Breckenridge Brewery is working to resolve parking issue on the site of this landmark location, which will provide stunning views of the skyline.

Take a parking poll at the end of this blog

Parking – or the lack of it – took center-stage at a neighborhood meeting this week concerning what will be the largest restaurant in the trendy LoHi neighborhood – the latest Breckenridge Brewery restaurant, on the site of the former Amato’s garden decor center, a mainstay of the neighborhood for 88 years.

Close to 50 people attended the Highland United Neighborhs Inc. meeting, which stretched more than three hours last Tuesday to discuss the restaurant, schedule to open in late February in a renovated building, which will include an addition and two patios, including a roof-top deck.

Breckenridge Ale bought the property on April 1 for $2.1 million, according to public records. It will be known as the Ale House at Amato’s, according to Breckenridge Brewery’s liquor license application.

Parking sparks sides

“It was indeed,” a lively meeting, said Kristin Morley, president of HUNI. “It was nothing unexpected. Anything as large as a project like this is going to attract attention.”

The restaurant will run along 16th Street, just across Central Street from the 16th Street pedestrian bridge, which links Lohi to LoDo.

A number of issues were discussed, but the hottest topic was parking. Morley noted that parking already is tight in the neighborhood, and with more businesses, restaurants and residential on the drawing board for the area, that is a problem that is not going to go away.

This notice of the liquor license application is posted on the iron fence surrounding Amato's at 16th and Central streets.

She said that some people at the meeting were concerned how Breckenridge Brewery did its filings, which she said straddle the old and new zoning rules. The site had been zoned PRV, for Platte River Valley zoning, but under the recently enacted zoning law is now zoned C-MX-5, which is an “urban center,” designation.

No brewery opposition present

“There were two sides, but no one (at the meeting) was in opposition to Amato’s/Breckenridge Brewery,” Morley said. “The biggest thing was parking.”

The restaurant owners and representatives said they had reserved 60 nearby parking spaces for five years, with an option to lease them for another five years. However, the owners do not want a permanent parking requirement attached to its liquor license, because if they ever lost their parking spaces, they would lose their ability to serve liquor.

The HUNI board decided to attach a parking requirement to what is called a Good Neighbor Agreement, instead of the liquor license. The GNA is still being drafted by former board member Todd Cole, who said he will have the details worked out before the liquor license hearing on Sept. 17.

“We don’t have the power to veto a liquor license,” Morley said. “But if both sides sign the Good Neighbor Agreement, it does show the temperature of the neighborhood.” If the brewery does not sign the GNA, that would be submitted at the liquor licence hearing.

 Cole, a former HUNI board member and chair of the GNA committee, said he is not publicly stating his thoughts about the new restaurant, because he wants to remain objective when dealing with HUNI. He noted that he neither votes nor makes recommendations to the board, in an effort to be as fair as possible.

“The meeting did get pretty contentious on both sides,” Cole said. And he noted that while no one opposed the restaurant at the meeting, he received e-mails and phone calls from people in the neighborhood who do oppose it. “There are some people who are concerned about the long-term impact of a restaurant of this size on the neighborhood,” Cole said. “But I would like to emphasize, if people want their voices to be heard, they need to show up at meetings,” when issues are being discussed.

Each side scored

One person who attended the meeting, and spoke on the condition that she not be identified, was impressed by the arguments on both side.

“A lot of times you go to these type of meetings and you have your crackpots on one side, and your people on the other side who are trying to be rational and reasonable,” she said. “At this meeting, I found myself nodding my head in agreement when one person spoke and then when someone took the other side, I could see it from their perspective, too. I thought it was interesting that both sides made a lot of sense.

Cole does thinks it it unfortunate that the city isn’t requiring parking under the C-MX-5 zoning.

“The one thing I will say is that I think it is a shame that the new zoning did not require any parking spaces,” Cole said. “It is a shame that it was left up to the neighborhood to have this as a concession.”

Cole said he believes the restaurant will have seating for around 380, which he believes will make it the largest restaurant so far in LoHi.

Cole said he will include a specific number of parking spaces needed within a reasonable walk of the restaurant.

Good neighbor requires more than parking

Other parts of the GNA will deal with hours when the patio can be open; what time exterior speakers need to be turned off so as not to disturb nearby residents; guarantees that the restaurant will clean up any cigarette butts, trash from patrons and graffiti; and restrictions on when they can dump beer bottles.

