• Colorado Division of Housing releases May foreclosure report.
• Foreclosures down 50%.
• Lowest May level since at least 2007.

Foreclosure filings fell 50.5 percent in Colorado metro counties during May 2013, falling year-over-year to the lowest level recorded during May in any year since the Colorado Division of Housing began collecting monthly totals in 2007,  according to a state report released today by the division.

Foreclosure auction sales in Colorado’s metropolitan counties were down 25.4 percent in May this year compared to May of last year, falling from 965 to 720. Over the same period, foreclosure filings dropped from 2,249 to 1,113.

For the first five months of the year, foreclosure filings were down 43.4 percent in 2013 when compared to the same period last year. Foreclosure auction sales were down 29.4 percent over the same period.

Foreclosure filings are the initial filing that begins the foreclosure process, and foreclosure auction sales totals are the total number of foreclosures that have been sold at auction at the end of the foreclosure process.

“The decline in foreclosure activity has clearly accelerated since the beginning of 2013,” said Ryan McMaken, an economist for the Colorado Division of Housing. “And a downward trend is likely to continue as long as employment is stable and we continue to see low mortgage rates.”

Year-to-date through May this year, compared to the same period last year, the counties with the largest drops in foreclosure filings were Douglas and Arapahoe counties where filings decreased by 49.2 percent and 46.4 percent, respectively. All counties surveyed reported year-to-date declines of 30 percent or more in foreclosure filings, when compared to the same period of last year.

Foreclosure auction sales were also down in all counties surveyed in the year-to-date numbers, with Denver and Douglas counties reporting the largest declines, year over year. Year-to-date through May, auction sales were down 39.2 percent in Douglas County and 40.4 percent in Denver County, compared to the same period of last year.

The county with the highest rate of foreclosure sales during May was Mesa County with a rate of 940 households per foreclosure sale. Pueblo County came in second with 1,221 households per foreclosure sale. The lowest rate was found in Broomfield County where there were 10,980 households per foreclosure sale during May.

The Division of Housing’s monthly foreclosure report surveys foreclosure activity in the twelve metropolitan counties of Colorado. The report is a supplement to the Division’s quarterly foreclosure report that includes all counties in Colorado.

The full report is available on the Division of Housing blog: http://www.divisionofhousing.com/

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at  JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

• Dan Polimino’s latest column.
• Home shortage makes having a great Realtor crucial.
• Escalation clause may seal the deal.

by Dan Polimino

Special to InsideRealEstateNews.com

I never thought that I would hear these five words: “I can’t find a home.”

Dan Polimino

But but five years after the nationwide real estate crash, this seems to be the new mantra of prospective home buyers.

In April and May, there were only about 5,000 single-family homes on the market in the entire Denver MLS.

That is historically low and shockingly sparse for a metro area of three million plus people.

As the saying goes, “it is what it is.”

But it begs the question: how do we handle it going forward?

If you are buyer in a seller’s market, you need to find a top-notch real estate agent.

Listen… when it really gets tough to find a home and you have to buy, a rock star Realtor  will be worth his or her weight in gold.

This is where I believe agents provide real value and significant service to their clients. I am not sure how all Realtors are doing it, but I can tell you what our team is doing to help buyers.

Here is an excerpt of an email we sent to buyers who were desperate to find a home:

Step One: We realize that this inventory shortage problem is not going away, at least not this year. Finding a home that hits the MLS and getting that under contract is a real challenge. So we have started accessing a database we have of homes that are not listed. These people are thinking about selling. We are calling them daily to see if we can show their home, if they would sell, and at what price.

Step Two: We are looking in the MLS at all the homes that have been withdrawn or have expired. These are homes that did not sell for whatever reason and were taken off the market. We are starting to call these people to find out if they would be willing to sell again.

Step Three. We are setting up all our clients on listing alerts. It means that the minute a house hits the MLS and matches your criteria, it gets sent to your email. Don’t assume that we are seeing the same email on the same day. If you see a home that got emailed to you and you want to see it… email us or call us right away.

