending to continue given the profitability of the business, we believe that a focus on capital conservation at the GSEs will, at a minimum, cause the cost of financing for the multifamily industry to increase over the next 12 months," Bank of America analysts said in a research note.

Since we can't really get on with things until this mess is settled, and it doesn't appear to be working itself out, I am going to ask a few friends to chime in on a couple of basic questions as relates to multifamily:

How will multifamily lending be impacted with a taxpayer bailout of Fannie and Freddie?

What are the short-term and long term ramifications for the borrower?

How are industry fundamentals effected?

What is the target date of the event?

I am going to save myself the research hours and turn it over to the market experts since I do believe that this outcome is going to be much more than I could ever get my arms around. I do like the over-under at Labor Day though.

If you don't feel like posting please feel free to shoot me a note offline.

Leveraging Brand Value in a Downturn

2008-08-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

It is hard to find interesting success stories during the current economic environment but ironically I came across some information from the early 2000 recession years that was retrospective of the early '90 recession years.

The case study illustrates what might have been the beginning of the end for Bear Stearns.

"In the face of a slowing economy, most companies scrutinize their physical assets in order to assess what is critical for their business and what is expendable. However, these same companies also decide to cut investments needed to support their intangible assets, including brands, without even a cursory examination of the ramifications." - Interbrand

Lessons learned from the recession of the early ’90s are illustrative in today’s potentially serious economic slowdown. The following graphs are examples of industries and companies where a well-managed brand alleviated cost and inflation pressures and stresses on earnings in order to maximize share price.

Merrill Lynch vs Bear Stearns - 1990 to 1993 (Merrill ramped up brand investment in the last recession)

We all know the outcome in the case illustrated above. And while there were certainly many reasons for the demise of Bear Stearns it is more important to look at Merrill Lynch and how they leveraged their brand value during troubled times.

This market is such a mixed bag for multifamily housing that I think we will see some interesting power shifts in the lending community, building product manufacturers and other service providers that have huge exposure to the hardest hit areas of the economy. Those in a position to focus on the current opportunities and prevailing trends as we exit the broader economic downturn will reap the rewards for years to come.

It's not necessarily all about advertising but it is about protecting your brand and looking for the strategic opportunities even though the race seems harder than ever.

Green Practices Supplement

2008-08-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

The Special Supplement to Multifamily Executive has published and is also available on the NMHC Website.

Please view the brief presentation for an overview or click here to view the complete pdf of the Green Practices Supplement.

Green Practices

View SlideShare presentation (tags: apartments practices green multifamily)

Multifamily News & Notes, July 2008

2008-07-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Most are familiar with both ends of the Fannie/Freddie news spectrum these days but the negativity is still far outweighing the bright spots. Here is some perspective on lending activity in multifamily housing right now. Pretty solid YOY growth:

HALF MOON BAY, CA. -- Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) today announced that its DUS lenders delivered $18.2 billion of the company's total investment in multifamily rental housing, representing the strongest first-half ever for DUS lenders and an increase of 30 percent over mid-year 2007 production. Fannie Mae's investment in multifamily housing totaled $20 billion in the first half of 2008. Primary multifamily financing solutions include debt financing through lender partners and multifamily bond purchases (from the Fannie Mae Website).

Here is an excerpt from the WSJ. Last year I posted on this topic using some statistics provided by Red Capital. The "20.4 MM by 2016" referenced below is pretty staggering.

Campus Living, and Even a Theater - Specialized Developers Helping More Colleges To Meet Housing Needs
By DAWN WOTAPKA - July 23, 2008; Page C12As the population swells and the majority of high-school graduates seek degrees, enrollment is projected to climb to 20.4 million in 2016, up nearly 42% in 25 years. By 2020, Arizona State expects its student count to jump nearly 60% to 100,000 competing for just 22,500 beds on campus. "The market is huge," said Jim Arbury, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Multi Housing Council.

There are also strong growth opportunities for companies interested in expanding through acquisitions. Plenty of student housing remains in the hands of mom-and-pop operators; the top eight players in the industry own less than 5% of total off-campus demand.

"We have not begun to corner the market," said Paul O. Bower, chief executive of Memphis, Tenn.-based Education Realty, which owns and manages 41,500 beds in 70 properties.

Here is some anecdotal evidence that there is some strategic thinking getting behind the green movement. It seems obvious but all of us get caught up in launching a new product because we are in love with the idea and fail to solicit input from the end-user.

Builder taps focus groups for green condominiums
Washington Business Journal - by Vandana Sinha Staff Reporter
Taurus Development Group plans to enlist a different type of consulting group to help shape its next green condominium building: everyday people.
The D.C. developer is turning to a concept called “crowd sourcing,” which creates communities of interested people, in Facebook fashion, to get their opinions, from initial designs to final sales, and help determine how a multimillion-dollar project should be developed. Call it Focus Group 2.0.

Construction Trends: For Sale Market

2008-07-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

At our sales meeting this past week I had the pleasure of spending an hour with the President of London Bay Homes, Mark Wilson. They are a Luxury Homebuilder based in Naples, FL and offer some extremely high-end single family product.

In light of this fact two interesting topics came up in the discussion that I wasn't expecting: multifamily housing and density. London Bay is diversifying into multifamily and one of the primary drivers is the accessibility of land and how municipalities are designating the uses of this land (density requirements). Another key factor for his firm is price point diversity.

Mark's message to industry vendors focused on three key areas: price, service and on time delivery. He recognizes that we are in an inflationary environment but will reconsider vendor relationships more quickly where service and support is not superior.

Here were some other key points he highlighted that might be of interest to building product manufacturers in our space:

Specification - he (builder exec) gets directly involved with many key building product decisions
Developer influence - in certain projects there are arrangements where the developer requires certain products and brands (even on appliances and energy sources). An example is Lakewood Ranch which is a master planned community near Sarasota.
Green - there has been limited consumer interest at the high end. The consumer defines "green" in a variety of ways and until you find that out you are just stabbing in the dark. Air quality and energy efficiency are the top 2 areas. There are also legal issues cropping up around Green Marketing that need to be considered.
Information - magazines are still the most favored source of info. He prefers the portability and ability to read on weekends and during air travel. He uses the internet to do research.

Mark was also rather bullish on the short-term construction market in both single and multifamily housing. As a relatively small, niche player he certainly challenged these days but is not under the same type of pressure as some of the larger players. He reminded us that this country is a tremendous generator of wealth when you compare to Europe and other nations. That stimulous leverage should not be underestimated.

His growth goals center around buying distressed property and diversifying by price and geography.

New Construction: Austin, Charlotte & New York

2008-07-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

It is hard to draw any conclusions about new apartment construction trends on a national basis since there is such a mixed-bag of nonsense going on these days. Tax credit development has left a gaping hole in the national activity and while there are tons of folks who want to get some deals done it has been somewhat slow going in spite of strong fundamentals and long-term optimism for the rental market as a whole.

One state on everyone's radar seems to be Texas. Here is an interesting town just south of Austin that seems to be ramping up the activity.

Buda to get 1,000 apartments

Town has less than 10 apartments now
Austin Business Journal - by Kate Harrington ABJ Staff

"Ask Warren Ketteman, president of the Buda Economic Development Corp., how many apartments exist in the city, and his answer comes quickly -- fewer than 10.
But with five apartment complexes breaking ground or being planned, the small city 15 miles south of Austin could see close to 1,000 units in the next two years."

We also spotted nice activity outside of Charlotte, NC (Salisbury).

Campus draws more residential projects. Apartments become next development wave near Kannapolis

The N.C. Research Campus is spinning off its next wave of development — apartments built to support the expected influx of workers to Kannapolis. A Greensboro-area developer is the first to target research workers with a $23 million luxury apartment complex in Salisbury, 15 miles north of the bioscience center, which is expected to employ 5,000 workers by 2013."

Similarly, a recent AP release published on www.CNNmoney.com outlined the following national activity trends due to some favorable legislation in New York.

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Construction of single-family homes fell in June to the slowest pace in 17 years although a change in New York laws helped give a big boost to apartment building.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that construction of single-family homes dropped by 5.3% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 647,000 units, the weakest performance since January 1991, another period when the housing industry was going through a severe downturn.
However, construction of multifamily units surged by 42.5% last month, thanks to a change in New York City building codes that spurred a wave of apartment construction in that area. Taken together, single and apartment construction rose by 9.1% to an annual rate of 1.066 million units. But the total increase was viewed as an aberration that did not give a true picture of the continued weak state for the housing industry because it was skewed by the huge jump in apartment building in New York."

So keep an eye out on the local activity and players who will be responsible for the next wave of growth in the market.

Sustainable Community Development, Walkability Factor

2008-07-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

The case for sustainable communities is being made daily which brightens my day. The editor's at HW have been talking about the practical application of sustainable development for the past couple of years in the pages of Developer.

"With gas prices sky-high, the pedestrian friendliness of your city or neighborhood becomes a pocketbook issue. A new survey by Walk Score has ranked the largest U.S. cities by their walkability."
By Christopher Solomon, MSN Real Estate

Walkability is a legitimate and critical factor these days. The article above points out web resource that has bound to be killing it these days. Check it out here: walkscore.com

We vacationed in Lake Tahoe last week and our primary criteria for selecting a vacation rental was walkability. My in-laws recently purchased a home in Sonoma County because of its walkability features. In the Bay Area property values in walkable communities have definitely remained the most well-insulated from the recent economic rout.

My opinion: The combination of preference change and population boom will dramatically shift the built environment over the next 20 years. The green movement will evolve into common discussions of sustainability. Even the most closed-minded will be enthusiastic about participating because it will make sense economically.

Laramar Recruiting

2008-07-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

Our friend Dave Woodward over at Laramar Communities continues to be in high-growth mode. In the wake of all of the economic turmoil this is refreshing to see. Here are some of the positions he is looking for:

· Washington, DC based Regional Property Manager
· Chicago based Regional Property Manager
· Denver based Regional Property Manager
· Northern California based Construction Project Manager
· Director of Construction (reporting to VP of Construction and overseeing half of the portfolio)

Apparently there are several more positions to come in the coming months. If you have interest please feel free to contact Dave directly and tell him that we sent you. Otherwise drop me a line here in SF at 415-315-1241 x 323 and I will connect you.

Dave is on the right in the photo above taken in Vail, CO (Steve Heimler on the left).

CWCapital's Michael Berman Nominated as Vice Chair-Elect of MBA

2008-06-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take a moment to recognize a long-time friend of Multifamily Executive and Apartment Finance Today, Michael Berman. He is president of CWCapital and now the vice chair-elect for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Here is a quote from the official release posted on June 4, 2008.