“I used to live in a loft next to Rock Island (a former downtown nightclub), and it was loud and obnoxious when they dumped beer bottles at 4 a.m.,” Cole said. “I could just imagine what it would be like if you had a baby, and you weren’t getting much sleep anyway.”

He said the GNA probably will prohibit bottles being dumped between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.

“Female-friendly” menu, view to die for

Dan Strammiello, a project manager for the restaurant, said it will have a total of 7,852 square feet, including the existing building and an addition.

He said it is going to be a “restaurant-bar,” as opposed to a “bar-restaurant.”

“It’s going to be 65 percent food, and 35 percent liquor,” Strammiello said. “They’re not going to brew beer there. It will not be modeled after the Breckenridge Brewery downtown or along Kalamath. It will be modeled after the Breckenridge Brewery in Grand Junction.”

He said the restaurant will feature a “very female-friendly menu. When you go to most brewpub-type places, the food is mostly burgers and brats. This restaurant will offer more salads and fish dishes. And if they are sitting on the patio, they can look at the downtown skyline.”

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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The report showed 17,087 homes in some stage of foreclosure, ranging from the initial notice to the REO, or Real Estate Owned, when the bank acquires the home at a public trustee foreclosure auction. In the Denver area, 1.62 percent of the homes were in some stage of foreclosure, compared with 1.28 percent for the nation. One out of every 62 households was in some stage of foreclosure, while the national average was one out of 78. In the first six months of the year, the foreclosure rate rose by 9.3 in the Denver area, compared with an 8.26 percent for the nation.

Greeley’s foreclosure rate worse than Denver’s

Greeley was No. 29, with 2,334 foreclosures, a foreclosure rate of 2.58 percent, and one out of every 40 households in some stage of foreclosure. It matched the year-over-year percentage change of the nation as a whole, at 8.26%

The report also ranked Colorado Springs as No. 53 and Boulder at 136.

Across the country, 154 of the 206 MSAs with a population of at least 200,000, posted year-over-year increase in foreclosure activity, according to RealtyTrac. Four states — Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona — accounted for all top 20 metro foreclosure rates. Florida led the way, with nine of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates, followed by California with eight, Nevada with two and Arizona with one.

Recovery fragile

“While we’re seeing early signs that foreclosure activity may have peaked in some of the hardest-hit markets, foreclosures continued to rise in three-quarters of the nation’s metropolitan areas in the first half of the year,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The fragile stability achieved in many local housing markets hinges on improvements in the underlying economy, specifically job growth. If unemployment remains persistently high and foreclosure prevention efforts only delay the inevitable, then we could continue to see increased foreclosure activity and a corresponding weakness in home prices in many metro areas.”

Top metro foreclosure rates

Las Vegas continued to post the nation’s highest metro foreclosure rate in the first half of the year, with 6.60 percent of its housing units (one in 15) receiving a foreclosure filing — more than five times the national average. A total of 53,525 Las Vegas properties received a foreclosure filing during the six-month period, a decrease of nearly 15 percent from the previous six months and a decrease of nearly 9 percent from the first half of 2009.

Foreclosure activity in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., metro area decreased nearly 22 percent from the previous six months and was down nearly 30 percent from the first half of 2009, but the metro area still documented the nation’s second highest metro foreclosure rate — 4.98 percent of its housing units (one in 20) received a foreclosure filing during the six-month period. Other Florida cities in the top 10 were Orlando-Kissimmee at No. 8 (4.15 percent of housing units) and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach at No. 10 (3.89 percent).

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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The online workshop will help homeowners understand their nine best options when faced with an unaffordable mortgage. Homeowners will also get details on the new government Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program, or HAFA, which offers those eligible a $3,000 moving allowance after their home is sold.

Fix can help you fix foreclosure fears

“We often find that homeowners in a difficult financial situation will hesitate to reach out to a professional for help and end up losing their home and ruining their credit,” Fix said. “I believe we can help more homeowners avoid foreclosure, and that is very gratifying.”

The latest numbers on mortgage delinquency show that approximately one in every seven mortgages is in some stage of delinquency, nationwide. While they may not be facing immediate foreclosure, these homeowners are more at risk of foreclosure the longer they wait to do something about their missed payments. Even if a homeowner is two or three months away from losing their home,  there is hope.