Step Four: We are contacting other real estate agents whom we know and have done business with. We are sharing with them what our buyers’ needs are and are asking them if they know of something coming on the market in those areas, or if they know of someone willing to sell.

If a good home that is priced right hits the MLS, we need to go see it right away (usually that same day). We have brought on additional showing agents to help accomplish this.

If you find that you like the house and want to make an offer, expect to compete with two or three other offers.

A bidding war means you having to offer more than the asking price.

We have started using escalating clauses in our contracts in an effort to make sure that our clients win the house.

If you have a home to sell after you buy, the good news is that you’ll be on the receiving end of seller’s market.

If new home construction is an option, then let’s start talking about who is building where, the costs, the timing, etc.

If your agent doesn’t have a clear, concise game plan, finding one who does will greatly improve your chance of finding a home in today’s market. In other words, a rock star Realtor will hit all the right notes when it comes to finding you a piece of the American Dream.

Dan Polimino is a Broker/Owner with the Colorado Dream House Team, Keller Williams Realty DTC. Contact Dan at dan@coloradodreamhouse.com,  or coloradodreamhouse.com 

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at  JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

• Gary Bauer releases Premiere Properties report.
• Report covers homes priced from $500K to $749,999.
• Bauer expects this to be next “sweet spot.”

The move-up housing market from $500,000 to just under $750,000 is increasingly becoming a hot spot for Denver-area housing, according to an analysis by independent broker Gary Bauer.

This 3,292-square-foot homes in Park Hill is priced at $749,900, at the high-end of the Premiere Properties’ range.

Bauer describes homes in that price range as “Premiere Properties.”

His analysis of the latest Metrolist data shows that there were 410 single-family homes sold in the price range in an 11-county area in May, a 34.9 percent jump from the 304 in May 2012.

“I believe this price range will be the “sweet spot” in the coming years,” Bauer said.

Overall, the market showed a 26.8 percent year-over-year increase in closings in May.

On a year-to-date basis, the Premiere Properties showed an even bigger gain.

In the first five months of the year, 1,371 single-family homes in that price range closed for $810.4 million a 47.7 percent and a 46.3 percent, increase, respectively, in the 928 sales and $553.8 million in dollar volume.

Going back two years, Premiere home sales have almost doubled, on a year-to-date basis. In the first five months of 2011, 693 homes old for $400.9 million, a 97.8 percent and 99.1 percent increase, respectively.

Last month, buyers paid $243.7 million for Premiere Properties, a 34.75 percent increase from the $180.84 million.

The average price per square foot was $230, up only 0.44 percent from $229 a year earlier. On a finished per-square-foot basis, the price dipped 3.9 percent to $174 from $181.

“One of the things I liked about this price range is that we saw an increase in activity, yet there was no big dramatic increase in prices,” Bauer said.

“That is just super.”

Bauer said he doesn’t fear a bubble in this price range, or for the overall market.

“I am not expecting a bubble at this point of time,” Bauer said.

Indeed, he is expecting more homes to come on the market, which should help to meet some of the demand for homes, which is increasingly leading to bidding wars and homes selling above the appraised value.

In May, the inventory from April increased 18.3 percent, one of the biggest month-to-month percentage gains on record.

“I can’t wait until the end of the month, because I am really hoping we have between 9,000 and 10,000 homes on the market,” up from 8,214 in May, Bauer said.

The strong showing for Premiere Properties is being driven by an improving economy that is attracting more businesses and appreciation of existing houses, he said.

A strong seller’s market is allowing people to move-up who were stuck in their homes during the Great Recession, according to Bauer and other brokers.

“I think it is a combination of new companies coming into the market because of the stronger market, who are hiring or bringing with them executives who can afford these homes,” Bauer said.

“I think the second part is just the improving move-up market,” he said.

It’s also possible that people who lived in bigger homes are downsizing into smaller, less expensive homes, he said, as luxury homes priced at $1 million or more, have been selling faster.

“Part of it might be downsizing from $1 million homes, but I haven’t done my homework on that,” Bauer said.

However, he said it is certainly possible that some people no longer need a big house in the suburbs, so are buying a Premiere Property closer to the city.

Premiere Properties are being snapped up quicker.