“Michael’s invaluable contributions and over 20 years of active involvement with MBA have proven he is an exceptional choice for the Vice Chairman position,” said MBA Chairman Kieran P. Quinn, CMB. “His extensive real estate finance background and innovative vision within the real estate finance industry will help him serve as a strong leader for the association as we, on behalf of our members, continue to provide safe and affordable housing opportunities to Americans in this ever evolving market.”

Given the uncertain future of the CMBS market (and huge opportunity for refi's in the coming years) it is also exciting to see the recent launch of CWCapital's Balance Sheet Lending program.

Best of luck to Michael and his team at CWCapital going forward.

Green Building Conversions

2008-06-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

We are currently working on a project with the NMHC that addresses "Green Practices in Multifamily Housing." In light of that my attention has been drawn to Green Conversions and Retrofits. We talk about Green Building often but the biggest opportunity is in Green Conversions.

Here is an article of interest even though it relates to office buildings:

Existing buildings get new lease on life with green conversions- Houston Business Journal

"Never doubt that existing buildings can become more green -- even without substantial renovations," Taylor says. "With the right tools and the right attitude, any office can be transformed into a more comfortable, healthful, and sustainable space."

The NMHC Supplement will cover both new construction and retrofits as relates specifically to multifamily housing. Here is a brief summary on the contents:

* How the apartment industry can use the green movement to its advantage

* NMHC research identifying ways to maximize energy efficiency

* The multifamily elements of the new NGBS

* Best practices for new construction and existing properties

* What consumers want (and are willing to pay for)

Our resident Green Expert, Alison Rice is heading up this project for us and we expect to publish the product in the August Issue of MFE.

Mixed-Use: San Francisco & Portland

2008-06-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

Back to the prospecting for active owners and developers...They are looking at more condo projects here in San Francisco and Office demand remains solid in Oakland.

Notorious Folsom Street warehouse may go condo - San Francisco Business Times - by J.K. Dineen

"The two-story warehouse at 935 Folsom St. last made news five years ago when the U.S. Department of Justice raided the property as part of a multi-agency investigation into illegal sweatshop operations. Now Eugene, Ore.-based condo developer Spring Capital Group, which bought the 14,000-square-foot property in 2005 for $4.1 million, has filed an application to replace the building with an eight-story, 75-unit condominium development.

The proposed building, designed by Portland-based Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects, is glassy and modern with a green roof. It reaches 85 feet along Folsom Street, but steps down to lower townhouses opening onto the Shipley and Falmouth alleys. It will feature retail along Folsom Street, keeping with the city's efforts to transform Folsom into a pedestrian-friendly shopping boulevard connecting Rincon Hill with west SoMa. The project includes 57 parking spaces, plus, at the request of the neighborhood, motorcycle parking on the street."

Looks like Spring Capital Group does some nice work throughout the Northwest although it is hard to say how active they are currently from my cursory research effort. The architect (Ankrom Moisan) on the other hand looks to be extremely active and quite a player in sustainable design. Check out their site and the recent write-up on the Eliot Tower Project in Portland (photo right).

It is promising to see growing portfolios of projects like these even if most seem to be in Portland still.

Gas prices park new tenants at BARTable City Center (from the same article by JK Dineen)

"The one-two punch of rising gas prices and stubbornly high office rates in San Francisco is generating opportunities for Shorenstein's 3.5 million-square-foot City Center. The downtown Oakland property at the 12th Street BART station, has scored several new transit-conscious tenants, including two San Francisco companies. The complex is now 95 percent leased.

"With the price of gas skyrocketing, our location is ideal," said John Dolby, vice president of leasing for Shorenstein Realty Services. "We hear this comment often as we work with existing and potential tenants...

Obviously the sustainable community talk is not going to slowdown any time soon. The SF Office market is very solid in spite of the job loss down here in the financial district.

Natalie's Wish, 2008

2008-06-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

More Than $1.8 Million Raised at Natalie’s Wish Fundraiser

Once again, it was a great privilege for me to attend the Natalie's Wish Fundraiser in Newport Beach last week. Since 2003, the annual event for the Cystinosis Research Foundation has raised more than $8.3 million, all of which is being used to fund research to develop better treatments and a cure for the rare, genetic and slowly fatal metabolic disorder that afflicts about 2,000 people, mostly children, worldwide.

Natalie Stack is 17 and has suffered from the effects of Cystinosis since birth. She is certainly an inspiration but what strikes me as most remarkable is the impact that she and her entire family have been able to have on this disease. They are committed to all aspects of finding a cure: raising money for research, being directly involved with organizing the medical community, engaging an extremely supportive group of friends and bringing together others who suffer with the disease.

It is hard to convey the energy, spirit and motivation among the entire group who attend this unique event. So I will stop there and just say that you should strongly consider attending next year.

For more information about Natalie’s Wish and the Cystinosis Research Foundation, call Zoe Solsby at (949) 223-7610 or visit www.natalieswish.org

Media Strategy: What can we learn from a political race?

2008-06-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here is an article that was sent along to me from Mike DeAnzeris. The full article appears on Adage.com and is worth a read.

Hillary vs. Barack: Who Had the Smartest Media Strategy? Optimedia's Antony Young Rates the Candidate's Primary Campaigns Campaign Trail - The race for the Democrat presidential nomination has been an intensely competitive contest, the equivalent of marketing's Coke vs. Pepsi or Ford vs. GM. In the battle that was Brand Obama vs. Brand Clinton, targeted demographics, TV ads, digital strategies, brand integrations and viral campaigns have all played a role in promoting the two candidates' campaigns.

...Clearly, Obama had a larger budget and significantly outspent the Clinton camp. The relative closeness of the race showed that Clinton was able to deliver a big bang for her buck, and suggests that her campaign's marketing programs were more cost-effective. Obama, on the other hand, had to launch himself as a new brand with low or no consumer awareness. An example of the spending implications, early in Texas (a state which Clinton eventually won) her campaign claimed it was outspent 2-1 or 3-1. Obama's marketing efforts were able to narrow a 20-point lead to 4 points in the space of three to four months in a state in which the Clintons had been effectively campaigning the past 40 years..."

One can certainly argue about whether ad spending equates to votes in direct proportion but the case is rather compelling when you look at these hyper-competitive races.

As I read through the comments I found an interesting post that takes this premise one step further:

Here is my take: http://www.thekmiecs.com/misc/hillary-vs-obama-social-media/ At the heart of it, "I was checking out the Twitter profiles for Hillary and Obama today. Something really jumped out at me that showed with crystal clarity the difference between how they've approached those two targets. As of today, Hillary has 4,019 followers and Obama has 33,069 followers. That in its own right says a lot, but that's not the big stat. The big stat is that Obama is following 33,960 people and Hillary is following 0. Literally 0. That's not an "o" that's a ZERO." –Adam Kmiec, Miami, FL

I haven't investigated this stat myself but regardless I think this points out a very important lesson: whenever you invest time or money, it pays to "follow-up".

Here is the definition of a "follower" from the Twitter site.
What are followers? Followers are people who receive your Twitter updates. When you follow someone else, you're one of their followers, or in other words, a person choosing to follow their Twitter updates. You receive Twitter updates by following other people, and the messages you get only come from people you choose to follow, or words you're tracking. When you send a message to Twitter, your followers receive them. You can see all of the people who follow you on your followers page, and all of the people you follow on your following page.

Mixed - Use Project: Garland, TX

2008-06-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
stevebrown@dallasnews.com

"A Trammell Crow Co. subsidiary has begun construction on a mixed-use development in Garland.

Crow's High Street Residential and USAA Real Estate Co. are building the 5th Street Crossing at Garland Station, adjacent to DART's light rail station in downtown Garland."

Yesterday I was reading apartment newsletters, today mixed-use case studies. Sustainability has been on my mind quite a bit lately so my cruise around the Highstreet Residential Site was most interesting.

In addition, I found an interesting release on some info that scooted by me:

CARROLLTON, TX—The City of Carrollton has selected High Street Residential, a wholly owned subsidiary of Trammell Crow Company, as the exclusive master developer to spearhead private investment for three Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) areas. These areas include the Downtown Carrollton Transit Center District, the Trinity Mills Transit Center District and the North Carrollton Station Development Site. Each site, which anchors existing or planned DART rail lines, is expected to feature sustainable, vibrant, livable districts with a variety of high-density residential, office, and retail uses and enhanced pedestrian amenities.

These guys are definitely active. Check them out and get connected. I need to make sure we get them to represent at the Developer Conference in October.

Multifamily Property Improvements: Winston-Salem

2008-06-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

Since I have been a bit delinquent on my posts I thought I owe readers some "prospecting profiles." Here is the first of a few to come...

Philadelphia firm buys 600 Triad apartments
The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area - by Lane Harvey Brown The Business Journal Serving the Greater Triad Area - "A Pennsylvania real estate management company has bought Village Resort Apartment Homes for $23.3 million and is marketing the 600-unit complex under a new name, Glendare Park Apartments. PRG Real Estate Management of Philadelphia plans to renovate the 1970s-era complex, said John Goodman, vice president. The complex is in northwest Winston-Salem at 240 Village Crossing Lane."

The PRG Site gives more detail on previous acquisitions (Press Releases):
"The community [The Woods] is in good condition, giving PRG the opportunity to start with cosmetic improvements; a complete color change is already under consideration. PRG’s capital improvement plans also include adding new signage, new vinyl dumpster fences, and installing washer/dryer connections in many of units. During the process, the pool area will receive a complete face- lift. PRG also has significant plans for the landscaping and repairing the pavement, which will spruce up The Woods from the outside.
PRG owns and manages over 7,700 units along the Eastern Seaboard, from Pennsylvania to Florida. The company has added 18 assets to its portfolio within the past five years, and now owns 33 communities throughout the country."

An interesting firm that I was unfamiliar with until now. I like the NOI growth benchmarks they publish in their newsletters (see quote below). I will make you go to their site to see the numbers...tell them I sent you. And then I guess I need to find them another property in NC.

"PRG Versus the REITs - Economic booms come and go, but PRG’s investment strategy based upon what WE do to an asset can weather virtually any storm. When you’re buying below market equilibrium, you can beat the “a rising tide lifts all boats crowd” every time!" - Q4 Newsletter

Rental Housing and Home Ownership

2008-05-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a video that I recently came across that articulates some key factors we need to consider in housing policy. There is an obvious disconnect between supply and demand in rental housing that will finally have to be addressed...and hopefully we can have a constructive dialogue to approach this dilemma in a thoughtful manner.

April 24, 2008 —
"Despite the fact that one-third of all Americans—representing 36 million households—live in rental housing, rental policy often takes a back seat to home-ownership policy in Washington. To ensure that low- and moderate-income Americans can afford rental housing, Bruce Katz says that the next president needs to help supplement incomes through tax credits, empower local governments to expand and preserve the supply of affordable housing and deal with the subprime mortgage crisis."

I appreciate Bruce Katz' approach and his thoughts on "empowering local government to innovate."