Nine options

The nine options that will be covered during the workshop are:

1. Reinstatement of your loan. Homeowners have the right to reinstate the loan by bringing the payments current.

2. Forbearance of the loan. The lender may consider partial payments to catch up.

3. Sell the property. You may have equity.

4. Rent the property.

5. Refinance the property.

6. Mortgage modification

7. Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure

8. Bankruptcy

9. Short Sale. This could allow you to sell your home for less than what you owe, and the bank may forgive the rest of your debt. A Short Sale can save your credit.

“Many homeowners may have bought or refinanced at the peak of the real estate market and were able at that time to meet their commitments,” says O’Connor. “But, so many families have had their finances turned upside down by this economy that they’re now in trouble. This workshop will help them find a way out.”

The free workshop is from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will utilize gotomeeting.com. To RSVP, and get more information on the event, call Stephanie Fix at (303) 885-4693, or email her at: sfix@remax.net.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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Affordable housing built with low-income housing tax credits not only helps people in need, but pumps millions of dollars into the Denver-area economy and creates hundreds of jobs, according to a study released today in Denver.

Elliot Eisenberg, senior economist at the National Association of Home Builders, presented the study results to about 70 public policy makers and other housing advocates at a breakfast today hosted by the Urban Land Conservancy and the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver.

Economic impact bigger than most imagine

“I think most people would be surprised by the size of the economic impact,” Eisenberg said. At one point, he showed a slide of the economic impact over a 10-year period of 615 units constructed, which is the typical number of units constructed every six years in the Denver area, it showed that the total impact to the economy topped $200 million. “I think that even surprised people in the audience, who are in the business,” Eisenberg said. “It even surprised me. I knew it was a big number, but I didn’t know it was going to be that big.”

He said there are many people who think of people living in subsidized rentals as not contributing anything to the economy. “After all, they don’t have much money, or they wouldn’t be living in tax-credit properties,” Eisenberg said. “The flip side is that they spend almost every dollar that they earn. They find themselves in this pickle because they don’t have much income, and most of it goes for food and services, health-care, educating their kids and so on. For the city, that creates a tremendous source of tax revenues. And all of their money is spent locally.”

Tax-credit financing is by far the biggest financing for affordable housing in the country. It also makes a lot of economic sense, he said, because it does not involve Uncle Sam writing a check to fund them, but gives a dollar-for-dollar write-off, which has no initial outlay of funding.

Economy challenges tax credit financing

“Tax credits, in the short-run, are having a harder time,” Eisenberg said. “That’s because you have to sell the tax-credit instruments, and financial institutions that traditionally buy them, don’t need them because they don’t have the profits to offset like they did in the past. So in the past, while they might sell for 80 cents or 90 cents or 95 cents on the dollar, they now might sell for 60 cents on the dollar because they are less valuable to financial institutions. But that’s a short-term situation that will work itself out.”

Eisenberg’s study looks at the impact of building new tax-credit financed apartments in a 10-county Denver Metropolitan Statistical Area , primarily those along transit corridors. The are includes Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Jefferson, Douglas, Broomfield, Elbert, Park, Clear Creek, and Gilpin counties.

Economic impact generates millions of dollars

Eisenberg identified the first year, direct and indirect, local economic impacts as $57.6 million in local income, $5 million in taxes and other revenue for local governments, and 732 local jobs. These impacts represent income and jobs for residents in the study area, and taxes (and other sources of revenue, including permit fees) for all local jurisdictions in the area.

Eisenberg estimated the annually recurring economic impact beyond the first year at $16.7 million in local income, $2.3 million in taxes and other revenue for local governments, and 192 local jobs. These impacts are the result of the new apartments being occupied and residents paying taxes and otherwise participating in the local economy year after year. It also includes the effect of increased property taxes.

“Low-Income Housing Tax Credits are an important resource for creating affordable housing in the United States,” said Eisenberg. “As the study indicates, this type of housing not only provides enormous benefit to the residents, but it is an ongoing economic stimulus in terms of jobs and local income to the surrounding community as well.”

Affordable housing meets FasTracks

There will be more opportunities for affordable housing along FasTracks, the $6.5 billion, 119-mile light rail and rapid bus transit system that voters approved.  This will allow transit-oriented developments to ultimately be built around many of the planned 60 stations. Indeed, 92 percent of the apartments in the study data were taken from developments within half mile of light rail or a quarter-mile mile of rapid bus transit.

“The focus on development around transit stops is especially important,” said Aaron Miripol, president and CEO of ULC. “The demand for affordable housing around transit stops will continue to grow, and understanding the economic impact of building LIHTC housing near transit is critical for policy makers, housing advocates and other community leaders.”