The average days on the market in May was 24 days, a 25 percent drop from the 32 days in May 2012.

Year-to-date, there have been 1,371 Premiere Properties sold for $810.4 million,

As far as condos in the Premiere price range, there 2343 25 sales last year for $14.8 million, compared with 21 for $12.8 million in May 2012, a 19 percent and 15.85 percent increase, respectively.

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at  JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

• Niccolo Casewit offers advice to stakeholders affected by design.
• That means everybody, from NIMBYs to developers to renters. 
• Casewit also penned a companion article that uses RedPeak as a jumping off point.

Niccolo Casewit

By Niccolo Casewit

Special to InsideRealEstsateNews.com

To My NIMBY friends:


Infill projects will always be challenging for everyone involved.

It mean we have to let go of the old and accept the new. As born-again YIMBYs, neighbors need a strategy to improve outcomes.

Instead of just trying to stop a development or use a tactical delays, as neighbors we need to step back and negotiate for what is best for the community at large. Negotiate for not against.

To wit:

• Negotiate for better design, and more sympathetic building forms. Consider trade-offs around bedroom density and uncouple parking from units to offer more guest parking.
• Demand better materials and details, and variety in exchange for greater densities.
• Demand more extensive open space. Public pocket parks in exchange for taller structures.
• Expect a greater mix of housing, including rentals, lock-out units (a form of accessory dwellings.
• Expect the city to finance public parking, pressure RTD for more transit connectivity and provide multi-modal access for bikes and pedestrians, and more public bike parking facilities – even  taxi-cab stands.
  

  No High Rises in West Highland had a booth in the Highlands Street Fair on Saturday.

To my City Planner friends:

The city on some level needs to engage all stakeholders sooner and more often.

Some neighborhoods are experiencing more market pressure than others.

The city needs to better integrate and publicly share zone map developments, particularly when the zoning could be considered preferential “spot zoning”.

Ironically, notifications are weak in fact the city depends mostly on the registered neighborhood organizations and city council members s to get the word out. It’s not enough. Rezonings should be announced before they happen. Architectural design charrettes should be mandatory.

Renters should be included. After all, they live in the neighborhood, too. The city needs to negotiate with not against the community or the developer.

Zoning is not design.

Some administrative changes may be in order:

• Good design is hard to legislate. Our city culture can reach out and enhance projects by demanding specific public amenities from developers and the business improvement districts.
• If conceptual design alternatives are clearly vetted with the public, the city should expedite approvals ahead of developers who try to rush schematic design. Incentivize participation, with permit fee waivers.
• The city should consider strict design guidelines with density bonuses for projects which conform to the standards and reflect the spirit of contextual design which is not too narrowly defined but still appropriate to each neighborhood.
• The city could encourage wholesale rezoning of contiguous blocks and also facilitate designation of historic districts by changing the laws to be less burdensome for neighbors.
• The city could support other strategies for encouraging a mix of uses, and housing choices, with the concept of distributed density and greater connectivity and “walkablitiy.” One way to do this is to encourage Detached Accessory Dwelling Units where ever appropriate, particularly as an alternative to duplexes and scrape-offs.

To my developer and architect colleagues:

I feel for you — the challenges are immense and the competition is dispersed over 5,000 square miles of the Denver metro region.

Land speculations are costly and soft costs are soaring while construction costs are laden with multipliers.

The urban market wants almost everything that the suburban market and  offers more.

Building in cities is not easy.

Keep these steps in mind:

• First and foremost develop relationships to the communities. Maybe even live in the ‘hood for awhile. The pressures are enormous. On the other hand development can be like writing a symphony in drafts:.
• Engage the whole community and develop organic and authentic relationships to the stake holders . This takes time, but is so does everything good in life.
• Utilize community resources. Open up the process and delegate to the neighbors.
• Listen to your architects and design professionals, and hire them from the community for the greatest insights, and the most earned trust and accountability
• Assemble the appropriate site parcels for the use and the intensity of the project.
• Disclose your intentions and share the challenges and rewards early on, and use participatory design as a strategy for success.

Participatory design (PD).

P.D. is not a secret meeting, it’s not take it or leave it.

