Shock waves hit Cleveland real estate industry

Video from WKYC Channel 3 News

Mortgage Brokerage job loss & a dire outlook for residential real estate for the foreseeable future.

Enjoy!

Ferchill nixes plan for Flats project via crain's

By JAY MILLER4:30 am, August 27, 2007

The Ferchill Group is abandoning plans for a residential complex in the Flats, and as a result, Cuyahoga County has rescinded a $1 million brownfield cleanup loan for the project.

County commissioners took the action after notification from the developer that it won’t proceed with Riverside Landing, a proposed $22 million, 88-unit residential complex on Scranton Road along the Cuyahoga River.

The company told the county that high development costs and a changing housing market scotched the deal.

Mortgage Job Losses Surpass 40,000

APMortgage Job Losses Surpass 40,000
Wednesday August 22, 9:18 pm ET
By Ieva M. Augstums, AP Business Writer

As Mortgage Industry Retrenches, Industry Job Cuts Surpass 40,000
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- At the North Carolina offices of mortgage lender HomeBanc Corp., Archie Clark is the only employee left. But in a few days, he'll be gone, too. When Clark finishes helping movers from the company's Atlanta headquarters collect computers and other property, he'll join the more than 25,000 workers nationwide who have lost jobs in the financial services industry since the beginning of the month -- with more than half coming since last Friday.


With few exceptions, the cuts are the direct result of woes in the nation's housing market.
More layoffs are announced daily. On Wednesday, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. closed its "subprime" mortgage business, laying off 1,200 workers at 23 offices; Scottsdale, Ariz.-based 1st National Bank Holding Co. closed its wholesale mortgage unit and cut 541 jobs, and Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. added 1,600 positions to the heap. The night before, banking giant HSBC said it would close a main financing office and cut 600 jobs.

Since the start of the year, more than 40,000 workers have lost their jobs at mortgage lending institutions, according to recent company layoff announcements and data complied by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Meanwhile, construction companies have announced nearly 20,000 job cuts this year, while the National Association of Realtors expects membership rolls to decline this year for the first time in a decade.
It's an employment collapse that threatens to rival the massive layoffs in the airline industry that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when some 100,000 employees lost their jobs.

"It's far from over," said Bart Narter, a senior analyst with Celent, a Boston-based financial research and consulting firm. "The subprime lending collapse will continue to ripple through the financial sector."

For Full Article, please click on link provided---- (Click on Title of Article)

Developers Change Focus to Apartments

Developers, who had focused on constructing condominiums and single-family homes, have shifted their focus to the multifamily sector, with the cool down in residential real estate.

As a result, Reis Inc. expects the national inventory of apartment rental units to climb by 94,700 this year, the highest level since 2004. Those additions, coupled with added supply coming from units that had been slated for condominiums but have become rentals, should result in an increase in vacancies to 6.2% in the second half of 2007 from 5.8% in the first half of the year.

Additionally, condo conversions have just about stopped as the country has a nine-month supply of condo units up for sale - that's a greater supply than single-family homes.

Investor Interest in Ohio Stays Strong

August 17, 2007 - August 23, 2007Provided by Commercial Real Estate Direct

Investor interest in Northeast Ohio office and industrial properties was strong in the first half of 2007, according to data from LoopNet.

Office building sales topped $610 million by the end of June, almost triple the $208 million of transaction volume recorded during the first half of 2006.

Meanwhile, industrial building sales reached $433 million up from $378 million during the same period last year.

Woods of Northland Apts. in Columbus Sells for $3.1M

CO-STAR NEWSLETTER
8-7-07 written by Mina Mack

Woods of Northland Apts. in Columbus Sells for $3.1M

Investors Trade 250-Unit Building at 4314 DresdenWoods of Northland LLC acquired the 4314 Dresden St. apartment community in Columbus, OH, from FSF Whispering Oaks LLC for $3.1 million or $12,400 per unit.