Still, is it imperative that there is an affordable housing component at each transit-oriented development?

Don’t isolate affordable housing to bad parts of town

“I think what is important for affordable housing is to generally have it in broad, geographic locations,” Eisenberg said. “You do not want to consign low-cost housing just to the bad parts of town. That’s not a good thing. You want to focus on having healthy, happy people in affordable housing. The other thing to consider is that people tend to live in affordable housing for only one point in their lives. Maybe someone had some unlucky breaks. Maybe they lost their job and their home. Maybe they had an unexpected child. Maybe they had a health problem. In many cases, the person or the family is in affordable housing for a while, gets back on their feet and moves on.”

Retail not the only answer for TODs

Some communities, however, would like transit-oriented developments to mostly contain retail, as municipalities in Colorado depend so heavily on sales tax revenues to fund their operations. But Ismael Guerrero, the executive director of the Denver Housing Authority, earlier told InsideRealEstateNews that RTD directly benefits from subsidized housing at TODs, because people with lower-incomes are less likely to have cars than the general population, and thus will take public transportation on a regular basis. “They will ride the trains,” Guerro said. “And they are more likely to pay the retail rate for tickets, rather than buy monthly passes, which helps RTD.”

Affordable housing not over-run with kids

Another startling fact from Eisenberg’s study is how many kids per household live in subsidized housing. “A lot of people have this mistaken belief, that a lot of us think is true, is that we think, “Oh my gosh, each unit must have five kids living there,” Eisenberg said.  Statistically,  there is an average of about one child living in every two units in the Denver area. “So there is about a half-of-kid in each unit,” on average, he said. ”So despite what people think, subsidized units are not burdensome to school districts. They are not causing schools to be over-crowded.”

Roger Reinhardt, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, praised the study.

“Particularly as the economy continues to struggle, this study couldn’t be more timely,”Reinhardt said. “Dr. Eisenberg’s study makes clear the vital role of the housing industry in generating local income and jobs and local government revenue. Creating vibrant communities along transit corridors with a mix of housing types, including affordable housing, will benefit the local economy as well as the residents who will live, work and recreate within the community while having transit access to the broader metro area.”

History of tax credits

NAHB developed the model to estimate the economic impact of home building in 1996. The model has been used to estimate the impact of construction in more than 600 projects, local jurisdictions, metropolitan areas, non-metropolitan counties, and states across the country.

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit program was created by Congress in 1986 as part of the federal Tax Reform Act. It is designed to incentivize private sector investment in affordable housing construction and rehabilitation. In return for the equity received through the sale of the housing tax credits, developers agree to income and rent restrictions on the units being constructed or preserved, with the units targeted to residents who earn 60 percent of the Area Median Income or less. Investors, in turn, receives a dollar-for-dollar credit against federal income tax liability, taken over a 10-year period. All states have passed laws that require LIHTC units to remain affordable for 30 or more years.

Industry	Income	Business Impact	Wages,salaries	Wages per full-time job	Jobs supported
Construction	$27.2 million	$7.01 million	$20.2 million	$60,000	337
Manufacturing	$4,000	$300	$3,200	$62,000	0
Transportation	$63,200	$8,600	$54,600	$51,000	1
Communications	$403,700	$123,400	$280,300	$91,000	3
Utilities	$120,500	$46,700	$73,800	$102,000	1
Trade	$3.94 million	$721,200	$3.2 million	$44,000	73
Finance, insurance	$874,300	$71,200	$803,100	$101,000	8
Real estate	$1.3 million	$1.1 million	$153,900	$62,00	2
Personal & repair	$25,900	$104,000	$171,900	$40,000	4
Building services	$154,000	$30,600	$123,400	$40,000	3
Business services	$3.8 million	$1.1 million	$2.7 million	$70,000	38
Eating, drinking places	$129,800	$40,600	$90,300	$40,000	2
Auto repair	$130,900	$40,600	$90,300	$40,000	2
Entertainment	$22,500	$4,600	$17,900	$55,000	0
Health, Education, Social Services	$5,100	$1,400	43,700	$46,000	0
Local government	$38,600	$0	$38,600	$65,000	1
Other	$590,800	$212,800	$378,000	$54,000	77
Total	$39.1 million	$10.7 million	$28.4 million	$58,000	486

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-9456865

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Colorado foreclosure activity in May took a breather in May.

