Triangle, North Carolina.  The year 2007 saw record apartment sales of $1.05 billion in the Triangle.  This year apartment sales are nearly $900 million and a third of the year remains.  Some portfolio managers are downsizing their portfolios while others are increasing theirs.  The Horizon Realty Group of Seattle likes the East Coast and is beefing up their portfolio of East Coast holdings.  They purchased the 156 unit Village Green student apartment in West Raleigh.  That adds to their purchases of Centennial Village and Centennial Ridge in Raleigh last year.  Horizon paid the seller, Jaymor Group of Canada, $21 million for Village Green.   

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com (currently under revision)

Raleigh, North Carolina.  RALEIGH’S EDUCATED WORK FORCE RANKS NEAR TOP.  Business Facilities Magazine ranked the cities in the U.S. with the most educated work force.  Of their top 20 Raleigh’s work force ranked number 3.

AIR CARGO SHIPMENTS IN AND OUT OF RDU ARE DOWN.  Incoming cargo to RDU was down 8% and outgoing cargo was down 2% during the first six months of this year.  Incoming cargo in June accelerated the decline as it was down 17 percent from 11.6 million pounds to 9.6 million pounds.

MEREDITH PARTNERS BUY MEREDITH VILLAGE APARTMENTS.  Meredith Partners, a Jupiter, Florida company paid $18.9 million for the 297 unit complex.  At $64,000 per unit the price was 36 percent more than the seller, KF Meredith, paid in 2001.  The 40 year old complex is 90% occupied.  While that is down 8 percent from 2006, rents have countered the decline as they are up 6 percent during that same period to $698 per unit.

MORE TRIANGLE ZIP CODE STATISTICS.   Zip Code: 27514   City: Chapel Hill   County: Orange   Population: 29,085   Total Households: 10,279   Ave. Household Size: 2.16   Median Home Value (2006) $232,650   Median Home Value (2008) $329,292   Total Housing Units: 11,122   Median Household Income: $58,161     Zip Code: 27614   City: Raleigh   County: Wake   Population: 31,023   Total Households: 11,145   Ave. Household Size: 2.77   Median Home Value (2006) $289,527   Median Home Value (2008) $293,603   Total Housing Units: 11,844  Median Household Income: $106,012

John Fish  (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindsping.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com (under revision)

Raleigh, North Carolina.    PALMS APARTMENTS SOLD TO REDEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST GORDON GRUBB.  The 212 unit Palms Apartments is at Lake Boone Trail and I-440.  They are 42 years old and a perfect grist for the Grubb mill.  Gordon specializes in turning something that is essentially good into something that is even better whether it be by remodeling or by tearing down and building something else.  The sale price for the Palms was $9.5 million.  As the site is 39 acres in size it is reasonable to assume that Gordon and his partners have a downline plan that calls for something considerably different than what is on the site now.  For the time being they will be happy to have apartments that have a 93 percent occupany and monthly rents that have increased 5.4 percent since 2006.  One example of his redevelopments is his purchase of the Whitaker Park apartments near Five Points in 2005.  They were torn down and have been replaced by The Oaks at Fallon Park.  The Oaks consists of single family home in the $715,000 to $900,000 range.  A quick review of the MLS listings shows two home under construction.  One is listed at $715,000 and the other at $865,000.

Website changes.  If you go to my website you won’t find anything there for the moment.  I am making some changes that I have had in mind for quite some time.  

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com  Website: www.JohnFish.com

Raleigh, North Carolina.  Crescent Resources Presents Plan For Cameron Village Apartment/Condo 2009 Start. The building would have 28,000 square feet of shops and 290 condos or apartments.  The project would require the rezoning of 2.67 acres at Clark Avenue and Oberlin Road.  Between now and the first of the year Crescent would decide whether to go with apartments or condos.  Condo projects are not favored by lenders at this time.  Because potential buyers for homes can’t qualify for a loan, can’t sell their homes where they are coming from and because banks are being very selective as to the loans they will make there is an increasing demand for apartments.  In yesterday’s post I talked about two condo projects that are underway and one that is trying to come out of the ground in Chapel Hill.  I also mentioned that sales are reported as going well for the two that are underway.  In Raleigh, through the end of May, there were 72 condos sold inside the beltline (essentially the area between Interstate 440 and downtown Raleigh).  That represents a decline of 45 percent vs. the same period last year.  If this pattern continues and considering both the existing inventory of condos as well as the number of condos under construction in that area there wouldn’t seem to be much doubt what direction Crescent will decide to go.

INVESTOR PURCHASES OF RALEIGH APARTMENTS AT RECORD LEVEL.   Speaking of the demand for apartments by people looking for a place to live, there continues to be a healthy investor demand for Raleigh apartment complexes as well.  During the first six months of this year they purchased more than $800 million of such facilities which is well ahead of last year’s pace.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com 

Raleigh, North Carolina.  North Raleigh Mixed-Use Development Now Takes Shape.  An 18 acre project that started just off the intersection of I-540 and Falls of Neuse Road in 2003 has now taken final form.  First there was a Rite Aid pharmacy and 15,000 square feet of medical offices.  The medical offices provide support for specialists at the Wake Med North Healthplex.  Because the city demanded that the site be developed as mixed-use the developers, Todd Saieed and Ven Pool of DeWitt Real Estate Services, submitted a plan that has received city approval.  The additions will be a 26,000 square foot health club and a 100 unit apartment building.  The health club is two buildings that have been connected that were originally designed to house ten different retail outlets.  Operationally, the 02 brand health club will open in July and apartments construction will start in the near future.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Raleigh, North Carolina.  Kane Realty Gets Financing.  While financing is tight Kane Realty got $111 million for a six-story 409 unit apartment building.  The facility will also have more than 93,000 square feet of street-level stores.  The project will be called St. Albans at North Hills.  This was accomplished in the face of much tighter lending requirements.  In years past lenders usually financed 90 percent of the construction costs.  That is no longer the case.  Now, loan amounts range from 70 percent to - no longer available!  For firms with excellent track records loans from several sources can make up the difference. The Federal Reserve indicated that 80 percent of the domestic banks and 55 percent of foreign banks tightened commercial real estate lending standards during the first quarter of 2008. 