It’s a meaningful and exposes the weaknesses and strengths of the people and the proposed designs. It take a lot of trust and commitment.

It also takes training and a suspension of beliefs and individual egos.

All stakeholder must be consistently engaged and informed by each other. Adversaries do not make good collaborators while participation is encouraged when:

• There is authentic and transparent communication. Scaled up drawings, misstatements and fancy posters, signs and “already finished renderings” cannot replace, thought full scaled models, early sketches and rough financial proformas and a true variety in design approaches. Try Lego?
• Ingredients paramount to the future of any project include education, documentation and an understanding of a neighborhood’s history and future trajectory.
• Un-informed comments after five years of work should be dismissed. (Some developers hand out cameras and ask stakeholders to take pictures of what they want to see.)
• Design charettes should offer participants the tools to judge and select and maybe reconfigure a design from at least three alternative designs. All designs should be shared with the public.
• The city might consider financing design competitions that include ideas from the public and a range of architects and students for specific context-sensitive sites. This is a normal practice in other communities. Why are we so afraid of each others ideas?
• Finally, participation needs to be measured in terms of outcomes based on criteria that the group has defined together. Trade-offs must be made clear. For example, if developer agrees to do such and such, the benefits will out-weight the costs.

While many of the buildings we see being “slapped up” may only last couple of decades, in the Colorado weather it is definitely worth considering how “long-term” good architecture and community relations can be, as well as how the uses, and purposes of our buildings also constantly change.

Thinking in terms of a century before and a century after is not just for nostalgia or posterity. It’s necessary. We can do this together.

Niccolo Casewit AIA is a Colorado native, an architect and urban planner. Casewit’s professional focus has been in sustainable design, historic preservation, adaptive re-use, urban infill in transit-oriented districts. As an activist and citizen architect, Casewit has furthered the integration of participatory design for existing urban neighborhoods through his active engagement within diverse sectors of the Denver’s community life. He currently lives in the Barnum Park neighborhood in West Denver.

Niccolo can be reached by email at Niccolo@EnvironmentalProductions.com

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at  JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

• Architect Niccolo Casewit sees RedPeak situation as a microcosm of what can go wrong.
• Design is not zoning.
• Be a YIMBY, not a NIMBY

by Niccolo Casewit

Special to InsideRealEstateNews.com

The “No High Rises in West Highland” saga of almost two years demonstrates why a zoning war involving parcels near West 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard is not “participatory design.”

Niccolo Casewit

In fact, it is quite destructive.

In the end, people are divided, the design suffers, prices go up, and good people are excluded from the process and the product.

Design is not a “thing.” Design is a verb.

Design can be a participatory process of balancing our common concerns and expressing our best intentions as edified through the built environment.

Designing together can help resolve conflicts and build into each development the aspirations and hopes of the community. 
Just “going through the motions” of public participation does a disservice to both the public and the city when it comes to disputed developments.

Participation needs to be informed and cannot survive an adversarial response by NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) or the developers they so mistrust.

On the other hand, too often we hear residents oppose developments with a blanket critique based on fear of change. Always it is the parking, the density, the size and scale, the traffic impacts and the like.

It’s very rare that concern citizens get involved in projects as agents for good design, inclusive housing and responsible entrepreneurship.

It’s also very rare that developers invite the neighbors to the table.
The adversarial environment is killing our creativity!
What a mess.

I was just checking the Facebook page for “No Highrises In Highlands,” a self-appointed watch dog group and all comments on their wall posts have been scrubbed clean—probably because of the “to-be-continued” status of the a lawsuit and zoning complaint by the group against the Denver City Council and the owners of parcels on Lowell, Meade Street and West Moncrieff Place, where RedPeak Properties wants to build two five-story and a four-story apartment building.

Where’s the interaction?

Instead of running up a developer’s tab with lawyers and zoning consultants and the financiers in the background, concerned citizens would do much better to get involved early in the game — perhaps even become developers themselves!

There is more to gain for the neighborhood, the city, and the region if neighbors became more committed to shared purpose.

In other word, be a YIMBY, not a NIMBY.