Thanks to Brookings for the information.

Home Builder Conference Observations

2008-05-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Builder 100 Conference has just wrapped up down in Scottsdale, AZ and I stopped in briefly yesterday to get a feel for what our single-family counterparts were facing. Rather than focus too much more on another set of predictions/guesses for the future, I wanted to call out some observations that were made in a couple sessions that are relevant to multifamily housing.

1. Conservative Journalist Tucker Carlson pointed out the 2 key issues that he thought would prevent Republicans from advancing in this year's elections: the continued rise of immigration and the rates of single, childless women. Both rates are the highest we have ever seen and have obvious ramifications for the housing markets that we need to note. After doing some cursory research on the latter topic it was interesting to find that fertility rates are still rising because women who are having children are having more.

2. One of the nation's largest homebuilders cited a stat that I found very interesting. Based on his own follow-up surveys, his firm was not following up with more than 40% of the folks who filled out registration cards at open houses. High quality leads. Sales training is a huge issue with homebuilders the same way it is with multifamily housing executives and service providers. When times are good no one focuses on training (order taking) and when times are bad the troubles are magnified and we have less time and resources to address them.

3. The need to understand workforce housing is "more important than Green." - Jeff Mezger, CEO of KB Home

4. Jeff also spoke a lot about the concept and implementation of sustainability. He doesn't spend much time pushing Green Marketing but does look intensively at the low hanging fruit where costs can be saved, from products to land plans. We have an entire magazine dedicated to this concept called Developer. So I was happy to hear that this topic is moving up the agenda for production builders.

These are just a few of many takeaways from this event. Stay tuned for the wrap up from our friends at Builder.

B2B Trends Study

2008-04-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

The Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) at Penn State has an ongoing project to study trends in the B2B environment. The respondents (~400 total) to this particular study include academic thought leaders and ISBM practitioner members.

"Often the community of marketers inside a business-to-business firm is nowhere near as large as the community of marketers in a consumer packaged-goods culture. The chance to share and learn from other perspectives, other experiences, and peer networks is very important to business-to-business marketers, and an active part of the ISBM agenda."

Two of the anecdotal findings stood out:
#1 Develop approaches and methods to better understand what CUSTOMERS REALLY NEED, beyond what they can say or articulate. Opportunities to CREATE REAL VALUE…

** How many times have we (in a selling role) "listened" to customer feedback, come back with a well-prepared solution, only to have the customer take a pass on our "great idea".

#7 SELLING THE C-SUITE: developing the case for the value and impact of marketing that is understood and embraced by top management…Connecting with the “C-Suite” in terms they care about – growth, profit, and return on investment, all cited as very critical – and exceptionally difficult in business-to-business markets.

** Many of us has been here as well. The classic disconnect between Senior Management and Marketing or what I tend to see more often in our industry, the disconnect between sales and marketing.

By the way, another important research document can be found on their website which furthers the support of marketing during a recession.

Research: Companies Strong In Marketing Should Increase Efforts During Recession
"The paper finds that firms entering into a recession with a pre-established strategic emphasis on marketing; an entrepreneurial culture; and a sufficient reserve of under-utilized workers, cash, and spare production capacity are best positioned to approach recessions as opportunities to strengthen their competitive advantage.

Comparing these businesses to the best-trained athletes, the authors write that "athletes often choose times of stress to mount attacks: strong runners and bicycle racers may increase their pace on hills or under other challenging conditions" to beat out weaker opponents during the most difficult leg of their race."

As a cyclist I can identify with this comparison and never thought of the business connection until now. The strongest riders in a bicycle race want the race to be as hard as possible. When the race is easy it is much harder to distance yourself from the competition. The current economic environment certainly makes the race hard. Now is the time to put the attack in.

Glossary of Lending Terms

2008-04-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of some "basic" lending terms from the AFT Conference. Don't be afraid to ask questions that may seem basic, chances are that at least 50% of the folks in the room have the same one.

Capital Markets 101, Apartment Finance Today Conference, April 8, 2008

All-in Rate: The interest rate charged to borrowers on a given loan. The all-in rate includes both the benchmark rate used to set the loan, such as the 10-year Treasury rate, and the spread charged by the lender. So, a 10-year Treasury rate of 3.5 percent plus a spread of 200 basis points (or 2 percent) would equal an all-in rate of 5.5 percent.

Amortization: The way that debt is reduced by installments over a given period of time. Amortization is the calculation of equal monthly payments that pay off the debt and interest charged on a loan. It is expressed in years: a loan with a 30-year amortization would have 360 payments.

Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR): DSCR is an underwriting formula that measures whether an income-producing property can sustain its debt based on cash flow. The calculation is Net Operating Income/Total Debt Service. For lenders, the higher the DSCR, the less risk it is taking on the loan. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae lenders typically underwrite to a 1.20 DSCR, meaning that for every dollar spent on debt payments, the property generates $1.20.

Government-sponsored Enterprises (GSEs): GSEs are financial institutions that were created by the U.S. Congress to provide liquidity in a given market segment. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks are GSEs. While these institutions have a public charter, they are privately owned.

Loan to Value (LTV): An underwriting calculation that measures the amount of a loan against the property’s appraised value. A borrower seeking a $1 million loan for a property worth $2 million will have an LTV of 50 percent, for instance.

Mezzanine Financing: A form of capital that fills the gap between a first mortgage and equity to achieve 100 percent financing on a deal. Mezzanine financing can be structured to emphasize debt or equity characteristics—it can work like a standard loan or allow the mezzanine provider to share in profits.

Non-Recourse Debt: A type of debt wherein the borrower does not have personal liability for the loan. Non-recourse debt is secured by collateral, usually in the form of property. If the borrower defaults, the lender can seize the collateral, but can’t seek further compensation, regardless of whether that collateral covers the full value of the defaulted amount.

Senior Debt: A form of debt that has priority over other types of debt in a given deal. If a borrower defaults, the senior debt must be repaid before other creditors receive payment.

Spread: The amount charged by a lender for issuing a loan. The spread is one component of the all-in interest rate. The spread is expressed in basis points: 100 basis points equals 1 percent.

Subordinate Debt: A form of debt that ranks below other loans in a given deal. If a borrower defaults, subordinate debt providers would get paid only after the senior debt is paid off in full.

Multifamily Market Buzz: New Construction Trend?

2008-04-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here is more anecdotal evidence of strong renter demand and rising rents in the urban core. Today's edition of USA Today.

Renters can't escape housing foreclosure crisis, By Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY

"The health of the rental market is critical for several reasons. Rising demand for rentals can spur construction of apartment buildings, a trend that's already occurring in some metro markets. And the need for more rental properties can energize urban development, because higher commuting costs have translated into growing demand for rentals that are near urban employment centers rather than in outlying suburbs."

Another key takeaway: The shadow market is overly hyped in most markets. Banks do not want to be landlords. And renters are going to be cautious of renting in homes where they might soon be displaced.

Don't miss the boat on renovation and construction opportunities. The ability to raise rents drives both of these trends.

Want to learn more on this urban living trend? Check out the latest issue of MFE and the article entitled Class Dismissed along with the cover story, The Transformer featuring Kevin McGowan of Blue Urban.

Multifamily Market Buzz: Seattle

2008-04-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

Here is market enthusiasm that is supported by solid anecdotal evidence. This approach is much preferred in my opinion.

The April 20th edition of the Seattle P-I.
Rent at an all-time high -- if you can find a place

Key quotes:
A new report affirms that apartments are about as hard to find now as they have been any time in the past three decades and rents are on the rise.

"As far as tenant demand, we haven't seen that huge increase that we thought we would have, given the slowdown in the sales market," he (Dean Foggitt, a broker at Brink Property Management) said. "What we've seen more is people staying put, less tenants giving notice."

Traffic and high gas prices have driven up the desirability of areas closer to people's jobs, he said. "As you get further out, the responses drop dramatically."

Multifamily Market Buzz

2008-04-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

The business press (Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc) has certainly been generating more content buzz on the multifamily industry these days. Most of these articles lead with a positive headline and then spend 300 words hedging against the bold outlook that brought you in. Analysts try to reconcile REIT earnings reports with market trends, economists flip-flop on the impact of the shadow market and job growth uncertainties are always tossed in to leave you more confused then when you started.

If you are a service provider it is hard to use any of these findings to chart a course. When speaking with firms looking to enter the market (and there are many these days due to the bold headlines) I always try to caution against following these broad strokes and look at the day to day business of owners, operators and developers.

Core market fundamentals haven't changed much since we were bumping up against a 70% homeownership rate in 2005. I would assert that this is the most attractive attribute of multifamily housing: steady growth and sound fundamentals.

New construction will always be somewhat constrained, renovation will be a steady and growing activity, fragmentation of the market allows for huge operational efficiency spreads and investors will continue to view this market as a relatively stable performer. We read about the REITs daily but they control a small percentage of the market activity whether the news is good or bad.

So I encourage providers to come and consider the market opportunity, but remember that multifamily is not the new, new thing. There is no easy money and showing up doesn't deliver the payoff. There is plenty of room for providers committed to understanding and serving the market for the long haul.

Enough of my opinions, here is a viewpoint from the former editor of MFE, Alison Rice. She still does project work for Hanley Wood and represents clients in the multifamily industry. She sends me many of these headlines and I asked for her take on them.

Q: What do you make of all the multifamily housing headlines in the business press?
AR: Because no one can write about foreclosures and the subprime situation all the time. Plus, the crash in the single-family market has reminded people that renting is a perfectly acceptable and, in some cases, financially wiser, choice than homeownership, especially if buying that house requires overextending oneself financially and agreeing to a too-good-to-be-true mortgage that you don’t really understand. At the same time, there have been some big changes among top multifamily players (i.e., Archstone merging with Tishman and UDR moving upscale) that could affect both the composition and the priorities of the industry, so real estate reporters are watching to see what happens.

Q: Are current clients, and other industry players, truly spending more energy on refining operations these days?
AR: I think they have to, because the shadow market of condo and single-family home rentals has proved much larger than anyone expected. Apartment firms truly need to live up to the expectations they set with their residents, because renters today have their pick of living situations.

Q: Where do you see opportunities for service providers under current conditions?
AR: This is a sad observation to make, but given the volume of foreclosures, I see business opportunity for apartment firms and vendors who can serve families looking for a rental apartment, either because they lost their own home or their landlord lost the house that they rented. I see other opportunities in the broken condo arena, where apartment companies are getting deals on failed condos and reverting them to rentals. These deals are complicated and always vary from property to property, so I would think a service provider who could streamline any or all of the process for their multifamily clients (perhaps by finishing a renovation, communicating with individual unit owners, or re-educating the market about this again-rental property) would offer value.

Other thoughts out there?