This 250-unit, 237,606-square-foot complex was built in 1972 and is in the North Central submarket. The apartment complex, featuring a swimming pool, tennis court and a children's play area, is minutes from Ohio State University and downtown Columbus.

Sean Dreznin of Pappas Realty and Houston Income Properties represented the seller.

Woods of Northland Apts. in Columbus Sells for $3.1M

August 8, 2007

Written by Mina Mack

Woods of Northland Apts. in Columbus Sells for $3.1M

Investors Trade 250-Unit Building at 4314 DresdenWoods of Northland LLC acquired the 4314 Dresden St. apartment community in Columbus, OH, from FSF Whispering Oaks LLC for $3.1 million or $12,400 per unit.

This 250-unit, 237,606-square-foot complex was built in 1972 and is in the North Central submarket. The apartment complex, featuring a swimming pool, tennis court and a children's play area, is minutes from Ohio State University and downtown Columbus.

Sean Dreznin of Pappas Realty and Houston Income Properties represented the seller.

At Last! A Stadium Comes to Campus

At Last! A Stadium Comes to Campus

A new era is dawning for the University and its football program.

On Aug. 1 the Board of Trustees approved financing and construction plans for a $55 million, on-campus football stadium as part of the second phase of the New Landscape for Learning campus enhancement initiative.

The 30,000-seat facility will be named InfoCision Stadium and Summa Field. Construction should be completed in time for the Zips’ home opener in 2009.

The stadium will be funded by a $30 million fund-raising campaign (of which $21 million already has been pledged) and bonds financed via stadium revenues.

More U of Akron information from http://www.uakron.edu/ir/QuickFacts.php

Campuses
82 buildings on 218 acres in metropolitan Akron
One regional campus, Wayne College, located on 151 acres in Orrville, Ohio, about 30 miles southwest of Akron
B.S./M.D. program offered at main campus and the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Rootstown, Ohio
UA is a partner, along with community and business leaders, in The University of Akron Medina County University Center, a 33,000-square-foot facility offering college classes and workforce training
National Rankings
College of Business Administration included in the 2006 edition of The Princeton Review’s Best 237 Business Schools
UA ranked third among the nation’s top 50 campuses with the greatest wireless Web access in a 2005 Intel Corp. survey
School of Law was ranked #2 in 2004 as a best value by National Jurist and Pre-Law Insider magazine
UA School of Law is one of only 17 in the nation offering an LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law
Student teams earned #1 rankings in national trial advocacy competitions in 2004 and 2003
Industrial/Organizational Psychology program ranked 6th nationally by U.S. News & World Report
Only public university in Ohio with a science and engineering program ranked in the top five nationally by U.S. News & World Report
Engineering students placed 2nd among 17 college teams in 2005 – the first year of the three-year competition sponsored by GM to design a fuel-efficient, “green” SUV by 2007
One of only 12 universities in the nation named as a Carnegie Cluster leader in recognition of teaching and learning achievements

Accreditation
Carnegie Basic Classification
North Central Association of Colleges & Schools

Main Campus RU/H: Research Universities (high research activity)
35 professional accrediting agencies

Wayne College Assoc/Pub2in4: Associate's--Public 2-yr colleges under 4-yr universities

Click here for accrediting agencies listing.

http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/
Academic Programs Offered (Academic Year 2006-07)
Degrees Awarded (AY 05-06 and To Date thru Spr ‘06)
Unique Programs
Programs & Tracks

2005-06
To Date
Certificates
69
157

Associate
473
26,283
Associate
35
79

Bachelor's
2,258
95,705
Baccalaureate
87
229

Master's
892
27,471
Master's
71
151

Doctoral Degrees
119
2,938
Doctoral
17
27

Juris Doctors
142
5,917
Juris Doctor
1
7





Enrollment

Fall 2005
Fall 2006
Undergraduate Students
18,723

Undergraduate Students
19,673
Graduate Students
3,379

Graduate Students
3,327
Professional Students
534

Professional Students
539
Full-time students
15,707

Full-time students
16,615
Part-time students
6,929

Part-time students
6,924
Total Headcount: 22,636
Total Headcount: 23,539
Fall 2006 Enrollment by Ethnicity
Fall 2006 Enrollment by Degree Type

