Home and Design
PRnewsiwre | August 10, 2023
Weidner Apartment Homes, a real estate investment and property management company, recently joined the Anchorage Affordable Housing and Land Trust (AAHLT) to aid the organization in its mission to expand and preserve year-round housing rental opportunities that are affordable to low and very low-income households.
In March 2023, Dean Weidner, Weidner's Chairman and Founder, matched the Rasmuson Foundation's $250,000 donation to AAHLT to provide initial working capital for the Trust to begin operations. One of the first projects undertaken by the Trust is a renovation project that will convert The Lake House, a downtown hotel in Anchorage, AK, into a 45-unit multifamily property for low and very low-income citizens. The Lake House is an older, well-maintained hotel purchased by the AAHLT in 2023 using ARPA funds granted by the Municipality of Anchorage.
"Dean Weidner invests in these projects because he believes we all have a responsibility to be involved in our communities and give back however we can. As a housing provider, we are connected to those who are unhoused, and it's a natural issue for us to gravitate towards and bring some focused expertise to the process." Said Greg Cerbana, Weidner's VP. of Government Affairs.
Weidner has been a multifamily rental housing provider in Anchorage since 1981 and owns 5,696 units across six cities in Alaska. Through the company's long-standing relationships with various Alaska-based housing providers, they have partnered with several nonprofits to significantly improve the region's housing instability issues.
"Since Weidner is a market-rate housing provider, our investments in various affordable housing projects allows us to fund a different need of the area's housing market. Every sector in the industry needs to be healthy for it to thrive, and our recent involvement with AAHLT enables us to support the industry outside of our primary line of work." Said Cerbana.
"Anchorage is uniquely positioned to find workable solutions for the challenges associated with homelessness. The city has a history of cooperation between its businesses, nonprofits, and public sectors. I encourage everyone to come together and prioritize fulfilling the needs of the most vulnerable in our society." Said Weidner.
As of August 2023, Weidner has committed over $10 million to fund solutions for homelessness in Anchorage. Weidner is excited to expand its efforts to support the full continuum of Anchorage's housing market by joining the AAHLT to provide much-needed housing for low and very low-income citizens.
About Weidner Apartment Homes
Founded by W. Dean Weidner in 1977, Weidner Apartment Homes is a multi-faceted real estate investment, and management company recognized industry-wide as an efficient provider of quality rental homes and a creative developer of new housing. The vision of the Weidner Company is to distinguish ourselves as the apartment industry leader in each of our markets, which includes Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Canada. We can only achieve that vision by having the best apartment managers, leasing consultants, maintenance managers, and service technicians in the business.
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Real Estate Technology, Real Estate Investment
PRnewswire | July 12, 2023
Covius, a leading provider of technology-enabled solutions to the financial services industry, announced today that its Settlement Services division has introduced a new home equity decisioning solution that significantly accelerates the origination process and gives lenders early insight into property and/or borrower issues that could expedite or delay decisions.
The Covius Home Equity Solution will allow bank and credit union clients to offer a streamlined origination experience to their home equity customers. For example, title and tax reports that used to take 3 or more days are now delivered in hours on a majority of loans, enabling closings to occur in as fast as 5 days, as opposed to the industry average of 20-plus days.
The new solution also features Covius Loanscape, a separate point-of-sale component for lenders that provides critical property and consumer insights in fewer than 45 seconds. This report reveals title, valuation and credit information that enhances a lender's loan origination workflow, coupled with expedited decisioning and abbreviated closing timelines.
The Covius Home Equity Solution is fueled by Flueid's leading title data and decisioning platform, Flueid Decision, as an expansion of the companies' integration announced in February 2023.
Joe Chappell, Executive Vice President of Operations at Covius, said, "The demand for home equity products is extremely strong, but the competition for this business is intense. Our new solution[s] enable clients to differentiate themselves by delivering a modern, streamlined customer experience, beginning at point-of-sale and continuing throughout the underwriting and closing processes.
"In seconds, Covius Loanscape allows lenders to determine if the loan qualifies for an expedited clear-to-close. Sharing this information at the point of sale empowers lenders to set borrower expectations more accurately, better prioritize orders and improve overall pipeline performance. Likewise, lenders will know that a lead on a property will not meet criteria before ordering full credit, valuation or other third-party products, and having underwriters spend days on an application that will be declined. This is especially valuable with home equity origination, where many costs are absorbed by the lender."
About Covius
Covius is a trusted provider of services, insight and technology to leading financial companies. Covius' technology-enabled solutions deliver operational efficiencies, mitigate risk and empower compliant decisions and borrower interactions. Covius businesses are recognized leaders in loss mitigation, document and data solutions, title and settlement services, compliance and critical borrower communications, lien release tracking and preparation, HOA tracking, quality assurance, REO asset management and auction services, credit reporting and verification, capital markets due diligence and oversight, insurance policy analysis as well as rapid-development, customizable cloud-based business process solutions. The company was named a 2023 HousingWire Tech100 winner. For more information about the company and its services, visit www.covius.com.
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Real Estate Investment
Kimco Realty Corporation | August 25, 2023
Kimco Realty® North America’s largest publicly traded owner and operator of open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers and a growing portfolio of mixed-use assets, today announced the acquisition of Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center, a 96%-occupied, 504,000-square-foot, grocery-anchored lifestyle center in Woodbridge, Virginia, for $172.5 million.
The center, which has an estimated population of over 230,000 people and an average household income of $125,000 within a five-mile radius, is anchored by a 138,500 square foot Wegmans, one of the state's top-ranking grocers with a trade area of 40 miles, and the only Apple store in the greater trade area. The center's diverse tenant mix features a complementary blend of leading national brands, including REI, Ulta Beauty, Starbucks, Cava, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, as well as a variety of local shops which include boutique fitness, personal services, restaurants and medical uses.
"We’re excited to add Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center, a premiere grocery-anchored center situated in a high barrier-to-entry location with strong demographics, to our dynamic portfolio,” said Ross Cooper, Kimco’s President and Chief Investment Officer. “This center boasts a robust growth profile that will complement and solidify Kimco’s position as the leading retail player in the suburban Washington D.C. market.”
This acquisition presents a variety of growth prospects, including the potential to develop three outparcel retail buildings, increase density through mixed-use development, and enhance the existing merchandising mix through the recapture of below market leases.
Strategically located at the intersections of I-95, Dale Boulevard, Route 1, and Opitz Boulevard, the center benefits from 5.5 million annual visits, ranking in the 97th percentile nationally. Construction of a municipal park and ride garage adjacent to the center demonstrates continued government investment in the area and is expected to drive additional traffic upon its completion in mid-2024.
About Kimco Realty
Kimco Realty is a real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered in Jericho, N.Y. that is North America’s largest publicly traded owner and operator of open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers and a growing portfolio of mixed-use assets. The company’s portfolio is primarily concentrated in the first-ring suburbs of the top major metropolitan markets, including those in high-barrier-to-entry coastal markets and rapidly expanding Sun Belt cities, with a tenant mix focused on essential, necessity-based goods and services that drive multiple shopping trips per week. Kimco Realty is also committed to leadership in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and is a recognized industry leader in these areas. Publicly traded on the NYSE since 1991, and included in the S&P 500 Index, the company has specialized in shopping center ownership, management, acquisitions, and value enhancing redevelopment activities for more than 60 years. As of June 30, 2023, the company owned interests in 528 U.S. shopping centers and mixed-use assets comprising 90 million square feet of gross leasable space.
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