Affordable Housing Developer of the Day

2008-04-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

Another market segment with strong fundamentals that has hit a strong headwind is affordable housing. The shortage of tax credit equity has put many deals in jeopardy. There are some success stories out there and the local agencies seem to be trying to step up to plug the gaps.

The Sacramento Business Journal profiled a local developer who is having a record year amongst the turmoil, St Anton Partners LLC. "The company has a portfolio of more than 4,000 units spread across almost 30 projects in the capital region. With 200 employees, it's one of the area's larger developers..."

The article goes on to point out:

One reason it's larger than the typical developer is that St. Anton handles financing in-house rather than through consultants and acts as its own general contractor and property manager. The latter is a key component that has redevelopment agencies singing its praises.

The good news is that more people finally realize we have a problem in delivering product to this market. Demand will continue to outpace supply for years to come. One would hope that sustainable legislation (not a bailout) to stimulate this vital sector will be fast-tracked. I am certainly more confident in the creativity of the active participants in this business than the government's ability to act quickly this year, so I will keep an eye out for more success stories like St. Anton.

A convenient truth about marketing

2008-04-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

Full disclosure: this post is not a public service announcement or political statement. It is simply another observation about marketing & advertising to add to the collection.

A marketing newsletter I received today (MarketingProfs) pointed out the power of Al Gore's advocacy campaign on climate change. Regardless of your political leanings you have to give credit to Al for making the most of every opportunity to talk about his passion. He has mastered the art of PR.

The former democratic presidential candidate was quoted in a recent Washington Post article as saying:

"This climate crisis is so interwoven with habits and patterns that are so entrenched, the elected officials in both parties are going to be timid about enacting the bold changes that are needed until there is a change in the public's sense of urgency in addressing this crisis," Gore said. "I've tried everything else I know to try. The way to solve this crisis is to change the way the public thinks about it."

And how does he plan on doing that? Gore is launching a 3 year, $300 million campaign aimed at mobilizing Americans. This campaign will include investments in magazine display ads, TV Commercials and social networks online. Gore certainly has brand awareness as a politician. He has won an Academy Award for his movie and the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. This notoriety offers him virtually unlimited access to the news media. However, it is important to note that this incredible opportunity for exposure is still limited. It does not allow his campaign to utilize powerful imagery, establish emotional connections and most importantly, target a message to different audiences to maximize impact.

Cathy Zoi, the Alliance for Climate Protection's chief executive, said the group will focus on individuals known in the advertising world as "influencers" who talk to a disproportionate number of people in their communities. While some ads will target inside-the-Beltway policymakers, the bulk of their efforts will focus on the general public.

Al isn't the only believer in advertising. The Washington Post goes on to report: "Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, a nonprofit funded by the coal industry and its allies, is spending about $35 million this election to bolster support for coal-generated electricity.*"

There are a few takeaways from these announcements that might be helpful to advertisers and non-advertisers alike.

* By Juliet Eilperin, Monday, March 31, 2008; Page A04 , Washington Post Staff Writer

Forecast for Rental Housing Demand 2008

2008-04-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

Linwood Thompson from Marcus & Millichap's National Multi Housing Group put on another enlightening presentation that took attendees on a walk through of where the industry has been, the current state of the market for investors and where the current economic environment may lead us. This took place on Day 3 of the Apartment Finance Today Conference.

Here are some of the key takeaways from my perspective:

Although transaction volume has suffered due to the capital markets fallout, the negative rhetoric in the press (lumping multifamily with other assets) is a misleading assessment of our marketplace right now.
The key components of solid fundamentals that will drive multifamily success: Delinquency rates are still less than 1% in multifamily, demographics and immigration trends are extremely compelling going forward and the lack of new supply over the past 10 years keeps rent growth on a solid foundation.
Many overlook the fact that investors are getting high yields on distressed paper right now. Once that opportunity is gone they will return to traditional deals and multifamily will be a core asset class for investment.

Shoot me a note if you are interested in getting a copy of Linwood's presentation. He covers the topic in great depth and provides solid sources for his findings. You can also view a previous post for his first 2008 forecast back in October. Many of the fundamentals he outlined then remain unchanged.

Maximize NOI

2008-04-09T13:52:00.001-07:00

Day 2 of the Apartment Finance Today Conference covered some interesting NOI Building ideas. Since deal velocity has slowed considerably it's time to get back to basics and maximize efficiencies. Lee Harris (Cohen-Esrey), Richard Kelly (LumaCorp), Dave Richitelli (ista North America) and Jeff Kelly (Tucson Realty & Trust) spent some time digging into the multitude of ideas out there that WILL increase NOI if we take the time to get educated.

Some of the topics:

Credit Cards - reduce bad debt and attract renters
Revenue Management - manage expirations and realize quick payback
Green ideas that save money - Lighting, monitoring gas boilers, irrigation efficiencies and submetering
Trash removal, Low Cost Physical Improvements and Surety Bonds

Focusing on customer service needs to be a core competency of apartment operators. Those with a sound strategy will whether any storm. Especially those caused by speculators who were in the business for a quick hit. This customer service theme was also emphasized in the Keynote by Dr. Tony Downs from the Brookings Institution.

The discussion that took place was lively and participants were enthusiastic about making investments in products and services that offered immediate ROI.

Multifamily looks for long ideas

2008-04-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Day one of the Apartment Finance Today Conference exceeded expectations for me. I anticipated a mixed-bag of murky, market forecasts but overall I found the group to be extremely optimistic and aggressively in search of market opportunities.

AFT attendees feel that we are not out of the woods on the national economy, and don't have confidence in our government's ability to help the matter, but I certainly got the sense that owners and developers have a confident mindset. "Access to capital is challenging, cap rates remain low and more product is on the market now, but we could have big positions in office, industrial or retail right now and be far worse off."

"NOI is slowing but still growing in many markets, GSEs (Fannie and Freddie) are supporting the market's capital needs in a big way, foreign and institutional money has not been frightened off and even 'well-documented' horror stories by the mainstream media, like Phoenix, still have strong fundamentals and growth upside for savvy long term investors."

Make no mistake, not all was cheerful and rosy. Pressing issues like the lack of tax credit investment, job growth and the bulge of multifamily CMBS refinancing needing attention in the next few years were touched on as significant challenges that can create an even more hostile environment for business.

Obviously the folks who attend industry conferences and share best practices with peers are doing the necessary homework to be successful...so maybe I should expect this type of positive inspiration here. Nevertheless it was exciting to watch this very open and engaging dialogue take place. More tomorrow...

Multifamily is Green: Part 2

2008-04-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

Rather than answer my own post I will provide a follow-up. Alameda County has a great website called stopwaste.org. Under this site is a wealth of information on Green Building and more specifically, a set of Multifamily Green Building Guidelines.

I wish I could say that this is breaking news but it was published back in 2004 and I managed to remain in the dark about it for awhile now.

There are interesting case studies that support the guidelines as well. My advice applies to myself first and foremost...we all need to dig deeper.

Multifamily Housing is Green

2008-04-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

Each side of the housing market (single family vs. multifamily) has its own set of powerful propaganda that can really motivate change. I happen to be a renter because it is less expensive in the Bay Area (for the moment) and it allows for a lifestyle flexibility that I enjoy. Even though I have a vested interest in multifamily housing, I still think that making a generalization about one or the other is like pulling the party line lever in the voting booth...even though many of us do it, the practice is irresponsible.

One sales pitch that I haven't seen enough of in practice is the case for multifamily housing being Green...right now. By its nature rental housing encourages conservation. Location, higher density, smaller living spaces are just a few factors that make multifamily the green choice without even trying. This story has merit and can generate traction with customers if we position it properly. We don't need to be certified to state the facts to customers, the press and local governments.

Owners want to conserve energy for profit, renters feel the pinch of energy costs but as a whole neither takes the time to add up where their money goes and put together strategies to change. Let's talk more about how being green is fiscally responsible and give examples.

Here is an interesting program from our friends at Mark-Taylor.

Go Green, Save Cash on Gas Mark Taylor offers $1,000 rent savings to new residents who cut their commutes by moving to a Mark-Taylor property
Scottsdale, April 2, 2008—Phoenix apartment renters tired of paying $3-plus per gallon for gas and spending way too much time stuck in traffic can now save time, money and the environment with Mark-Taylor Residential.
This month, new residents who prove they will cut their commutes by moving to a Mark-Taylor property can receive a $1,000 savings on their rent.
www.mark-taylor.com/spring08.htm

Affordable Housing Finance: Awards

2008-03-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

This is very big news around the office and throughout B2B Publishing. The Jesse Neal Award has often been referred to as “the Pulitzer Prize of business media.” Winning one award for any publication is an outstanding achievement. Affordable Housing Finance won 2 of these awards and was nominated as a finalist for the Grand Neal Award.

Congrats to Andre and his editorial team on this extremely prestigious recognition.

I think this news is particularly important for anyone who does business in affordable housing. It speaks to the commitment that is made to both readers and advertisers of Affordable Housing Finance. Those who have invested in the success of the brand over the years share in this tribute in more ways than one. Jesse himself said it best:

"I believe that the deepest satisfaction that a business editor can enjoy is realizing his success can and does affect an entire trade or industry." –Jesse H. Neal, 1955

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - March 25, 2008) - Hanley Wood's AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE magazine, the leading publication serving the affordable housing industry, won top honors at last week's 54th Annual Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards, held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.

Honored for its article, "The Trouble with HUD and How to Fix It," AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE was named a winner for the Best Subject Related Series of Articles category and a finalist for the Grand Neal Award. Additionally, AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE magazine won an award for Best Single Issue of a Magazine.

The Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards are sponsored by American Business Media, the national organization representing business to business media.

"We are extremely honored to be recognized by American Business Media. These prestigious awards are a testament to our talented staff, our honest and groundbreaking reporting style, and our commitment to improving affordable housing," said Editor-in-Chief, Andre Shashaty. "This recognition helps publicize certain practices that demand public scrutiny and furthers our industry's mission in solving the nation's housing problems," added Shashaty.

Here is a link to the full press release.

Establishing Connections

2008-03-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

"If you look at highly successful people, they make the same number of mistakes as others, but they recover quickly. They don’t sit around moaning about what they’ve done wrong."
- Jim McCann, 1-800- Flowers.com

Alison Rice sent me a very good article on Jim McCann from the Sunday New York Times.

It highlighted the importance of establishing a rapport with customers, doing business in a down economy and the important role that advertising played in building his business.

Jim was the keynote speaker at the MFE Conference a couple of years ago and did a fantastic job making comparisons between his business and the multifamily market. Revisiting his message both then and now seemed appropriate so I wanted to share that thought.

MFE Leadership Summit: Content Takeaways

2008-03-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

For my own purposes I wanted to record some of the key points that were made at the 2008 MFE Leadership Summit. This is merely a summary of my notes and not in any way meant to be comprehensive. The editors of MFE will prepare a more formal recap in an upcoming edition of MFE. Please feel free to chime in with other points.