Count
Percent


Count
Percent
Native American
76
0.3%

Baccalaureate
16,134
68.5%
Asian Pac Islander
442
1.9%

Associate
2,702
11.5%
African American
2,811
11.9%

Master's
2,345
10.0%
Hispanic
266
1.1%

Non degree-seeking
1,094
4.6%
White
18,285
77.7%

Doctoral
726
3.1%
Non Resident Alien
771
3.3%

Law
538
2.3%
Unknown
888
3.8%

Local Multi-Family Sales Update 8-3-07

Pappas Realty Co. Recent Sales

250-units in Columbus, Ohio ~ $3,100,000

15-units in Fairlawn, Ohio ~ $610,000

10-units in Akron, Ohio ~ $240,000

Under Contract

12-units ~ Highland Square

12-units ~ University of Akron

10-units ~ West Akron

$510 Million Oceanfront Trailer Park Deal Collapses

Daily Real Estate News August 1, 2007

Ocean Land Investments has pulled out of a $510 million deal to buy an oceanfront mobile home park in South Florida, eight months after the contract was signed and hours before the company would have lost its $4.5 million deposit.

Residents of the Briny Breezes development would have gotten about $1 million each from the deal. However, some residents are happy the plans fell through. "The community is split 50-50 on this. Half are happy, half are upset," Warren Bailey, a Briny Breezes resident, says of the canceled contract. "My wife is getting ready to pop a bottle of champagne right now."

The developer backed away because of disputes with neighboring towns over the development of the property into a luxury resort, says Logan Pierson, Ocean Land vice president of acquisitions. He says the company is still enthusiastic about the project, but needs more time to negotiateResidents in neighboring Ocean Ridge and Gulf Stream, the two wealthy enclaves north and south of Briny Breezes, pooled resources to fight the plan.

They complained the proposed 1,600-unit project would overwhelm roads, hurt the environment, and ruin their quality of life if buildings 12 to 20 stories high were allowed to tower over them.

Source: The Sun Sentinel, Angel Streeter (07/31/07)

U of Akron to build stadium

By SCOTT SUTTELL2:35 pm, August 1, 2007

The University of Akron is about to put a little zip into its football program with a new downtown stadium.

Trustees of the university today approved the financing and construction plans for a $55 million, on-campus football stadium and field.

Construction of what will be called InfoCision Stadium and Summa Field is scheduled for completion for the Zips’ 2009 home opener against the University of Kentucky. The name sponsors of the stadium are telemarketing firm InfoCision Management Corp. of Akron and Summa Health System.

The university will break ground on the stadium project in October. It will be located a few blocks from the state Route 8 expressway exits to the University of Akron campus.

The stadium will be financed by a $30 million fundraising campaign, of which $21 million already has been pledged, and bonds financed via stadium revenues, according to a university news release.

“An on-campus football stadium is one of the cornerstone facilities that will enhance the collegiate experience,” UA president Luis M. Proenza said in a statement. “This new facility will create a game-day atmosphere that will generate a new level of excitement, spirit and pride for the university and Zips athletics.”The stadium will have a capacity of 30,000, with the possibility of end-zone seats added in the future. It will have a club level with seating for 486, as well as 172 open-air loge seats, 5 private suites with seating for 16 each, and a President’s Suite with seating for 75.The condition of the university’s aging Rubber Bowl and the rising costs of maintenance or refurbishing of the facility to modern-day standards made the decision to build a new stadium a necessity, according to Mack Rhoades, UA director of athletics.