Colorado’s foreclosure rate was No. 12 in the nation last month, with foreclosure activity falling 24.1 percent from April and 0.68 percent from May 2009, shows a report by RealtyTrac, a company based in Irvine, Calif., which tracks and markets foreclosure data.

Colorado showed a much bigger drop than the national average, which overall booked a 3.3 percent drop from April and showed a 0.45 percent increase from May.

The last time this year that Colorado was ranked No. 12 was in January. In February it had the 11th highest foreclosure rate in the nation and it was No. 10 in March and April, according to RealtyTrac.

In Colorado, one out of every 444 households was in some stage of foreclosure in May, compared with the national average of one out of every 400 households. There were a total of 4,843 homes in some stage of foreclosure last month, which represents about 1.5 percent of the 322,920 homes nationwide in some state of foreclosure, ranging from the initial notice to REO – Real Estate Owned, which is when the bank takes the home back following the foreclosure sale.

California, Arizona and Florida suffering much more

“The trends here more or less reflect what we’re seeing in Colorado,” said Ryan McMaken, of the Colorado Division of Housing, which tracks foreclosure activity in the Denver area and the state, using a different methodology than RealtyTrac.

“The preliminary state data for May indicates that May foreclosure totals in filings are down compared to last month, and compared to May of last year, McMaken said. “Completed foreclosures will likely prove to be generally flat compared with May of last year.”

He said that Colorado “more often that not,” has been below the national foreclosure rate in recent months. He noted that the Mortgage Bankers Association data, for example, has been showing Colorado in the bottom half of the states for new foreclosure activity.

“It’s noteworthy that the foreclosure rates in California, Arizona and Florida, are more than twice as bad as the foreclosure rate in Colorado, so Colorado certainly shouldn’t be lumped in with these states anymore when it comes to foreclosure activity,” McMaken said.

On a national basis, May “continued and confirmed” a trend of the leveling off of foreclosure activity as “lenders work through the backlog of distressed properties that have built up over the past 20 months,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Defaults and scheduled auctions combined increased by 28 percent from 2007 to 2008 and another 32 percent from 2008 to 2009 — creating a build-up of delayed bank repossessions. Lenders appear to be ramping up the pace of completing those forestalled foreclosures even while the inflow of delinquencies into the foreclosure process has slowed.”

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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According to a report released Thursday by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs’ Division of Housing, the number of days on the market for single-family rentals and similar properties fell from 53 days during the first quarter of 2009 to 45 days in this year’s the first quarter Properties were also on the market for fewer days during the first quarter of this year as compared to the fourth quarter of last year when properties were on the market for almost 54 days.

“Living in a single-family home continues to be popular, but purchasing one isn’t an option for as many households in the current climate,” said Gordon Von Stroh, professor of business at the University of Denver, and the report’s author. “So, more people are looking to rent, and that has brought down the vacancy rates quite a bit from their peaks above 9 percent that we saw back in 2005.”

The metro-wide fall in vacancies in single-family rentals and similar properties was led by falling vacancies in Adams County and Douglas County where, year over year, vacancy rates fell by more than once percentage point to 3.7 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Vacancy rates also fell in Arapahoe and Denver Counties. Jefferson County and Boulder/Broomfield area reported slight increases.

Vacancy rates for all counties surveyed were: Adams, 3.7 percent; Arapahoe, 2.6 percent; Boulder/Broomfield, 2.3 percent; Denver, 3.0 percent; Douglas, 0.9 percent; and Jefferson, 3.9 percent.

Average rents climbed as vacancies tightened.

The average rent for single-family and similar properties rose to $1,035.56 during the first quarter, rising from 2009’s first quarter rate of $1,004.44. 2009’s first-quarter average rent is the highest average rent yet recorded for the first quarter.

“The fact that average rents continue to rise shows that renter demand for these properties remains relatively high in spite of a soft job market,” said Ryan McMaken, a spokesperson for the Colorado Division of housing. “Owners can apparently manage to raise rents a little, but uncertainty about wages and job security for renters will put some downward pressure on rents also.”

“Things have really tightened up since 2005,” when the rental vacancy stood at 9.5 percent, McMaken said. “Of course, back then part of what was going on was the frenzy buying of single-family homes, when you had easy credit and if you are renting, you are just throwing your money away. Now, people are much more prudent. In many cases, people have decided they are better off renting at this point of time,” he said. Or they don’t have the credit and job security to buy a home.