Say, “Yes In My Back Yard,” yet demand better design, more inclusive economic development, expect good transportation, public parking, sidewalks and open public spaces.

We have seen this over and over.

Here is a design by David Turner in Konstanz, Germany, which Niccolo Casewit likes.

Opponents are unwilling to compromise even when zoning is a use-by-right and a vested interest with specific form-based design ordinances in place

At the same time, developers and their architects are reluctant to offer a choice of design solutions for fear of losing control of the project, and sometimes due to the“market-driven limits on the kind of design fees needed for exploratory conceptual design

Time is money, so the quality of design often suffers in the end when neighborhood disputes like in West Highland become a lawsuit.

Wasted time becomes cost overruns and last minute value-engineering.

Perhaps there is a way to participate as concerned citizens without polarizing people against each other, exaggerating community concerns, limiting discussion, and demonizing developers from the outset of the first submitted plans.

On the other hand developers could step back and develop relationships in order to see the people already living in and surrounding their projects as the developer’s greatest assets.

The people are future customers, buyers, tenants, or employees, consultants — even neighbors!

In the West Highland case, a wait-and-see position has now become obligatory because it is now in the hands of a single judge.

If a five-year zoning process can’t get the zoning right, l why would anyone expect a lone judge to override the city administration and divest property rights from individual land owners?

This is how No High Rises in Highlands/No High Rises in West Highland, represents RedPeak’s proposed apartment community.

Design should serve to prevent legal processes like this.

A rendering of the proposed RedPeak building on Lowell.

Indeed, zoning is NOT design — the “innovative” and “simplified” form-based codes — if taken too literally, seems to be producing buildings which are numb to ground and roof zones and are built to maximize an envelope with few transitions.

Everything is too boxy. The NIMBY’s greatest fear!

Opportunities for design incentives have been missed.
From my perspective, the city might want to stay with a higher density zone district but approve a special overlay which addresses the “form” issues.

Going to six stories on the so-called RedPeak parcels, would actually give the designer a a chance to “sculpt” the buildings.

While I think the legal outcome is still unclear, maybe there’s still a chance for a happy ending for all.

I repeat: Design is a tool, not a thing.

Design can be understood as a form of mediation, possibly even serving as a dispute resolution.

Good building form is not an envelope.

The building “massing” requires some stepping down from taller built elements. The idea of an envelope is in many ways a collapsed notion when the only market intention is to maximize and occupy the entire allowable footprint.

This is why absolute height really needs to be a negotiation and leeway is so important to design.

The city and the public needs to know that form-based zoning is not alone a contextual design already optimized.

Developers should not short-shrift the design into boxy boxes piled on boxes no matter how fancy the skin looks.

On the other hand forcing shapes to be less than functional will also not help sale-ability or construct-ability. Contextual form should not be for its own sake, but can better reflect the site context and history — if we try as communities to get involved, take ownership and negotiate in good faith with the big picture in mind.

Developers should know that just because you can do the max, it does not mean you should do it.

Niccolo Casewit, AIA. is a Colorado native, an architect and urban planner. Casewit’s professional focus has been on sustainable design, historic preservation, adaptive re-use, urban infill in transit-oriented districts

As an activist and citizen architect, Casewit has furthered the integration of participatory design for existing urban neighborhoods. He currently lives in the Barnum Park neighborhood in West Denver.

Niccolo can be reached by email at Niccolo@EnvironmentalProductions.com

Interested in buying a home in West Highland? Please visit COhomefinder.com.

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at  JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

• Bikes, pedestrians priority for Councilwomen Shepherd, Ortega.
• Planners needed to focus on bike and pedestrian infrastructure.
• Links to “complete streets” advocates in this post.

by Susan Shepherd and Debbie Ortega

Guest Column

As a society, our public spaces are a reflection of who we are.

Debbie Ortega

Susan Shepherd

They tell the story of how we care for our most vulnerable and demonstrate the value we place on the experiences that occur while walking

along our streets or sipping

a cup of coffee on a sidewalk café.

The places that we share with each other can be great and they can be inspiring, but these same opportunities for greatness can also be

lost when our public places are designed primarily for cars and not people.

