RALEIGH, NC – Taurus Investment Holdings, a private global real estate investment firm headquartered in Boston, MA, announced the acquisition of Olde Raleigh, from Chaucer Creek Capital for a buy price of $33,500,000. The community, built in 1994, is a 228-unit garden-style apartment complex located in the Northwest Raleigh submarket of Raleigh, North Carolina.

“We are excited about our latest acquisition and entering the North Carolina multifamily market,” says Peter Merrigan, CEO of Taurus. “At Olde Raleigh, we saw an opportunity to renovate an already established development with improved apartment finishes and additional amenities. When combined with the area’s top-tier education institutions, nearby retail, and simple access to major employment nodes, we look forward to actively expanding our operating presence in North Carolina, and are confident in Northwest Raleigh’s fundamentals.”

Located at 4000 Grand Manor Drive, the 13.6 acre apartment complex is situated less than 10 miles from downtown Raleigh. With interstates 40 and 440 providing access to Research Triangle Park (encompassing over 7,000 acres, and considered one of the largest research parks in the world), as well as major lifestyle centers, and with a medical submarket less than 5 minutes away, Olde Raleigh residents have simple access to “The Triangle” (consisting of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) in North Carolina.

Established in 1976, Taurus is a Real Estate Private Equity Company and active deal participant in thirty markets around the world. Through fully owned local subsidiaries (regional office model) such as advisory, property management and value add development companies, Taurus, together with its international private investors and strategic joint venture partners, leverages its local market proficiency and performance record to capitalize on select investment opportunities.

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CHICAGO, IL – Chicago-based The Habitat Company, a leading U.S. multifamily developer and property manager, announced it has bought and assumed property management of an affordable rental development in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood and also assumed management of two additional affordable housing communities in the Chicago area. The three properties, which total 500 residences in Chicago and suburban Chicago Ridge, will increase Habitat’s affordable housing portfolio to more than 10,000 units.

“Ensuring families have access to housing they can afford is as much a part of The Habitat Company’s core business as its legacy,” said Matt Fiascone, president of The Habitat Company. “These three projects are a perfect fit for Habitat’s portfolio, and will further our commitment to preserving quality affordable housing opportunities so people can continue living in these Chicago communities they’ve called home for years.”

The three new properties are:

Eastwood Garden Apartments, 6531 S. Lowe Ave., 188 one-, two-, and three-bedroom rental apartments in the Englewood neighborhood (Under Habitat ownership and management)

Indian Trails Apartments, 251 E. 121st Place, 221 E. 121st Place and 12141 S. Indiana Ave.,180 one- and two-bedroom rental apartments in the Roseland area. (Under Habitat management)

Ridge Garden Apartments, 10010-10040 S. Sayre Ave., 132 one-bedroom rental apartments in Chicago Ridge. (Under Habitat management)

“Not only are these three communities in neighborhoods that need well-managed and quality affordable housing, which was certainly a draw for us, but we also saw potential in these assets and will be announcing improvements in the coming months,” said Fiascone. “At Habitat, we’re highly vested in our diverse portfolio and the well-being of our residents, so we’re excited to bring the same quality of service to these properties – as we do to our luxury and market-rate communities.”

Habitat started as an affordable housing developer on Chicago’s South Side in 1971, growing to become one of the largest multifamily developers, owners and managers in the country. Today, the company’s management portfolio comprises more than 22,000 units across five states, of which nearly half are affordable or public housing. In fact, Habitat is currently the largest property manager for the Chicago Housing Authority.

Habitat’s dedication to affordable housing only increases with each year. Earlier this year, Habitat announced a $16 million acquisition and rehabilitation of a 153-unit single room occupancy community in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood. Work to renovate East Park SRO, 3300 W. Maypole Ave., is scheduled to be completed next May. The project will help preserve the affordability of the development, add enhancements for residents and reduce the building’s carbon footprint by adding energy efficiencies. 