Home loans are even tougher.  A Federal Reserve survey indicated that 60 percent of domestic banks have signifiicantly tightened their lending standards on prime mortgages.  Nearly 75 percent of the banks that made sub-standard loans have made getting such loans very difficult or have stopped making them altogether.  In fact, only nine of the reporting banks are currently making any subprime loans.  About 55 percent of the domestic banks reported a substantial tightening of requirements for make a business loan.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Triangle, North Carolina.  Major Builders Still Confident About Triangle.  While they are scaling back from the number of homes they built in 2007 the 2008 numbers remain solid.  Centex Homes opened seven neighborhoods in the Triangle during 2007 and plans to open six in 2008.  Lennar opened five new neighborhoods in 2007 and says they will open three during 2008.  Pulte opened five new communities in 2007 and plan 3 new communities and 3 new neighborhoods at Carolina Preserve in 2008.  Their Harmony Reserve neighborhood will open on March 15.  Homes will start in the mid $400s.  While Toll Brothers has a grim outlook for the housing industry nationally they will proceed with the opening of six new neighborhoods in the Triangle during the next month.

RALEIGH - WEINSTEIN PROPERTIES BUYS THE TERRACES.  Brier Creek Apartment Complex Sold For $50.8 Million.  The 410 unit garden-style apartments will be renamed Bexley at Brier Creek.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Triangle, North Carolina.  December Inventory of Unsold Homes Increased.  The December unsold home inventory number was 12,894.  That was 25% higher than a year ago.  Residential building permits in Wake County for November and December were down by the same percentage.  The average sales price in December was up 1% for the Triangle to $237,628.  In Wake County, where two-thirds of the Triangle sales come from, the average sales price was down 2.4% to $252,168.

More Condos And Stores For Five Points.  A 4.75 acre parcel brings $3.98 million.  The property, close to Five Points and across from High-Park Village Shopping Center, was purchased by St. Mary’s Associates.  Plans they have for it call for a 23,000 square foot three-story building that will contain ground floor retail space.  It is also to have 40 condos that will face Whitaker Mill Road just east of Bernard Street.  Along Bernard Street there will be 20 townhouses.

Crescent Arbors Apartments sold.  The 180-unit complex was purchased for $18.4 million.  A partnership from Beachwood, Ohio was the purchaser.  The sale price was 15 percent above assessed value.

John Fish (919) 696-3474  Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Raleigh, North Carolina.  Indiana Group Buys Shopping Center.  Equity Investment Group Buys Creekside Crossing Shopping Center.  The Fort Wayne investors paid $10.3 million for the center which is located at Wake Forest and Six Forks roads.  The per square foot price for the 60,440 square foot center is $171.  That’s 4.2% more than Jefferson Pilot Life Insurance, the seller, paid for it in 1999.

ATLANTA PARTNERSHIP BUYS TWO APARMENT COMPLEXES.  Julian LeCraw & Co. paid $30.3 million for northwest Raleigh’s Waterford Point apartments and $30.8 million for the Cornerstone Apartments at 200 Terrastone Place, between N.C. 55 and Davis Drive.  The seller of the Cornerstone Apartments, Fairfield Cornerstone LLC, receive 12% more than the paid for it.  Fairfield was also the seller of the Waterford Point apartments. The increase they enjoyed on those units was 17%. 

In 1919 Americans were buying more than 25 million 78 rpm records per year.  Like Topsy, from then on it “just growed.”

John Fish (919) 696-3474    Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Raleigh, North Carolina.  Canadian’s Purchase Cedar Springs. Apartments.  Venterra Realty of Richmond Hill, Ontario, a Canadian company purchased Cedar Springs apartments.  The 180-unit complex in northeast Raleigh was purchased from GAWR LLC for $12.85 million or about $71,389 per unit.

HASENTREE - Continued from yesterday’s post.   Two views of the foyer.  The first is from the Family Room and the second is from the stairway to the second floor.  Next we see the Family room and its barrel vault ceiling and fireplace.  The dining room is just to your right as you enter the home.  Here are two views of it.  Notice the wood inlay work of the floor, the trey ceiling with fine wrought iron chandelier and the open butler’s pantry service area.  The final photo looks toward the breakfast area and kitchen from the Family Room.  This family room is great as an initial gathering place.  For those of you who don’t like the foyer to open directly into the family room and who opt for more privacy, the Keeping Room next to the kitchen, the second floor playroom, media area (not to be confused with the lower level’s theatre), music room (whatever)  could easily be used as a private family room.  I suggest that having it open to the foyer and dining room will make it a more used area than it otherwise would be; especially with the size of the Keeping Room.

To view the photos below full size simply click on each one.  To return to this page and the next photo click on - Back. 

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com