Apartment Choice

The long retail spine of Sydney Road, Brunswick, just north of Melbourne's CBD, was once a prosperous trading outpost on the way to the goldfields. These days it's a bohemian mix of variety stores, op shops, halal butchers and Lebanese bakeries. Take a side street to the west, however, and a different picture emerges. Sandwiched between Sydney Road and the Upfield train line is an area undergoing rapid and widespread transformation. Light industry is fast being replaced by mid- rise apartment buildings , their inhabitants attracted by the short commute into town and cheaper prices than in the city's south-east. The quality of these units is, on the whole, depressingly bad; think poor ventilation and bedrooms that "borrow" natural light (a weasel word for being dark and windowless). The occasional jazzy façade tries feebly to make up for otherwise cheap construction amid a chorus of greys. At ground level, carpark roller doors alternate with mean pocket garden...

We’re a particularly strong and well-capitalized company with a very strong investment record . Joe Lubeck Executive chairman, Landmark Apartment Trust of America Inc. The recession and slumping housing market made the past few years a good time to invest in apartments — and Landmark Apartment Trust of America Inc. was poised to take action. By acquiring more than $1 billion in properties in 2013, Landmark now owns or manages almost 33,000 units, says Joe Lubeck, executive chairman. This correlates with increased interest in renting. “We see that a lot of people are more interested in job portability and the ability to relocate from one city based on job availability, and they also no longer perceive a house as being the solid investment that it once was,” Lubeck says. “As a result, we’re seeing significant growth in the household formative years , the 25- to 40-year-old market, where people are specifically looking to be renters by choice.” Targeting distressed properties that c...

Whether you’re a business traveler staying for days or months in the city, or you’re a leisure traveler looking forward to a relaxing overnight stay , newly opened Citadines Millennium Ortigas Manila promises to give you an ideal home away from home experience. A 32- storey international serviced residence , Citadines Millenium Ortigas Manila is managed by The Ascott Limited in partnership with CDC Holdings. It is The Ascott Limited ’s seventh property in Metro Manila and their first in the northern part of Metro The property, which is divided into serviced residence s and condominium units, has close proximity to lifestyle establishments and offices. Casey Faylona, The Ascott Limited director for sales and marketing said, “There is a big market that is still growing mainly because of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and some of the major companies that are based here including business process outsourcing (BPO) companies. It is an emerging market.” Faylona added, “ Serviced res...

RICHMOND, Va.--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- Landmark Apartment Trust , Inc. (“Landmark” or the “Company”), a multifamily real estate investment trust with assets located in select metropolitan areas throughout the Southern United States , announced today that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement (the “Merger Agreement”) pursuant to which it will be acquired by Monument Partners, L.L.C. (“Monument”), an entity owned by affiliates of Starwood Capital Group and Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX: MST.UN) (“Milestone”), in an all- cash transaction valued at approximately $1.9 billion, including the assumption of existing debt. Upon completion of the transaction, Landmark will become a privately held company. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Monument will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Landmark and all of the outstanding common units of Landmark’s operating partnership, Landmark Apartment Trust Holdings, LP, for $8.17 per share or...

HO-ST of Brunswick. BOUTIQUE appeal just off Sydney Rd gives a newly- launched Brunswick project an edge over others in the suburb’s rapidly growing apartment market , according to the agent. There will be 19 apartments at HO-ST of Brunswick, which is about to spring up between the No. 19 tram and Upfield train lines and countless cafes in the hip inner northern hub. Castran Gilbert agent Sharif Islam said three apartments at the 8 Hope St location had already been snapped up since the project’s mid-August launch. “They’re all big sizes. One-bedroom starts at 61sq m internal space with a 12sq m outdoor area — so a 73sq m one-bedroom apartment,” he said. “They’re generous, big apartments — that’s why people love it.” HO-ST of Brunswick. The one-bedroom apartment provides the development’s entry price point at $459,000. At the other end of the spectrum, a three-bedroom penthouse with 125sq m internal and 24sq m external space has already sold to a doctor at the nearby hospital prec...

T hose who switched off with a sigh of relief in July may not have noticed. But something big is slowly stirring in the undergrowth of British politics. Fact by fact, announcement by announcement, the case for Britain to remain in the European Union’s single market and customs union is growing stronger and more irresistible by the day. Such an outcome is most definitely not this government’s policy. But, this autumn, something will have to give. Over the past 10 days David Davis ’s Brexit department has published seven so- called partnership papers : important documents covering a wide range of subjects, from customs and Northern Ireland to civil justice and, most recently, disputes mechanisms, including the role of the European Court of Justice. According to the introductory blurb inside each, these papers are all about forming a bespoke post-Brexit partnership with the EU. Yet, by intention or accident, they do something very different. Together they make a case for sticking with t...

By Paul Norman - Friday, August 18, 2017 9:04 Global rental housing company Greystar has announced the appointment of Mark Allnutt to head operations in the UK, replacing Jeff Manno who is returning to the US to lead Portfolio Management for the new Greystar Growth and Income Fund. As UK business lead , Mark Allnutt will oversee 200 plus London-based staff and a property portfolio which includes student housing and multifamily rental accommodation across the country. Allnutt has been tasked with increasing Greystar’s UK multifamily portfolio to 10,000 units within four years and growing its student housing portfolio to position the company as one of the country’s largest owners and operators of rental housing . He joined Greystar in 2014 to launch the company’s multifamily business in London. Subsequently Greystar’s development pipeline has grown to over 2,750 units with a value of £1.5bn and the company has been involved in several of the largest propert...

Apartment rents grew the most in Baytown among Texas cities for a one-year period through July, though it remained one of the lowest priced markets in the Houston area, a new report showed. The median price of a two-bedroom unit in Baytown reached $850 in July, a 10.9 percent jump over July 2014, according to the July Texas Rental Price Monitor by Apartment List . Apartment List , an apartment rental marketplace based in San Francisco, compiles the data from several hundred thousand listings it has on its site. Demand for housing in Baytown and other communities on the east side of Houston is being driven by major expansions of petrochemical plants in the region. Curiously, a one-bedroom unit in Baytown costs more than a two-bedroom unit. One-bedrooms rented for $1,150 in July after a 14.6 percent year-over-year rise, according to the report. Alvin had the second highest rate hike in the Houston region, with rents rising 9 .9 percent year-over-year to $830 for a two-bedroom unit. ...