Virtual Open Houses

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has brought down NYC real-estate investor Adam Hochfelder, according to news reports. The DA arrested and charge Hochfelder with allegedly bilking associates and banks out of more than $17 million.  The most serious charge, grand larceny, for lying on and forging various documents, could earn him a whopping return--25 years in jail. The 37-year-old was chairman & CEO of Max Capital Management Corp.

While many of the details are being kept mum, permanent financing to the tune of approximately $21 million has been put in place for the 25-acre Hyatt Regency Hotel property in Newport Beach, Calif.

Cabot Properties has just become the new owner of I-290 Industrial Park, having shelled out $39 million for the 577,000-square-foot property in Northborough, Mass.

Schuff Steel Co. has topped out the new conference center that is part of the L.A. Live development in Los Angeles. The 27-acre development began with the construction of the Staples Center where the Lakers play, in 2002.

Redevelopment of the site that was once home to the Borscht Belt’s legendary Concord Hotel, in Kiamesha Lake, N.Y., has taken two major steps forward. In one, Concord Associates L.P., joint venture partner of Empire Resorts Inc., has completed a $225 million equity loan financing with Entertainment Properties Trust, a REIT based in Kansas City. In the other, the County of Sullivan (N.Y.) Industrial Development Agency has announced a $300 million bond financing for the resort’s redevelopment, the agency’s first major funding for the $1.1 billion project.

Clark Construction Group-California has commenced work on University Gateway, a 421-unit mixed-use student housing development in Los Angeles, just across from the University of Southern California.

A rock-bottom price just isn't enough for buyers these days - it's a starting point. If the furnace is out of date, they'll demand a new one. Cracked driveways have to be repaved, and dirty carpeting torn out and replaced. All at the seller's expense.

Unlike previous housing slumps, the one we're in now has spread from coast to coast. But that doesn't mean that every market is suffering equally. The worst markets -- the ones in Florida, California, Arizona, and Nevada -- seem to get all the attention. But in places such as Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, and Portland sales have slowed, but prices haven't dropped much.

The Bespoke Investment Group published a chart on its Web site using data from the Case-Shiller Median Home Price Index. It shows how much median home prices have fallen from their peaks in each of the 20 cities the index tracks.

Los Angeles-based Wilshire Finance Partners has introduced Wilshire Income Fund II, its second real estate mortgage pool fund. The fund will raise $100 million to make commercial property loans. This time around, however, the company will be able to welcome investors and borrowers from beyond the borders of the State of California.

Los Angeles-based Maguire Properties Inc. has closed the disposition of Main Plaza, selling the 607,000-square-foot trophy office complex in Irvine, Calif., to Shorenstein Properties L.L.C for $211 million including the assumption of $161 million of project level financing.