The national “complete streets” movement seeks to address this very problem and advocates that streets be designed for the safety of all users — pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and motorists, which becomes especially important as more and more people are walking and biking to their destinations.

As members of the Denver City Council, we take this responsibility very seriously, a fact demonstrated by our recent vote to nominate bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure one of our top budget priorities for 2014.

With this decision, we are thinking about the diverse residents and visitors to the Mile High City: the student who is putting himself through school by serving food at a local restaurant, wants to live in the city, and could afford it if he gave up his car, but feels alternative transportation options are too limited to make that choice.

We also consider the older widow who has sold her home of many years because she could no longer care for it and also has chosen to give up her car. She would love to continue living in the neighborhood where she raised her family, and where she has friends. But are there affordable housing options that are close to transit? Is the sidewalk network consistent enough for her to get around safely?

As a city, we need to remember that 40 percent of people do not drive, and the design of our streets should represent that. Those 40 percent are children, seniors, the disabled, people who can’t afford a car, and baby boomers and Millenials who are choosing not to own one.

Recently, with the rousing encouragement of the biking community, the Public Works Department changed direction and decided to pilot a protected bike lane along 15th Street. We hope to see more such pilot projects and that those projects become permanent.

In our role as council members, we’ll be doing our part to encourage an accelerated implementation of Denver’s bike and pedestrian plan, Denver Moves.

Right now, only about five percent of the plan is implemented each year; we’d like to see that increase to at least 10 percent next year, with more in subsequent years. In order to accomplish that goal, it is essential that we hire more planners who focus solely on designing pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

We also hope to soon see an update to Denver’s right-of-way regulations so they prioritize pedestrian and bike uses above cars. This includes updating the permitting process for bicycle parking infrastructure. Also, when Denver hires a new chief traffic engineer, we will encourage Mayor Michael Hancock and the manager of Public Works, Jose Cornejo, to hire an experienced complete streets champion.

We’ve heard from so many parents, students, older adults, health officials, land-use experts, neighborhood activists and businesses who want to see safer, more accessible options for pedestrians, cyclists and users of alternative transportation.

We are listening!

There are also many organizations working in Denver to make your streets the places you love to be and safe for all users.

Although by no means an exhaustive list, we encourage you to connect with WalkDenver, BikeDenver, the Transit Alliance, Congress for the New Urbanism Colorado, Denver B-Cycle, and the many other local complete streets advocates.

We need you to keep speaking for your streets, connecting with your city council representatives, your mayor, and others. Denver is ripe for this movement to complete our streets and move forward in designing them for people. You have a council that supports you; together we can take hold of this opportunity for greatness.

Susan Shepherd and Debbie Ortega are members of the Denver City Council.

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at  JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

• Bank of America invests $1 million to Mile High Community Loan Fund.
• MHCLF’s assets now are at $12.7 million.
• MHCLF has provided more than 5,000 affordable housing units

Bank of America has made a $1 million investment to the Mile High Community Loan Fund, allowing the nonprofit group to expand its affordable housing and its lending capacity for community facilities.

The Bank of America investment increases MHCLF’s total assets to $12.7 million and comes on the heels of record loan volume of nearly $7 million in 2012. This is the first investment MHCLF has received from Bank of America, the nation’s largest lender to Community Development Financial Institutions.

MHCLF’s loans to affordable housing developers and other non-profit facilities developers fill financing gaps that hamper project development.

The predevelopment, acquisition, construction, and mini-perm loans contributed to the development and preservation of 787 affordable rental units and nearly 27,000 square feet of community facility space in 2012.

MHCLF relies on bank investments such as Bank of America to provide the capital for developers’ gap financing needs.

The Bank of America investment will help finance affordable multi-family rental property developments for seniors, veterans and low-income households throughout the Denver metropolitan area.

With the addition of Bank of America, MHCLF now has 17 investors including eight banks, four municipalities, Colorado Housing and Finance Authority and several foundations.

“The Bank of America investment comes at a critical time for MHCLF and will help us finance hundreds of additional affordable housing units in the community,” said Jeff Seifried, Executive Director of Mile High Community Loan Fund.