Equity Panel (Steve Lefkovits, Ann Ossewaarde, Scott Anderson, Charles Wu)

* Real value comes from good management.

* Multifamily is well positioned to hold up in the economic downturn

* Cheap money that didn't understand the market will get hurt badly

* Don't underestimate the influence of the foreign buyer - many of these deals are not highly leveraged and the decline in property values will not have a major impact.

Leadership Panel (Shabnam Mogharabi, Christy Freeland, Jeff Goldberg and Tom Toomey)

* Many of the professional managers are focused on driving revenue and not as obsessed with cost.

* In tough times/markets we should be ramping up marketing efforts instead of cutting back.

* Now is the time to push rent growth in your best properties. Renters left apartments to pursue home ownership and are now coming back with no where left to go.

Other Panel Takeaways (Technology, Green, Affordable & Accessible)

* Immigration policies need to address the realities that many markets and local economies will be facing in the coming years. We need to seek reform that is fair to both American Citizens and those who are here contributing to our economy without documentation.

* Workforce housing is an issue that we must constantly keep on the agenda both nationally and locally.

* Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be stabilizing forces in multifamily housing that will counter the departure of CMBS sources

* The fundamentals of single family housing and multifamily must be considered independently with regards to investment. The multifamily rental market remains the beneficiary of strong demographic trends and has not experienced a spike in supply.

MFE Leadership Summit: Photos

2008-03-11T10:15:00.001-07:00

A big thanks to all of our sponsors:

American Express
Apartment Finder
Apartment Guide
Assurant Specialty Property
Bader Company
Citi Community Capital
Conservice
Intuit Real Estate Solutions
Lutron
Marcus & Millichap
On-Site.com
RealPage, Inc
Rent.com
Time Warner Cable
Verizon Enhanced Communities
Whirlpool
Yardi

We also appreciate the support of our partners at the National Multi Housing Council.

If you missed the MFE Leadership Summit come see us in Phoenix, AZ on April 7-9, 2008 for the Apartment Finance Today Conference.

MFE Leadership Summit

2008-03-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

A fantastic time was had by all at the 10th Annual MFE Leadership Summit.

The event took place March 6-8, 2008 in Vail, CO.

More photos and info to follow.

Bruce Ward & Tom Toomey (left)
Jeff Goldberg takes 2nd at Poker (right)

"When the going gets rough..."

2008-02-12T07:49:00.002-08:00

The most recent issue of B2B Magazine has an interesting article on how b-to-b marketers approach spending in a slowing economy. "Do they focus on advertising that plugs the brand or drives sales leads?"

It is no great secret that one of the first places to look for "savings" when crunch-time hits your business is your marketing spend. It is a quick fix that isn't easily noticed in the short-term. If you didn't have a strategic plan to begin with the pull back is even less noticeable.

The theme in the article keys in on strategy and how to seek opportunity in any market condition.

"Branding has got to be the backbone of advertising, especially when you are in a lot of markets," says Paula Blanchat, director of marketing communications at a North Carolina, based law firm. She added, "when the economy tanks is when you have an opportunity to make an impact; and you see the payoff when the economy improves."

If you are reading this blog chances are that you get all of this and it doesn't change the fact that tough choices need to be made during tough times. The most important point of this article is to use market changes as an opportunity to re-evaluate your marketing strategy.

My suggestion: Meet with your management team, engage your salespeople and consider the profile of your best customers. Re-visit how you got to where you are today and envision where it is you want to go. Come up with a plan together and chart a course that distances you from your competition. It all sounds obvious and overly simplistic but I think the tendency in a tight market is to hunker down and protect our territory which is not conducive to creative and aggressive tactics.

Weakness becomes magnified during economic downturns and senior management is on high alert for the wounded sheep in the field. Be proactive, do your homework and present innovative ideas that connect to sales strategy.

Apartment Finance Today Conference

2008-02-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

We are closing in on the Apartment Finance Today Conference. The dates are April 7-9, 2008 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.

AFTC is relatively new to the conference scene but offers tremendous value to vendors who are looking to connect with customers and meet new prospects. Here are some of the highlights:

3 days of solid programming beginning with the Apartment Industry Leadership Roundtable and concluding with programs on Green Building, CMBS Market and Student Housing.
The "AFT Forecast for Rental Demand."
Daily networking opportunities on an intimate exhibit floor that is limited to only 30 booths.
In 2007 we had more than 300 attendees. A majority of these attendees owned more than 2500 units and on average, each planned to develop more than 371 and acquire more than 500 units in the coming year.

So don't let the name fool you. The Apartment Finance Today Conference is much more than finance and a fancy hotel.

A Sample List of Participating Vendors in 07/08:
PNC ARCS, Assurant Specialty Property, Centerline, GreenPark Financial, Stewart Title, Verizon Enhanced Communities, Wachovia, Arbor Commercial Mortgage, Saflok, Sage Water, Reznick Group, Sperry Van Ness, Nichiha, Empire Construction, Commercial Defeasance, CW Capital, Commercial Insurance, Greystone, PASSCO, Red Capital, First Advantage SafeRent, Pierce Eislen and Aries Capital.

Call us for a list of 2007 attendees.

Student Housing Application

2008-02-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

A recent transaction once again brings the importance of student housing to the forefront. In this deal one of the leaders in leasing systems for student housing, WebRoomz, meets one of the pioneers of multifamily property management systems, RealPage, Inc.

Both of these firms are connected to an extremely active provider/developer of student and military housing, Place Properties, who was profiled in the August 2006 Issue of MFE.

Did Steve pull the trigger on the deal because of my last post? OK, probably not, but I do like what this play offers to customers who are trying to differentiate themselves as a student housing provider, or more importantly an operator who is trying to attract clients in this high-growth market.

We will be watching to see how this application is leveraged against the brand and how the industry responds to this once proprietary web-based system.

Again this is just meant to be another general observation on how vendors in our space are following key trends and serving customers. The transaction is only the beginning but these deals grab our attention and force us to think of the possibilities.

As a sales person I like to think about how I would utilize a new offering like this to serve a customer or re-visit a prospect. As a marketer the story is compelling and would allow for some extremely creative programs. And as a product provider I see the opportunity to build, innovate and integrate. All of this is exciting material to ponder for our own businesses.

Rent & Vacancy Data

2008-01-25T09:11:00.001-08:00

There is an interesting new source of aggregated leasing data that is being offered by Realty DataTrust called PadZing.com. I haven't had the opportunity to preview all of the data, and it looks like the official launch is a month or two away, but I really like the business premise and how it adds value to the core business.

Real-time, aggregated data on 900,000 units and you don't have to be a customer to access the information. Getting information direct from the property management systems is also a critical piece that would appear to make this data extremely relevant to users.

Given the fragmentation of our market it is always difficult for one firm to get a representative sample at the local and national level so I will be paying close attention to what Mike Mueller and his team bring to market in the coming months. Compared to other industries we are still far behind in this area and more quality sources can only be helpful to all who do business in multifamily housing.

Regardless of the firm's success at selling subscriptions, I think this public data offering will build value for the Realty DataTrust business model. There is definitely something to be studied here for other multifamily vendors.

Multifamily Executive Insight: Vendor Selection

2007-12-18T06:19:00.001-08:00

Here is additional insight on product specification when it comes to renovations in multifamily housing.

Steve Heimler states the following:
"When looking for the right supplier we look to integrated ordering methods that sync to our construction module software so that data is only entered once from ordering, inventory tracking, to completion and loan draw. The vendors that understand these processes are the same who bring other added value suggestions and products. Ease of communication and technological 'bridges' are vital to reducing human capital expenditures and manual entry errors. Frankly, the product is not as critical as the partner."

If there is anyone who is widely known as an expert on this topic it would be Steve. Prior to selling his portfolio of more than 22,000 managed multifamily units to Riverstone Residential Group he was the founder and CEO of Stratus Real Estate, Inc. He quickly developed a reputation as a reposition specialist in "C" to "B" quality apartments.

Since 2000 he has been responsible for more than $200,000,000 in renovations. As Steve puts it: "We buy a ton of appliances, cabinets, lighting, hardware, flooring, etc."

Steve is a regular at the major industry events (MFE Conference, MFE Leadership Summit, NMHC etc.) and has been an active contributor to Multifamily Executive over the years. With multifamily investment looking solid for the long haul, and the average apartment property being more than 37 years old, it makes sense to get engaged with this industry and get to know folks like Steve.

We wish him all the best with his new company.

Pacific Northwest: Multifamily and Mixed-Use

2007-12-17T14:55:00.000-08:00

There are a couple more markets making the news with some solid headlines. Both Portland and Seattle experts are optimistic about multifamily and mixed-use fundamentals going forward.

Vacancies are down, rents are on the rise and investors/lenders feel strongly about long term prospects for the market.

The return of the renters: Upended housing market spurs Portland's apartment market

Jitters send the developers running to rentals

Once again, the national trends we are hearing all seem to be well-supported on a regional basis.

Renovation Project

2007-12-12T15:19:00.000-08:00

Moving from Atlanta to the suburbs of Houston.

Here is another deal that involves an existing property that investors are looking to reposition. Occupancy rates are rather low at Whispering Winds but the $17MM refi should help fill some empty units and drive rents.

Here are the details courtesy of our friends from HFF:

The Houston office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) announced today that it arranged financing and joint venture equity with a total capitalized value of approximately $17 million for Whispering Winds Apartments, a 286-unit multifamily community in suburban Houston.

“The borrower is going to complete a substantial renovation to both the interiors and exterior of Whispering Winds,” added Tucker Knight (HFF). “Given the low vacancy rate in the submarket, the property should attract significant interest post-renovation.”

The new owner of this property is Post Investment Group out of Los Angeles. Sounds like they might be in the market for a few new windows.

Return of Renters?

2007-12-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

The multifamily bandwagon is filling up these days, but as I mentioned before, it can be very misleading to take a few national statistics or headlines and blow them out of proportion.

That said, these two recent articles from the Atlanta Business Chronicle showcase some interesting anecdotal evidence on apartment activity and investment.

"Atlanta-based Pollack Partners LLC, in partnership with New York-based investment firm The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has raised $56 million to acquire and develop apartments in the metro area and the Southeast. With additional investment from third parties and debt, Pollack Partners hopes to leverage the fund into $800 million to $1 billion worth of multifamily projects."

Mixed-use momentum also continues to build in Atlanta and in other major markets.

"Now Coro is planning a $55 million 20-story, 155-unit luxury apartment tower, which will include 9,100 square feet of office/retail space."

Return of renters: Money pours into apartments
Developers ditch condos in favor of apartments

The piece quotes several area developers who are placing some large bets on the strong industry fundamentals. Some of these firms include: Pollack Partners, Williams Realty Advisors, Lane Company, Coro Realty Advisors, Wood Partners and Julian LeCaw.