In honor of Habitat’s 45th anniversary in 2016, the company launched Generations Housing Initiatives, a separate non-profit entity made to help the company’s community development arm gain access to the much-needed funding critical to the redevelopment of affordable housing communities. The non-profit also provides social services programs, allowing residents of Habitat communities to delight in quality housing options.

Last year, Habitat also renovated and restored Casa Heritage, a 142-unit affordable housing community in suburban Melrose Park, Ill., and donated the property under the state of Illinois’ Affordable Housing Tax Credit program to The Resurrection Project, a Chicago-based non-profit developer. The renovation enabled Habitat to preserve the only family-designated affordable housing option in a nine-municipality area, and helped The Resurrection Project expand its portfolio of properties in a targeted location.

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IRVINE, CA – International award-winning KTGY Architecture + Plotting unveiled today the plotting and design for a new Experiential Urban Lifestyle development in the City of Westminster, California. Currently called Bolsa Row, the new project will serve as the prominent gateway to “Small Saigon,” the largest Vietnamese community in the U.S., and one of Orange County’s fastest growing treasures. Bolsa Row is being developed by IP Westminster, LLC, led by Joann and Bac Pham, a developer with hotels in Garden Grove and other nearby cities.

Located on six acres on the southeast corner of Bolsa Avenue and Brookhurst Street, the plotted development includes a five-tale 150-room hotel, which is the area’s first, and a five-tale 201-unit apartment community with a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartment homes. The design currently includes approximately 60,000 square feet of ground-floor experiential and lifestyle retail, restaurant space and an event facility. The plot is connected and energized by a “Festival Street,” a pedestrian-friendly retail promenade that could host Southeast Asian summer market nights and similar events.

“This is an exciting project for us to collaborate with our studios in-house,” said Ken Ryan, KTGY principal and head of the firm’s Community Plotting and Urban Design Studio. KTGY provided the plotting for the project and will serve as the executive architect for the entire project. The firm will also serve as the design architect for the residential component. “Designing a fantastic urban place demands attention to not only how it functions (access, parking, the number of units, etc.) but also how it connects to the human experience,” Ryan added. “Bolsa Row will offer a mix of uses that provide a sense of destination and synergy reflective of the area’s cultural heritage that will attract people to come, and cause them to return,” Ryan noted.

Director of Plotting for KTGY and the project Johanna Crooker added, “The goal of the new development is to give back to the community of Small Saigon and the City of Westminster by making a unique live, shop, celebrate destination that evokes the spirit of pre-1970s Vietnam and honors the Vietnamese culture and traditions. The architectural style of the new development reflects French Colonial influences and the elegance of fantastic spaces, lifestyle and the atmosphere before the war.”

The fascinating special “spaces” made throughout the development are designed to offer thoughtful visual and physical connections between the hotel, residential, retail and the streetscape, both vertical and horizontal. “There is a void in Orange County’s verticality in placemaking as well as opportunities for meaningful indoor and outdoor experience,” said Ryan. “Hotel guests and patrons will be able to delight in fantastic views of Bolsa Row’s events and activities as well as Disneyland’s nightly fireworks off in the distance.”

The retail along the base of the hotel’s event hall and apartment community engages and enlivens the Festival Street, which can be closed to traffic without restricting the circulation of the site. The Festival Street provides parking for retail when open and a safe place for community gatherings, farmers markets, holiday celebrations or private parties when closed, Ryan stated.

A landscaped “Celebration Bridge” with seating areas connects the event hall to the hotel’s second-tale roof garden. The bridge enhances the pedestrian circulation, establishes active and passive uses, and provides an outdoor event space with access to the indoor reception halls.

“This is the type of project that complements and celebrates the face of a community, and can become a tremendous asset to not only the city but the region,” Ryan noted.

The plans have been submitted to the city and are currently under review. 

Celebrating 25 years, KTGY Architecture + Plotting is an international award-winning full-service architecture and plotting firm delivering innovation, artistry and attention to detail across multiple offices and studios, ensuring that clients and communities get the best the firm has to offer no matter the building type or location.

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