While rents are up, but landlords may not be able to continue to raise them.  Average rents for all counties were: Adams, $1,099.39; Arapahoe, $1,032.89; Boulder/Broomfield, $1,684.57; Denver, $984.52; Douglas, $1,367.76; and Jefferson, $969.50.

Rents may hit ceiling

“The demand is high enough now to raise rents,” McMaken said. “But given that a lot of people are not feeling fabulous about their job prospects, the economy may put some downward pressure on rate increases.”

Bob Alldredge, of Jericho Properties, suspects that many of the new landlords are still taking small losses on their properties, despite the increases in rents.

“The majority of the new accounts we are receiving, people are renting because they can’t sell them,” Alldredge said. “I’m guessing that a lot of them are experiencing a small negative cash flow, which is better than the alternative – a short sale or foreclosure.”

A lot of the accidental landlords want to base their rental income on the size of their mortgages, he said.

“Unfortunately, that’s not how it works,” Alldredge said. “We have to explain to them that their dollar position in the house makes no difference. It is the market that sets the price that they can rent the house.”

Rental houses are bargains

Susan Melton, of Assured Management, said that houses still remain a bargain, compared with renting apartments. She noted that apartments, overall, rent for about $1.00 per square foot, while homes in the Denver area rent for an overall price of 82 cents per square foot.

“Homes really are a bargain on a per-square-foot basis,” Melton said.

Alldredge, however, noted that most people who rent houses are not also looking to rent traditional apartments. Von Stroh has noted that many people who lose their single-family homes in foreclosure want to rent other houses in the same neighborhood, so their children don’t have to change schools.

Even though the supply of rental homes has clearly risen – although the exact amount is difficult to estimate – the demand is even stronger, driving down the vacancy rates, Alldredge said.

But he is not sure that trend will continue in the near-term.

Tax-credit impact not felt yet

“We have seen a lot of people who have moved out of rental houses – or who are planning to move out – because of the housing tax credits, which required people to put the home under contract by the end of April and close on the home by the end of June,” Alldredge said. “Those numbers weren’t reflected during the first quarter, but they will be a factor later in the year. That will result in more vacancies in May and June. But we will still have the pressure that that there is more demand than properties on the market. While no one has a crystal ball, I think we might see some flattening in the vacancy rates.”

The Colorado Statewide Vacancy and Rent Study is released each quarter by the Colorado Division of Housing. The report is available online at the Division of Housing Web site.  

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865

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Below is the article posted on Monday by Francesca Levy. She even mentions me in the piece, although I would not describe myself as a “critic.” Rather, I am messenger giving others a forum to voice their opinions. In this case, however, it was difficult finding someone supporting the conclusions of the first article.

Forbes article

“An April 5 article that ranked the Denver metro area’s real estate market as the nation’s second worst-selling elicited objection from the city’s real estate community. Some Realtors and real estate bloggers disagreed with the housing inventory numbers, provided by Zillow.com, that contributed to the rankings.

Many felt that Zillow’s numbers, which showed a 27% year-over-year increase in homes for sale on the site and an inventory of over 42,000 unsold properties, were inflated, because the site hosts multiple same-property listings, and transactions may not be recorded as quickly as they occur. This means properties could be on Zillow, but no longer on the market.

Zillow’s metric measured inventory from January 2009 to January 2010, the latest available when the article ran. Metrolist, a firm that collects and analyzes Colorado real estate data, shows a March 2010 inventory of 20,073.

Zillow.com confirmed that double counting was possible. Zillow spokeswoman Katie Curnutte says that Zillow’s numbers represent the homes for sale on the site, and that data from January will differ from any count that’s more current. She added that the company regularly takes on new partners who provide the site with listings, skewing year-over-year comparisons.

“It can be difficult to derive any assumptions about market conditions from the year-over-year numbers,” she says.

Zillow provided Forbes.com with year-over-year homes-for-sale numbers for each of the metropolitan statistical areas examined; each metro was scored by the same measures. Since Zillow has acknowledged that these numbers may have been artificially increased, Forbes.com has decided to limit the use of year-over-year homes-for-sale statistics from the data provider.

“Though Zillow’s numbers allowed us to compare the number of homes for sale across the country’s metros,” says Lucy Maher, executive editor, Forbes. “We recognize that these numbers may not have given us an accurate look at local inventories.”

In addition to the number of homes for sale on Zillow.com, used to measure inventory, the story looked at home price data from the National Association of Realtors; and sales rates from Moody’s Economy.com. The article looked at each of the country’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas with a population of more than one million.