These projects will not come online into the Atlanta market overnight but is exactly what keeps multifamily fundamentals consistently favorable for investors and a relatively predictable market to serve versus other segments of real estate.

Multifamily Renovation & Construction Roundtable

2007-12-05T13:50:00.001-08:00

In light of the recent renewed interest in multifamily housing I thought I would re-visit a focus group that we conducted a few years ago in Washington, DC. The editorial staff gathered a group of prominent multifamily owners and developers to learn more about the factors that drive decisions for building products.

Even though the market conditions have changed some since this video was first produced, the insight is still extremely valuable and relevant today.

Click Here for Video

An extensive readership study for Multifamily Executive was also conducted that validates much of the anecdotal information you will see in the video. The fundamentals remain strong, and rents are on the rise in most markets. The key takeaway is that product decisions are made by different people and for unique reasons in this market. Having a better understanding of these factors can open up a new growth market for your firm.

New Take on the "Shadow Rental Market?"

2007-12-01T13:25:00.001-08:00

There has been much discussion about how the rise in single-family foreclosures will impact vacancy rates in rental housing nationwide, but not much press has been given to the fact that renters are actually being evicted from foreclosures these days.

Until the New York Times article that was published on November 18th.

According to a Mortgage Bankers Survey Association survey, 1 in 7 foreclosures are non-owner occupied and 1MM foreclosures are expected this year alone. This is a major dilemma for renters who are living in these homes but maybe there is a silver lining in this otherwise bad news for apartment owners: an increase in demand (renters looking for a new home) without an increase in supply (foreclosures remaining empty).

As the article points out: “Banks don’t want to be landlords, They’re in the business of making mortgages. You need to recoup the money to keep the process moving.”

It is also important to realize that many homeowners also do not want to be landlords. And there are many speculators who are just flat out abandoning the homes that they can no longer afford. In some cases these owners are selling the toilets and cabinets before they leave town.

When they are forced into foreclosure, Butera says some owners trash their homes before they are repossessed. "They are selling everything inside — their kitchen cabinets, their toilets, their AC units … and it's hurting the neighborhood," Butera said. "The house now looks like a crack house — it's missing all its windows."

It is certainly not safe to generalize that most empty homes will be coming online as rental housing.

MFE Conference Wrap, National Market Overview

2007-10-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

There is a tremendous amount of activity to cover from last week's MFE Conference. I will work backwards and start with the National Market Overview presented by Marcus & Millichap.

Throughout the event there seemed to be more caution than optimism with regards to the short-term outlook for multifamily. Executives are not buying into the fact that single-family's loss will be multifamily's gain...and rightfully so.

Hessam Nadji and Linwood Thompson presented the facts, highlighted the fundamentals and made clear that the long term outlook is extremely optimistic for those looking to invest.

Here are a few key takeaways:

* Future demand will remain strong due to a demographic tailwind

* The markets are, and will continue to be, supply constrained

* Urban demand is more reliable but continues to be costly

* Operations will remain healthy and support current investor demand and pricing

* Commercial Mortgage Delinquency Rate Remains Near Historic Lows

* Transaction velocity will resume in Q1 of 2008 and be up 10% for the year

* Economy/Job Market will remain slow through Q1 & Q2 of 2008 but avoid recession

* Excess of for sale product will be a problem concentrated in very specific markets

For more information please contact me and I can connect you with Linwood or Hessam from Marcus & Millichap. I also have a copy of their complete presentation from Thursday, October 4th.

The Power of Advertising

2007-09-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

No one wants to believe that advertising has any influence over his or her behavior. The fact of the matter is that all of us will gravitate towards people, products and services with which we are most familiar. And advertising is the most cost effective means of building familiarity with your brand across a wide market of potential users.

The person who articulates the power of persuasion best is a psychologist who spoke at the MFE Conference years ago. His name is Robert Cialdini and he is a professor at Arizona State University.

Here are his 6 principles that can apply to all forms of persuasion:

· Reciprocation. People are more willing to comply with requests (for favors, services, information, concessions, etc.) from those who have provided such things first.
· Commitment/Consistency. People are more willing to be moved in a particular direction if they see it as consistent with an existing commitment.
· Authority. People are more willing to follow the directions or recommendations of a communicator to whom they attribute relevant authority or expertise.
· Social Validation. People are more willing to take a recommended action if they see evidence that many others, especially similar others, are taking it.
· Scarcity. People find objects and opportunities more attractive to the degree that they are scarce, rare, or dwindling in availability.
· Liking/Friendship. People prefer to say yes to those they know and like.

If you are a consultant, and happy with your current base of clients, then advertising is probably not going to be an investment that makes much sense for you.

If you are a business with a valued service looking to GROW share of market in a specific industry, then advertising of some variety should be part of your strategy. Advertising will build the value of your brand, help sales people get appointments and lower your cost of sales.

When planning your messaging keep the 6 principles above in mind. And remember that the key to advertising is consistency. Consistency builds familiarity and trust.

MITS Project

2007-08-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard about the special supplement we are working on with the National Multi Housing Council please give us a call. The piece is designed to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the Multifamily Information and Transactions Standard. In short, this technology initiative spearheaded by David Cardwell (NMHC), and supported by more than 55 member firms, is designed to help the multifamily industry improve operations and reduce costs.

The supplement will feature case studies that demonstrate how vendors and property owners both benefit from systems integration.

Here a great video produced by VaultWare that shows some of the key players discussing why MITS is so important.

In addition to the case studies, review of accomplishments and outline of future objectives, we are excited about the opportunity to deliver the message to a broad industry audience by way of this print supplement. The readers of MFE may not be as familiar with the success of the MITS project or the focused efforts of its member firms.

Trends: Hotel Industry

2007-08-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

The front page of yesterday's New York Times Business Section had an interesting juxtaposition of news items.

At the top of the page was the story of another couple who didn't realize that the terms of their interest only loan would eventually change, leaving them on the verge of bankruptcy. Greedy lenders sold them a bill of goods and now they have determined that the American Dream is dead (Loan by Loan, the Making of a Credit Squeeze). I guess people still read this stuff but I don't find it interesting or helpful from a business perspective.

Down below was a profile of Ian Schrager's latest venture with Marriott. Schrager is known for inventing the concept of the Boutique Hotel, an idea that has transformed the lodging industry. He now hopes to take this concept mainstream with the help of Marriott's marketing prowess and strong network of development expertise. Schrager's passion and commitment for the industry is inspiring. Pondering how this concept might translate to the multifamily industry is intriguing.

These are the types of stories that offer valuable lessons for real estate professionals. They keep us thinking creatively about how we will shape our business, regardless of the economic conditions that the market presents to us.

Schrager himself once portrayed the greed and financial despair that we see in today's housing market headlines. He was convicted of Tax Evasion in the Late 1970's and filed for bankruptcy in 2005 due to a hotel deal gone south.

Perhaps this marriage of Marriott and Schrager is exactly what every industry and corporation needs. Sound fundamental business values, an uwavering commitment to customer service and marketing genius coupled with a passionate, creative and driving entrepreneurial spirit. A healthy check and balance on a variety of levels.

The ultimate outcome is still a long way off but I will be rooting for the success story. And more profiles in the business section with a positive takeaway.

Executive Insights: Terry Schwartz

2007-08-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

I recently caught up with an old friend who is the former President and COO of the Village Green Companies, Terry Schwartz. Many of you might remember him as Multifamily Executive's, "Executive of the Year" in 1996.

For the purpose of this blog I wanted to ask him a few questions that I am sure he is not typically asked of the trade press. Over his 16 years experience as the President of one of the nation's most prominent developers, managers and builders of apartment communities he has been called on by a good many firms and certainly has had his share of experiences.

Here is the brief exchange:

RB: Based on your experience at Village Green through your current role at Dover Group what would you say that the best vendors do that separates them from the rest in the multifamily industry?

TS: They do what they say they are going to do! They are timely, responsive, accurate, reliable and CONSISTENT!

RB: What were the key factors that you wanted to know before doing business with a company?

TS: ALL OF THE ABOVE as well as high standards!

RB: What advice would you give a service provider looking to enter the multifamily housing industry?

TS: Be able to respond to your customer in a timely manner and with professionalism but most particularly, “do what you say you are going to do.” DO NOT OVER PROMISE AND UNDER DELIVER!!

The message that Terry sends is clear and consistent. If you read between the lines it sounds like he has learned more from his bad experiences over the years than positive ones. Keep this in mind when training sales people, producing marketing materials, considering your after-the- sale support program and designing new product/service offerings.

Relationships are critical in this industry and maintaining high standards will set you apart from the rest.

Media (and non-media) Mix: Part 2

2007-08-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

The second key finding from the Harris Interactive Study commissioned by Hanley Wood is that media AND non-media sources are important.

When reader's were asked to rate information sources here are how they stacked up. The percentages indicate a rating of "very" or "somewhat" important.
1. Trade Magazines - 96%
2. Co-Workers or Peers - 95%
3. Vendor Websites - 94%
4. Salespeople/dealers - 93%
5. B2B Web Sites - 86%
6. Trade Shows - 85%
7. Conferences or Seminars - 80%
8. Consumer magazines - 74%
9. Direct Mail - 73%
10. B2B enewsletters - 65%

The takeaway here is not that trade magazines and word of mouth should be pursued at the expense of direct mail and e-newsletter advertising. The research shows that there are many sources that buyers rely on and that there is an opportunity to influence these buyers through a variety of channels.

On average buyers will utilize 5.5 sources when researching a product/service, 4.7 sources when recommending a product/service, 4.4 sources when specifying a brand and 3.4 sources when making a final decision.

As a business media company, we realize that it is certainly more cost effective to reach our market through a website and email newsletters, but if we did that at the expense of our print product we would be weakening a critical touch point.

Each business is unique and requires an independent evaluation of an ideal mix of sources but all most be considered. Ideally they should work as one towards a common goal.

Editorial Awards Part 2: Magazine of the Year

2007-08-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

During its annual awards program last night, the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) named Hanley Wood’s Builder “Magazine of the Year” in the 80,000+ circulation category. Builder surpassed nearly two dozen esteemed publications including BusinessWeek, PC World, CIO and The Scientist.

We are all extremely proud of this accomplishment because it is symbolic of the tremendous creative talent we have here at Hanley Wood. It also demonstrates the commitment that is made to reinvesting in each and every brand.

The support from our customers give us the resources to make this all possible. The end result is a more engaged audience and a greater return on advertising investment.

Multifamily Loan Survey

2007-08-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

In recent discussions with various commercial real estate lenders I have been assured that the residential mortgage meltdown is not having a residual impact on the commercial side. This anecdotal evidence has been confirmed by a survey just released by the California Mortgage Bankers Association.