“The (Bank of America) support enhances MHCLF’s capacity to expand our impact throughout the Denver metropolitan area and attract additional investments in our Fund.”

Bank of America invests capital to CDFIs that provide services to underserved communities, in the form of long-term, low interest rate Program Related Investments PRIs are used to increase the financial capacity of Community Development Loan Funds such as MHCLF, and is part of Bank of America’s community development commitment to increase lending and investing in local communities with an emphasis on affordable housing opportunities in underserved areas.

“As the nation’s largest CDFI lender with more than $1 billion invested into 244 CDFIs across all 50 states, Bank of America recognizes the critical role community loan funds like MHCLF play in revitalizing Colorado’s economy,” said Dan Letendre, Managing Director, Community Development Bank Executive, Bank of America.

“We look forward to working with MHCLF to make quality affordable housing available to working families.”

Since its inception in 1999, MHCLF has originated over $45 million in community development loans and helped develop and preserve over 5,000 affordable housing units for veterans, seniors, low-income and formerly homeless individuals and families.

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at  JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

• Denver releases comprehensive retail report.
• Old University of Colorado hospital site has retail potential.
• Landing a Costco or SuperTarget could help stop sales tax “leakage”

Denver believes it is one step closer to establishing itself as an “exceptional retail city,” even though it has yet to land a Costco.

The city today released a comprehensive study of Denver’s retail strengths, weaknesses and opportunities to become a nationally recognized shopping destination.

Adam and Jon Schlegel recently announced their baby, Snooze, an A.M. eatery, will becoming to the renovated Denver Union Station. Photo Credit: Ellen Jaskol.

The Denver Retail Conditions and Opportunities Study, prepared by retail consultant Economic & Planning Systems, contains a detailed analysis of Denver’s retail reality as well as strategic recommendations for future growth.

“Denver has so many incredible assets, particularly in new urban housing, a booming business climate, and a strong array of entertainment options and dining experiences,” said Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock.

“But in several critical ways, our retail environment has not kept up with the growth in Denver,” Hancock continued. “While we know the city offers a number of fantastic venues and stores for our neighbors and visitors to check out, this study demonstrates we have great capacity to support many more. That is why we will use this study as a roadmap to realize our existing potential to become a truly landmark retail city.”

The presentation of the study on Wednesday to the Denver City Council’s Business, Workforce and Sustainability Committee marks a major milestone in Hancock’s commitment to strengthen Denver’s retail economy. A 12-member, public/private Denver Retail Strategic Advisory Council, formed a year ago, oversaw the study’s development and will provide insights and advice for the creation of a formal strategic plan for retail development in the city, expected later this year.

“The study highlights the opportunities we have in our blossoming downtown, Cherry Creek and Northfield retail areas,” said Paul Washington, director of Denver’s Office of Economic Development.

“Moreover though, the research also shows that Denver faces significant challenges in its quest for retail strength,” Washington added.

“The study, and my discussion with the DRSAC members, highlights the importance of playing to our strengths – we will focus on the key retail locations and neighborhood districts to increase more unique, urban, destination retail. Retail today is about the experience, as much as the actual item purchased.”

The study lists Denver’s strengths in the retail sector overall to include its sales of “convenience goods,” including groceries, health and personal care products, and liquor stores, with inflows from business travelers, visitors, and non-city residents. Denver also does extremely well in its eating and drinking establishments, with a number of chef-driven restaurants and the demand of convention and business travelers.

The study also acknowledges Denver’s lack of general-merchandise retailers, such as Super Target and Costco, as one factor that contributes to what is being called the “leakage” of sales tax revenue out of the city and into surrounding areas.

This weakness in general-merchandise means that 65 percent of what city residents spend at warehouse or “big box” stores goes outside the city, in many cases to store locations just beyond Denver’s borders, the study reported.

City residents also leave Denver to shop for home improvement, garden supplies, furniture, hobby, and music and books—with about 40 percent of their expenditures in these categories adding to the troubling rate of “leakage.”