Metrolist’s data looked at the housing market two months later. What’s more, it may not account for all foreclosures and new home sales. Still, Metrolist spokeswoman Melissa Olson says that those differences alone can’t explain why Zillow reported over twice as many homes for sale than Metrolist.

“In the Denver market, new home sales and foreclosure sales are not significant enough to make a doubling effect,” she says.

Critics including John Rebchook, who writes about local real estate in his blog InsideRealEstateNews.com, Krystal Kraft, a local Realtor who first raised her objections to the story via Twitter, and Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper also voiced their objections to Zillow’s data.

“It was hard for me to imagine we could have gotten into such a desperate environment without anybody noticing, and without me hearing about it,” says Hickenlooper. “When I first read the story I talked to brokers who said a year ago we had a six-month supply of homes and now we have a five-month supply, so we’re actually doing better.”

The National Association of Homebuilders, a lobbying group, reports that because of a lack of overbuilding in Denver during the housing boom, signs that home prices are normalizing and foreclosures falling below the national average, they anticipate that, on the whole, Denver real estate will steadily emerge from the recession.

“We don’t expect the Denver market to be either best or worst, but rather to be pretty middle of the pack, improving with a broad swath of United States housing markets,” wrote Donna Reichle, NAHB spokeswoman, in an e-mail. “Our forecast for the Denver housing market is for recovery continuing this year from the early 2009 bottom and gaining momentum through 2010 and beyond.”

Local response to article.

“I thought it was interesting,” Hickenlooper said Tuesday afternoon. “They didn’t go as far as describing the health of the Denver housing market as we might have liked or desired. But they did explain, and they were very open about, what the problem was.  I would have liked to have heard some more positive descriptions of our real estate market. But I have no complaints.”

Hickenlooper said it is difficult to measure if the first article caused any damage to the market.

“Anecdotally, you do hear about transactions that deals that didn’t close that might otherwise not have closed because of the article,” he said. By the same token, Hickenlooper said, it is difficult to know whether the second article will erase doubt from prospective buyers who were influenced by the first one. “The thing now is to put it to bed in an official way and put it behind us,” Hickenlooper said.

Peter Niederman, an owner of the Kentwood Cos., said he was pleased with the second article, ‘but I was hoping that she would go into detail about how great the Denver market is. The main thing that came out from her second article is that she realized that Zillow might double-count information and isn’t the best source of information on the local housing market. She admits it and was quick to do it, which is commendable.”

Niederman, however, said he wished she had pointed to statistics that showed the improving market. “We probably started the year with eight months of inventory, and now we’re at about five months,” Niederman said. “That is a very good place to be. Those are good numbers. I like the trend.”

Like Hickenlooper, Niederman said it is hard to quantify the impact of the first one, and the second article, for that matter. “You do hear rumblings that some deals might not have happened, or people have had second thoughts, of course,” Niederman said. ‘”If a real estate broker who may be working with a buyer who read the article, can now show him the second article, which provides some ammunition, or cannon fodder, to say this may be the best time to buy.”

Word getting out

Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., said he wants to get the word out about the second article.

“I think it is great,” Clark said. “We plan to give it wide distribution.”

He said that he was disappointed and surprised by the first article, because he had always held Forbes in high regard. “Whenever I was interviewed by Forbes in the past, it was always old-school, with the reporters calling me back to check their facts,” Clark said. “Of course, that was Forbes, the magazine, and not Forbes.com. But I would think that the same standards would apply.”

Clark said in this fast-paced information world, it may be tempting to use information from any source, without checking  its accuracy first.

“We have always been kind of suspect of Zillow, which is why we don’t use their information,” Clark said. Many Denver-area Realtors have said since the first Forbes.com article came out, that they frequently find that homes they have listed on Zillow remain there after they have been sold, giving credence to the notion that Zillow over-counts unsold homes on the market.

David Simonson, a broker with RE/MAX Professionals, said he is “excited” about the second article.  He said he has found Zillow to be “problematic” for years, and thinks using MLS statistics from Metrolist paints a much better picture of the market than Zillow does.  He said about two years ago, a  buyer almost backed out of buying a $600,000 house that had been appraised twice, because Zillow estimated its value at only $483,000.  Also, he said he has had problems with other brokers pretending on Zillow that they were listing homes in which he was representing the owners.