"California Commercial Loan Delinquency Ratio hits 5-Year Low at .03%. Only 3 loans delinquent out of over 10,000 surveyed."*

Furthermore, none of these delinquent loans are multifamily.

Of the $88 billion of total servicing by the 17 mortgage banking firms participating, $27 billion is multifamily...multifamily represents the segment with the highest volume (31%) of any commercial property type in the state of CA.

That's not to say that delinquent residential mortgages won't have an impact on our industry but I think it is a strong indicator of sound industry fundamentals.

* June 30, 2007 quarterly commercial loan delinquency survey (CMBA).

Media Mix

2007-07-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

“There is no specific way to connect the dots in my decision-making process. I talk to people. I read magazines. I go online for details. I may go from step one to step four in 15 seconds, or 15 days.”
-Focus Group Attendee, Media and Marketing's Influence on Buyers (Harris Interactive) Alexandria, Va.

Hanley Wood has invested in a MAJOR research study to take a pulse on how our reader is using media these days. It is very easy to make sweeping statements about the various forms of information delivery but the verbatim comment above really hits home.

One source is not enough.

This holds true for multifamily industry professionals, service providers and publishers like Hanley Wood.

Trade magazines, peer recommendations, vendor web sites, sales staff, media company web sites and conferences are the leading sources of information and ALL are vital in influencing the final decision of a buyer.

In an ideal world our sales team would cover 100% of the market and deliver our firm's "story" to the key influencers and buyers. While we all can push closer to an optimal number of direct contacts, we all know that we are ultimately reaching a relatively small number of potential customers with our direct selling efforts.

So what is the optimal media mix? How can we optimize our multichannel presence? Stay tuned for additional posts or contact your Regional Sales Manager for an advanced look at the complete findings.

This study is a key component of how Hanley Wood will be going to market in the coming year. While other publishers are abandoning print, cutting events and looking online as a cheaper way to do business, we are making big investments across the board. In this information-rich environment it is essential to give our readers, attendees and online visitors more reasons to engage with our brands, not fewer.

The Trade Show Dilemma

2007-07-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

In the wake of a stretch of June event participation I wanted to reflect on the value of the conference/trade show. I have been going to events for 13 years and no matter how well attended the event may be there always seems to be an undercurrent of reluctance to participate.

At this year's Builder Show, an event that has more than 100,000 attendees, there were many exhibitors who were concerned about traffic being "off." This observation and concern is very real, but does it mean that the investment is not as valauble?

The multifamily industry doesn't have the market cornered on this marketing challenge. If you have come from another industry you probably can identify. After doing some research of my own, here are the most common issues that ALL industries have with the trade show:

* not enough leads to justify the investment
* attendees don't want to interact on an exhibit floor
* attendees that do interact seem to only be looking for giveaways
* we can't track sales that result from our participation
* my booth was in a low traffic area of the floor

These are just a few concerns, I am sure all of us have a few to add to the list! The bottom line is that trade shows are effective. If they weren't, there simply would not be so many. The key is figuring out how to set a reasonable expectation of success and focusing all of our efforts on achieving that success.

I received a newsletter today that did a wonderful job of explaining the dilemma and why we often think that our efforts may not be effective. Check out this article on BtoB Online. The research is a bit self serving because it is conducted by a firm that creates exhibit displays, but I think the strategy observations are on the money.

In summary: If we define a show by immediate ROI we are typically disappointed. And sometimes within our own orgazinization sales, marketing and senior management each have a different definition of success. This disconnect may seem harmless but it is certainly a barrier to achieving a positive outcome for everyone involved.

When all 3 groups are on the same page, and direct the firms resources towards a unified strategy, the results will follow.

When I look back on a "successful show" it is always the ones where I was able to be most prepared. I set appointments beforehand, had a gameplan during and followed up effectively afterwards. If nothing else a conference or trade show gathers hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of potential clients in one city for a limited amount of time. The opportunity is there to meet customers, change perceptions of prospects, build your company's brand and boost your industry knowledge.

These points seem painstakingly obvious but when we don't make time to prepare and develop realistic goals we are probably better off staying home. Unfortunately I can speak from experience in this area.

I will follow-up with some specific tips that I have gathered on how to make your show experiences more productive.

MFE Conference

2007-07-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

Since the inquiries about the MFE Conference have ramped up significantly this week, I thought I would dedicate some space to providing the latest info. Here are some important facts for sponsors and exhibitors.

Date: October 2-4, 2007
Location: Venetian Resort & Casino, Las Vegas
Target Audience: Owners, Operators & Developers of Multifamily Housing
Total Attendance: more than 800 total attendees in 2006
Exhibits: Limited to 70 total ($5750 for 10x10 space: 3 full registrations, carpet, table, chairs included)
* service providers must be an exhibitor or sponsor to attend the conference.

Day1: Golf Tournament, Opening Keynote, Opening Reception on Exhibit Hall Floor

Day2: Breakfast on Exhibit Floor, Sessions, Networking Lunch on Exhibit Floor, Sessions, Awards Dinner Reception, MFE Awards Gala

Day 3: Breakfast on Exhibit Floor, Sessions, Marcus & Millichap National Market Overview

Confirmed Speakers:
Stan Harrelson, president and CEO, Pinnacle
Thomas Toomey, CEO, UDRT
Mark Fogelman, president, Fogelman Management
Curtis Kemeny, CEO, Boston Residential Group
Julie Smith, president, Bozzuto Management
Drew Taylor, director of asset management, Mid America Apartment Communities
Jamie Gorski, Kettler
Stephen Zaleski, director of acquisitions, Berkshire Property Advisors
Dave Woodward, CEO, Laramar Group
Steve Heimler, founder, Stratus Real Estate
Bill Donges, CEO, Lane Company
George Quay, president and COO, Village Green
David Schwartz, managing member, Waterton Associates
Jeffrey Goldberg, managing partner, The Milestone Group
David Fitch, CEO, Gables
Greg Mutz, CEO, AMLI
...with many more to come.

Confirmed Sponsors: Time Warner Cable, Whirlpool, American Express, Apartments.com, AT&T SmartMoves, Bader Company, Greystone Financial, Marcus & Millichap, RealPage, Rent.com, Verizon, Yardi, CBRE and First Advantage SafeRent.

Conference website: www.mfeconference.com

Affordable Housing Opportunity

2007-06-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

My post today is from lovely Las Vegas where I am stationed for the National Apartment Association Annual Conference at Mandalay Bay.

On my way out I was reading some interesting material in the latest issue of Affordable Housing Finance that is worth keeping an eye on. Especially if you are a service provider who is not as familiar with tax credit projects.

Many Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects are approaching the end of their 15-year compliance period where the IRS no longer monitors the property's status. Owners and investors are therefore presented with a unique opportunity to re-evaluate a go forward strategy.

The link to our website is not available quite yet but there are 2 articles of interest that I will activate once we have it posted.

1. A LIHTC Condo Conversion - a rental project goes condo and stays affordable.

2. CAPREIT (a market-rate owner) now taking positions in LIHTC Projects coming off 15 year compliance periods.

According to Martin Bershtein, of CAPREIT, "Getting into the affordable housing business provides a new opportunity to acquire and manage properties."

It seems like service providers looking for growth opportunities might find some opportunities here as well.

Learn more about the market by viewing some back issues of the affordable housing market bible, Affordable Housing Finance.

Developer Conference: The Next Great Places

2007-06-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

September 11-12, 2007 - The Omni Shoreham - Washington, DC

Over the past week or so many of our customers have been asking about the attendee profile of this 2nd Year event. Typically, a bulk of our promotion is directed to single-family, multifamily and mixed use owners/developers. This year we are expanding to include more retail developers to the discussion.

We have a copy of last year's attendee that can be provided upon request, but here is a general overview from 2006 (using primary business data compiled by yours truly):

1. Community Developers/Master Plan Specialists: Abdo Development, Costa Pacific, Black Mountain Ranch (a 5000 acre master plan in SD), EYA, Newland Communities, Westrum Development, Federal Realty Trust.

2. Single-Family Publics: WCI Communities, Beazer Homes, Centex Homes, KB Homes, Lennar, Pulte Homes, Standard Pacific, Brookfield Homes.

3. Multifamily Publics/Top 50: Gables Residential, Home Properties, ING Clarion, KSI Services, LeCesse Development, Shelter Development, Morgan Stanley, Trammel Crow Residential, Walton Communities, Wood Partners, Wallick Properties.

4. Land Developers: Value Companies, Regency Land Development, Metro Development, McBride Land Development, Landworks Development, Cafritz Company, Taylor Woodrow, Ginsburg Development.

It is important to note that just about all attendees were senior level executives and many were CEO's, Presidents and Partners. Some notables: Marjorie Nesbitt, Rudy Kadlub, Bill Bensten, Robert Youngentob, Nelson Leenhouts, Robert Kettler, Emile Haddad, John Westrum and Barry Teague.

In total we had 145 paid attendees (limited to developers, owners, operators or architects) last year and only 6 sponsoring firms (service providers). We will keep you posted as registrations start to come through.

Multifamily Conversion & Capital Improvements

2007-06-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

My last post featured 2 small renovation projects. This morning I received a press release from my friends at HFF featuring a conversion project in Newark, NJ that required quite a bit more capital expenditure.

FLORHAM PARK, NJ – The New Jersey office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) has secured $65 million in financing for Eleven 80, a former office building that has been converted into 317 residential units in Newark, New Jersey. Working exclusively on behalf of Cogswell Realty Group, HFF senior managing director Jon Mikula and managing director Jim Cadranell placed a long-term, fixed-rate loan with Bear Stearns Commercial Mortgage, Inc. The financing, which will be serviced by HFF, will retire existing debt used to renovate and convert the property into a luxury residential tower. Originally built in 1930, Eleven 80 recently underwent an extensive gut renovation turning the long vacant office building into a state-of-the-art luxury apartment building. Community amenities include a bowling alley, half-court indoor basketball, spa, fitness club, and valet parking and doorman service.

Both Multifamily Executive and Apartment Finance Today cover deals like this one regularly. If you are a service provider, there are some interesting opportunities that can easily be overlooked if you don't read past the headline announcing the transaction. Most interesting: this isn't the first deal of its kind for CRG.

Case Study: Lighting & Window Replacement

2007-06-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

If you are a product manufacturer it might be useful to investigate the local incentive programs that are being offered to multifamily developers and owners. Oregon is certainly one of the more progressive-minded states when it comes to encouraging high performance building but the case studies offered here can be a lesson to any building product manufacturer looking to understand what drives product decisions in multifamily housing. Lighting, windows, doors, HVAC, insulation, washers and dryers seem to be the primary targets for practical "green" renovation and construction.

Let owners and developers know what your product can mean to their NOI and how to market the green benefits to residents.
"Energy Upgrades Give Properties a Marketing Edge"
"Energy Efficiency Makes Tenants Comfortable"

Click through the links above to see the programs offered by Energy Trust of Oregon, Inc. These are 2 small projects that realized a big financial upside for owners and tenants alike.

