Multi Housing News November 2011 : Page 10
news & notes Obama’s Proposed Carried Interest Tax Potentially ‘Devastating’ for Multifamily Washington, D.C.—Could job creation come at the expense of multi-family owners? The Obama administration recently proposed a $447 billion package for increased employment. This package suggests a tax increase on carried interest in order to raise revenue. Though carried interest on private equity is considered by some to essentially be wages, which therefore could be taxed, others, especially those in the multifamily industry, are strongly opposed to the carried interest tax. “The apartment industry supports sound economic policy that helps restore job growth, but a tax increase on carried interest is bad for our economy and bad for our housing supply,” Cindy Vosper Chetti, Na-tional Multi Housing Council/National Apartment Association senior vice president for government affairs, said in a statement. Green Living Program at LA Apartment Property Wins Grant Los Angeles—Enterprise Community Partners Inc. has awarded a $25,000 grant, funded by retail gi-ant Home Depot, to affordable housing developer Abode Communities. The developer will use the money to further the “Green Living Youth Pro-gram” at its newest development, Ivy Terrace, a 52-unit affordable multifamily property in Van Nuys, Calif. The program at Ivy Terrace, the second de-velopment by Abode to be awarded LEED for Homes Platinum certifi-cation, represents a fur-therance of the property’s green status. According to Abode, the Green Liv-ing Youth Program will serve as a prototype for similar programs at its ex-isting and future developments. The program’s goal is to create a curriculum to educate young residents about the benefits of sustainable living. The program has engaged 15 youths between the ages of seven and 17 in learning how sustain-ability can provide healthier living environments, and how conserving natural resources—mainly by reducing energy consumption—can save money. Participants in the program made solar ovens from 10 November 2011 | Multi-Housing News The carried interest tax, according to both NMHC and NAA, will in-crease the cost of producing new housing as well as decrease the sup-ply by rendering deals fi nancially unworkable. Additionally, the industry fears it could affect whether a new development is financially viable, and could affect proposed new affordable housing from being built. In 2010, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties opposed carried interest tax on the real estate industry for those reasons. And, ironically, the tax, which plays a large part in real estate partner-ships, could end up eliminating employment opportunities. “It would be devastating to the production of multifamily,” Matthew Berger, vice president of tax, NMHC, tells MHN. “And, by extension, job creation.” pizza boxes, container gardens from reused house-hold objects and jewelry from old magazines as they learned about environmental stewardship. Campus Advantage Achieves Student Housing Industry Milestone Austin, Texas—Often after freshman year of col-lege, many students eschew student housing for off-campus apartments with their friends or frater-nity or sorority houses. However, Austin, Texas-based Campus Advantage recently announced a 45 percent returning resident ratio for the 2011-2012 school year among its managed student housing portfolio (the national average is between 30 percent and 35 percent). Additionally, Campus Advantage’s occu-pancy reached more than 95 percent, with 26 of its properties reporting 97 percent or greater occupancy. And Campus Advantage was able to raise rental rates. Campus Advantage buildings offer tradi-tional dorm amenities, such as a residential advisor and on-site management. Some buildings include swimming pools, tennis courts and tanning beds. They also keep a Resident Life database filled with 6,000 program ideas for the students, from traditional pizza parties and ice cream socials, to workshops on how to dress for an internship or interview. The database includes 1,200 large-scale event ideas. Development Dallas Development is Avant-Garde Dallas—The neighborhood known as the Design District, just north of downtown Dallas, is emerging as one of the hottest new residential enclaves in the city. Soon it will have a Class A luxury apartment community designed to be just as avant-garde, with Avant, a 301-unit, mixed-use property from Phoe-nix-based Alliance Residential Co. Set on a 5.14-acre site, Avant will feature four-story wood-frame construction, and provide rent-ers a choice of one-and two-bedroom apartments averaging 842 square feet. Finishes will include upgraded lighting and plumbing packages, granite countertops, accent walls, wood flooring, garden tubs and full-size washer/dryer connections. The new development is well located for ac-cess to job centers, as it is close to Design District, downtown and medical district jobs. It is minutes away from a Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) rail station and is in close proximity to a bus line. Archstone Foundation Awards Grants for Senior ‘Villages’ Oakland, Calif.—If the Archstone Foundation has its way, the word “village” is going to have a new meaning, especially to the growing ranks of Amer-ica’s elderly. Recently the foundation announced
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