The study highlighted a number of opportunities for growth and retail redevelopment within Denver—including the former University Hospital site at Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, the University Hills Plaza, around the Interstate 70 and Brighton Boulevard interchange, and Sun Valley (the latter being around Sports Authority Field and an example of the transit-oriented opportunities). The study also gave high marks to Denver’s emerging neighborhood business districts such as East Colfax, River North, and along South Broadway from 6th Avenue to Alameda.

And although limited, there are unused large-format retail sites in Denver, the study noted, including Alameda Square, Federal Bouevard Evans Avenue and Evans and Monaco (the latter two being former K-Mart sites).

These findings will help Denver’s OED continue to work closely with DRSAC to address the city’s weaknesses and build a stronger approach for both recruiting retail as well as redeveloping underused parcels and better serving underserved areas, Washington said.

“Shopping center development, and shopping in general, has changed dramatically in just two decades,” Washington said. “OED is developing a toolkit of policies, programs and incentives for approaching retailers as well as GIS mapping technologies to enhance the city’s retail development projects. Our pressures come from growth in online shopping and a lack of ready-inventory of physical spaces to develop in the way that today’s shoppers want. This plan will help Denver adapt to this reality.”

To read the report, please visit City and County of Denver, OED.

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at  JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

• New breed of buyers recovering from hard times.
• Hope and help is there for those who lost homes during Great Recession.
• Realtors need to educate themselves how to help formerly distressed consumers.

By Dan Polimino

Special to InsideRealEstateNews.com

Attention sellers, builders, lenders and oh, yes, real estate agents. Did you know that there is a new breed of buyers out there wanting to purchase a home?

We have never seen these people before in the real estate market, because they never really existed until four or five years ago. This country has never seen a real estate crash like we had over the last four or five years, and that single event created a new demographic that did not previously exist.

Dan Polimino

These people may had good jobs, made good money, and had good credit but got caught losing their jobs as a result of the real estate crash. In turn, they may have lost their houses to foreclosures or short sales.

Today, these people may be back on their feet or just getting re-established. They may have good jobs now, make great income, but are in the waiting game with regards to their credit and when they will qualify again to buy a home.

So what can you do to help this new breed of buyers realize their dream of home ownership again?

Requirements of when they will qualify again differ greatly from Fannie Mae to Freddie Mac to FHA to conventional.

It’s been a general rule and still is today that someone who went through a foreclosure must wait seven years before becoming qualified for another home loan. If that buyer is in year one or year two, real estate agents should reach out to and help him or her establish a strategy to be ready in five or six years to purchase again. That could mean putting the buyer in touch with someone that has an expertise in credit restoration (this is a new profession as a result of this new breed of buyers). It could also mean counseling the buyer on the down payment requirements that are needed in the future, as well as and having this buyer establish a savings account for that down payment.

For those who are just one or two years away from qualifying, a real estate agent could be a valuable tool to let them know which lending products are out there that could help them get back into a house right away. For example, many lenders are now offering a 3 percent down payment on a conventional loan for qualified buyers. This can avoid upfront mortgage insurance that is required with other products like FHA. The monthly mortgage insurance with this conventional loan is much lower than FHA, and the monthly insurance falls off when the buyer reaches 20 percent equity in their home. The monthly mortgage insurance currently being offered with FHA never falls off the loan no matter how much equity you achieve.

Short sales are a bit different. The buyers who have gone through a short sale are eligible to buy again anywhere between two to three years depending on the lending product. One solution for these buyers who want to get into a house right away and not wait for three years may be to structure a “seller carry option”. Having a seller carry the mortgage until these people can qualify is becoming more and more popular these days. Don’t disregard this option; you’ll see a lot more of this in the weeks and months to come.

Those are just a few of the options open to this demographic of buyers.

I think people forget that our friends, neighbors and colleagues who went through foreclosures and short sales are for most part good people. Many just got caught in a bad spot at the wrong time. I think it is incumbent on us as Realtors to be educated and ready to help them own a home again if they so choose.

Dan Polimino is a Broker/Owner with the Colorado Dream House Team, Keller Williams Realty DTC. Contact Dan at dan@coloradodreamhouse.com, or coloradodreamhouse.com

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at  JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.