Student Housing

2007-06-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

Niche market opportunities have been a growing area of attention lately. LIHTC, military and student housing development are all subsets of multifamily housing that have been consistenly active and somewhat immune to fears of being impacted by general economic conditions.

Homeownership rates can influence demand in rental housing but have little impact on student housing.

I came across some interesting statistics in a recent student housing market study produced by Daniel Hogan at Red Capital. Here are some general findings:

The US Student Housing market consists of 7.5mm beds, 2.2mm are on campus.
Between 2006 and 2011 college enrollment will increase by 1.3mm students.
Few colleges are prepared to house these new students on campus since most of their limited resources are spent renovating existing structures that date back to the 60's.
Parents and students will pay the premium for security and technology.
Occupancy rates are higher than traditional market-rate housing (97 to 100% at institutional grade assets).
NOI, appreciation rates and overall investor return in student housing are significantly higher than market-rate.

Many of these developers and operators are not on the MFE50 list and may not be on the radar of your sales team. This is another example of the opportunities that can get lost behind broad market statistics.

Enterprise Community Investment

2007-06-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

The NCSHA Housing Credit Conference is in San Francisco this week. I wanted to report in on the Enterprise Community Investment reception that took place last night at the SF Marriott.

The food was exceptional and the wine flights were even better.

Most importantly we were able to catch up with our friends at Enterprise and their guests right in our own backyard. This year signifies their 25th anniversary as leaders in community development. We salute their tremendous commitment to housing and fine work accomplished.

Enterprise remains focused on 4 core housing initiatives in 2007 which include: Green Communities, Gulf Coast rebuilding, preservation of affordable housing stock and housing combined with supportive services. We are closely aligned in many of these areas and are proud to call them partners of our multifamily group.

Special thanks to Jeffrey Donahue (President & Chief Executive Officer), Charlie Werhane, Audrey Easaw and Andrea Schleicher for their hospitality.

Top photo (l to r): Andrea Schleicher & Audrey Easaw
Bottom photo: Jeffrey Donahue, Audrey Easaw and Charlie Werhane

Multifamily Market Trends

2007-06-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

The past week has been spent pouring over data from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, NMHC, PPR, US Census Bureau, NCREIF and many others. With the housing market in a state of chaos I was hoping to find more detailed market data that indicates where the rental market might be headed. Here are some of the notable statistics:

* Only rental markets and remodeling activity expanded in 2006. Improvement spending set a record for the 5th consecutive year. (State of the Nation's Housing 2007)

*Demand for affordable rental housing is not being met; 200,000 units are being removed from the rental stock annually (State of the Nation's Housing 2007). When you combine this stat with the fact that the median age of the country's rental stock is 37 (US Census) supply numbers look rather healthy.

* Strong property valuations have continued to encourage property owners to reinvest in properties. At last check Harvard's JCHS put this spending level number at $50 billion+ for rentals alone. Investment grade apartment prices increased 8.4% year over year in Q1 2007 according to NCREIF.

* Household growth is expected to accelerate to 14.6MM from 2005 to 2015 due to immigration, echo boomers entering the pool and the extended longevity of the baby boomers (State of the Nation's Housing 2007). Most anticipate that rentals will benefit most from this trend going forward.

There is no clear indicator that multifamily rental starts will replace the activity in the condo market this year but anecdotally the major players all seem rather bullish on where things are headed. Here are some quotes from the May Issue of MFE that are much more telling than the macro views and demographic analyses.

Campo on demand:
Just look at these numbers: At the peak of the for-sale boom in the beginning of '05, about 24 percent of Camden Property Trust's residents moved out to purchase homes. But in the last quarter of '06, only 19 percent left to buy a home. “That's a big drop,” says Ric Campo, chairman and CEO of Houston-based Camden. “We have 70,000 units roughly, so that's 3,500 fewer leases that we have to replace annually.”

Tuomi on land costs:
“Land is much more competitive now for apartment developers, whereas a few years ago it was out of sight,” says Fred Tuomi, executive vice president and president of property management for Chicago-based Equity Residential. “We would bid a certain price, and a condo or for-sale user for that land could bid double or sometimes up to the three times as much. At least we now have an opportunity to compete acquire these sites, whereas the last 24 months a lot of sites just weren't even possible.”

Linneman on opportunity:
“In early 2006, the opportunity was to sell your land that you bought six months earlier at a big profit to someone who was going to be a big condo developer or to sell your apartments at a 3 [percent] cap [rate] to some-who was going to be a converter,” says Peter Linneman, Albert Sussman professor of real estate at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. “The opportunity in late '07 is going to be buying back your apartments from the failed conversion or buying back your land because the guy never got the deal off the ground, and you'll buy it back at a discount to what you sold it at.”

Leupold on the shadow market:
“Condo reversions is a topic on most investors' minds, but we believe the issue has been over-hyped,” says Craig Leupold, principal of Green Street Advisors, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based consulting and research firm. “There may be pockets of weakness in certain submarkets that experience a large number of reversions, but overall we expect reversions to have little impact on the U.S. apartment market.”

The bottom line: it is easy to get caught up in national statistics that mask dangers or opportunities in specific markets. I attended the Builder 100 conference several weeks back and was amazed at how optimistic many of the speakers were about their business in light of such negative headlines. The speakers that were most bullish had a specific strategy to take advantage of the changing dynamics in their market.

Here is how some of multifamily's strongest firms handle the uncertainty:

Harrelson's Strategy:
To compensate for pricing pressure and cap rate compression, Pinnacle increased ownership in the affordable and military housing areas. Harrelson says his company amassed nearly 20,000 units of military housing and increased its low-income and tax-credit portfolios as well.

Ward's Strategy?
“The baby and echo-boomers are really going to be driving multifamily in general,” Alliance Residential President Bruce Ward predicts. “What seems to be happening is that both demographics are looking to be in more high-density urban housing.”

Micheals Strategy:
Michaels Development of Marlton, N.J., also moved up on the list through a strategy of capitalizing on niche markets such as military and affordable housing. “We find that the demand for affordable, workforce housing is just incredible and getting bigger and bigger every year,” says Michaels Development President Bob Greer, who credits that demand for the company's surge in management business.

The case studies are much more interesting than the stats. Check out the May Issue for more.

Editorial Announcement: MFE & Developer

2007-06-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

Shabnam Mogharabi officially takes the lead as Editor of Multifamily Executive and Developer. She will replace Alison Rice, who has moved on to pursue other opportunities but will continue to manage the programming for the MFE Conference this year.

Shabnam, who has been with Hanley Wood for three years, started as a senior editor for Pool & Spa News and was promoted last year to Manager of Business Development for the Outdoor Group. Shabnam recently won a Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award (American Business Media) which is recognized as the most prestigious editorial award in B2B publishing.

She also received the Stephen Barr Award for Individual Writing from the American Society of Business Editors. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern.

Shabnam will be joining me on Friday, June 29, 2007 at our booth at the NAA Expo in Las Vegas. If you would like to set up a time to meet with the newest addition to the team please give me a call at 415-315-1241 x323.

Trends: Modern Communities

2007-06-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

While we are all trying to figure out what the housing market shakedown means for multifamily rentals there is some interesting consumer research out there that links social networking and online communities with real estate trends. It is proven that people want to be a part of a community but some argue that communities created by technology have actually alienated many of us in some ways.

Have a look at what a leading consumer research firm, Gfk Roper has observed about American values these days. The study is called "Modern Communities" and the link takes you to a Denver Post Article from earlier this year. Given the population growth this country is expecting over the next 20 years this study might lead you to some interesting conclusions about how the landscape will change.

The jury is still out on how the concept of New Urbanism will be embraced by municipalities in the near future, but we intend to follow it closely in the pages of Developer and at our upcoming Developer Conference in Washington, DC on September 11-12.

Judging from the turnout at last year's event, and the early success of the publication, we are betting that smart growth is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming months. The end-user certainly seems to be on board with the concept and we expect to see the convergence of production builders, leading multifamily players and retail developers try to figure out a successful go forward strategy.

Natalie's Wish

2007-06-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

On June 1, 2007 I attended the sixth annual Natalie’s Wish fundraising dinner in Newport Beach.

The event at the Balboa Bay Club drew 460 persons. It was organized by Corona del Mar residents Jeff and Nancy Stack, founders of the Cystinosis Research Foundation and parents of 16-year-old Natalie Stack, who was diagnosed with cystinosis as an infant. As many of you know, Jeff Stack is also a principal and managing director at the Sares-Regis Group based in Irvine.

Other multifamily housing industry executives on hand included Michael Hayde, Dave Christensen, Dave Schwehm, Mike Mueller and Dirk Wakeham to name a few.

The event was first-class and extremely inspirational. Former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly gave the keynote address and several families impacted by the disease shared their stories with all of us. This year more than $2 Million was raised for the Cystinosis Research Foundation. The amount is particularly impressive to me because every dime raised goes directly to cystinosis research.

For more information about Natalie’s Wish and the Cystinosis Research Foundation, call Zoe Solsby at (949) 223-7610 or visit http://www.natalieswish.org/.

Editorial Awards

2007-06-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this blog is to give you an insider's view of some of the things we do here at Hanley Wood that are often overlooked or lost in the spam filter. My goal is to offer insights that we observe in the hopes that you come back on a regular basis and eventually contribute to an ongoing discussion. My name is Rob Britt and I am the Publisher of Hanley Wood's Multifamily Group which includes Affordable Housing Finance, Apartment Finance Today, Developer and Multifamily Executive.

On that note, what better way to start a blog than to ackowledge some accomplishments of our best and brightest? Providing engaging information to our readers is what we do best and being recognized by other B2B editors is certainly a key indicator of performance. Hats off to our editorial team for bringing home the nominations in the 2007 ASBPE Awards (American Society of Business Publication Editors).

* Affordable Housing Finance is a finalist for a Regional ASPBE award:

- Editorial/Editor's Letter Category: Editor-in-Chief, Andre Shashaty’s Grapevine columns in the October and December 2006 issues.

* Multifamily Executive is also a finalist for three regional awards this year:

- Regular Department: Tech Specs, a monthly department written by steadfast freelancer Joe Bousquin
- Individual/Company Profile: "Urban Legend," Rachel Z. Azoff's October 2006 cover story on Forest City Residential CEO Ronald Ratner
- Opening Page Spread/Illustration: "Disappearing Act," a custom illustration assigned by Melissa Goldweitz to accompany Les Shaver's report on the vanishing apartment supply.

These are just a few of the recent accolades that are worth noting, and definitely worth reading if you hadn't had the chance to do so. Our editors set the bar higher each year knowing that readers have more places to go for information with each passing day.

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