LOS ANGELES, CA – Hanover Company recently opened the doors to its newest LA property, Hanover Olympic. This property is unique to the company as it will lease out 20 apartment homes with Eco-Green finishes.

Olympic’s Eco-Green community is the first of its kind for Hanover who has properties across the country already featuring the environmentally conscious LEED certification. This certification is a symbol that a property has made the conscious choice to make a property more sustainable with energy saving features benefiting water, energy conservation, and more.

While the new Olympic property is LEED registered, the most notable environmentally friendly features are the 20 apartments powered by rooftop solar panels. These living spaces are equipped with Nest thermostats, occupancy sensors, an iPad to monitor energy consumption, and energy efficient finishes. The new eco features are designed for residents wanting to live a more green life without sacrificing the luxuries and comfort that come with living in downtown LA.

This property is on the forefront of buildings being built with the environment in mind. The state of California has consistently led the way towards environmentally friendly commercial and residential buildings. Efficiency standards for new buildings took effect on new construction January 1, 2014 and continues to keep California as the nation’s leader in energy efficient structures. These standards looks to increase energy savings by 25% for homes and 30% for commercial buildings. 

Hanover Olympic is located in Downtown L.A. at 936 South Olive Street, just minutes from the Staples Center and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising.

Powered by WPeMatico

SEATTLE, WA – Walk Score, a Redfin company, released its 2016 ranking of the most walkable U.S. cities with populations over 300,000. With a Walk Score of 88.9, New York remains the nation’s most walkable city.

Long Beach, California (69) is the only Southern California city included in the top 10, narrowly beating out Baltimore (68.7). Long Beach also had the largest yearly increase of all 10 cities, up 3.2 points.

“Recognizing Long Beach as the most walkable city in Southern California, and one of the most walkable in the entire country, is a testament to the hard work we’ve been doing to improve and expand pedestrian infrastructure and support safe and convenient travel for everyone,” said Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia. “We intend to continue making Long Beach a fantastic place to walk and to live, work and visit.”

Notable Improvements in Walkability:

All of the top 10 cities saw an increase in their respective Walk Score ratings, indicating that the nation’s largest cities are becoming more walkable. Among the top 50 most walkable cities, only two, Honolulu (63.3) and Columbus, Ohio (40.4) had Walk Scores that improved by less than a point.

“Improving a city’s Walk Score takes work. In these communities, construction crews have built an invitation for walking,” said Eric Scharnhorst, livability analyst at Redfin. “Safer sidewalks are now connected to a greater variety of everyday amenities. This makes opportunities for both local businesses and families.”

Omaha, which ranked 32nd, had the largest year-over-year Walk Score increase among the 50 most walkable cities, with an improvement of 4.3 points. With a Walk Score of 45.4, the city is still considered “car dependent,” but many neighborhoods saw huge gains in their ratings.

St. Louis, Missouri, Denver, Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, Santa Ana, California as well as Austin and Houston in Texas all saw a Walk Score increase of four points or more.

Powered by WPeMatico

FORT COLLINS, CO – Core Spaces, a Chicago-based real estate development and management firm known for offering modern, trend-setting student housing with a wide variety of amenities, has bought a three-year ancient, 665-bed community at Prospect and College avenues, one block from Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

The buy, which closed April 19, was the first for Core Spaces since the firm established its acquisitions platform with the hiring of former Harrison Street executive Brian Thompson in September 2015. The firm previously completed six other student housing communities as ground-up developments.

“This community was an ideal fit with our objective of adding complementary assets to our portfolio, including not only on- and off-campus student housing, but also potentially campus-adjacent hotels, infrastructure and other education-related real estate,” says Mr. Thompson, Director of Acquisitions. “This was an exciting opportunity to buy an attractive, well-located, excellent-performing asset with even greater upside potential.”

Core Spaces plans to tap that potential by significantly renovating the five-tale building before the start of the fall semester, adding a wide variety of sophisticated indoor and outdoor luxuries with all the comforts of home.

“Core Spaces is well known throughout the country for offering exceptional, luxurious housing that fits with today’s college students’ lifestyles,” says Benjamin F. Modleski, Core Spaces’ Chief Operating Officer. “We’re modernizing the State on Campus Fort Collins community to ensure that it meets our high standards and will be a place where college students truly want to live.” The community is currently 100 percent occupied and already 85 percent pre-leased for the 2016-17 school year.

Core Spaces is relocating the fitness center, increasing it to 2,500 square feet, and adding state-of-the-art equipment, free weights, stand-up tanning facilities, a yoga room and a sauna. The company also is improving the three outdoor courtyards with the addition of a hot tub, sand volleyball court, fire pits, barbecue grills, and gaming and gathering areas for relaxing and enjoying the mountain views.

Other areas to be improved include the lobby/reception area and offices and the addition of a 313-space parking garage. Finally, the company is expanding the computer lab with new computers, printers, four group study areas and individual study nooks.

Mr. Modleski noted that the renovation will be well positioned to capitalize on other new developments near Colorado State University that include a new University Hospital and an on-campus football stadium, which is slated for completion in 2017.

“CSU and the City of Fort Collins are thriving and regularly adding expanded services and new, updated facilities,” notes Mr. Modleski. “Then add in the mountains, the vibrant business district, all of the local attractions and gorgeous views, and this area is without compare. At Core Spaces, we are very pleased to be part of such a dynamic community.”

Powered by WPeMatico