Somewhat surprisingly, perhaps, none of the buyers or sellers Simonson was dealing with were troubled by the first article. He said his clients shopping for expensive homes do their own extensive due diligence, while those at the lower-end find what a national publication says irrelevant.  ”I did get a few phone calls from people who were neither selling nor buying, who wanted to know how the MLS could get it so wrong,” Simonson said. “These are the people who glance at the headlines before rushing to work.  I explained to them that they got the “wrong one, wrong,” Simonson said. “I told them that Zillow is very user-friendly, but is not a good real estate-evaluation tool.  I told them the MLS is good data, with no leeway or emotion involved. It factually tells you what 20,000 Realtors in the Denver area are doing.”

Unintended benefit of first article

Larry McGee, principal of the Berkshire Group, said that the second article will not immediately reverse any damage done by the first one, such as people being spooked from buying homes or suffering buyer’s remorse.

“I do think the first article was bad,” McGee said. “I do appreciate the fact, personally, they reconciled the fact that they did have a problem. I do think they threw Zillow under the bus. I think we all know now that Zillow’s approach to listing active inventory is not very good for statistical analysis. They don’t vett the information, they don’t purge it, they get information from different sources, which  constantly changes. Zillow does serve a purpose. We probably list all of our active listings there. The problem is it is very hard for the typical broker to change the status once the home has been sold, so it languishes there for months.”

Now that Forbes.com has indicated it will not use Zillow’s year-over-year data for inventory comparisons, it should save other cities in the country suffering the problems faced in Denver, he said. “Since it looks like Forbes learned from the mistake it made in Denver, other cities probably won’t have to go through what we did,” McGee said.

But even the first article had an unintended positive consequence, McGee said.

“I think the best thing that came out of this is that a widely disparate group of people came together with no other interest than to make things right, came together,” McGee said. “Without any leadership, a sort of grassroots movement started and I was happy to have something to do with it. There is something extraordinary positive about that. That may even be more important than the article.

(To see what all of the fuss is about, please visit these blogs: Forbes writing another article on Denver,  Hick not buying Forbes’ take on Denver housing market, Forbes article criticized)

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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The $55 million Seasons of apartment community in Cherry Creek is loaded with green and luxury features.

RedPeak Properties today announced it has begun leasing the Seasons of Cherry Creek apartment, the first green apartment high-rise community of its kind in Cherry Creek. The 13-story Seasons is the first aparment community in Denver to receive  the “Built Green” designation. 

The new property is targeting a growing demographic of people who are making the decision to rent rather than own and have the burden of a mortgage. 

“The Seasons provides many of the same luxuries that the new condo developments in Denver offer, but with people in mind who would rather rent than own a luxury residence,” said Mike Zoellner, chief executive officer. Monthly rents start at $1,880 for the large units.

“We’re filling an important niche by providing the option to lease rather than own a residence with access to 24- hour concierge, a media lounge and demonstration kitchen, a large fitness and massage therapy center, a private dog park, dry cleaning valet service and more. People who want the best an apartment building can offer will find it at The Seasons,” Zoellner said.

The Seasons, within walking distance of the Cherry Creek Mall and Cherry Creek North, includes 148 new high-rise apartments which are part of a $55 million expansion of the iconic The Seasons of Cherry Creek apartment community. With the addition of the new apartments, the community now has 587 luxury apartments in three high rise towers. The property offers a variety of monthly rental rates for one-bedroom plus den, two-bedroom and three-bedroom floor plans. There are other smaller green apartment buildings in Denver, too.

First Built Green apartment community

In addition to first class amenities and services, The Seasons was the first for-rent multifamily project accepted into Built Green Colorado’s multifamily pilot program. As part of the pilot, RedPeak implemented “green” standards designed to increase energy efficiency by 15 percent.

“Our new Built Green apartments symbolize RedPeak’s environmentally responsible approach to real estate development and our commitment to creating distinctive living environments,” said Zoellner. “As the first apartment development to be accepted into Built Green Colorado’s Multi-family Pilot Program, this building symbolizes the great things that happen when people harness their collective inspiration, ingenuity and humanity to achieve a singular goal: to provide a healthy and sustainable living experience to the people who call us ‘home.’” The Seasons’ green features and apartment amenities include: 100% smoke-free living;  use  of locally manufactured and recycled sustainable materials; used  water-based, low-VOC paints and Shaw recyclable carpeting in all social spaces; extensive use of natural light and photocell switches; generous use of sustainable Travertine and porcelain tile; chemical-free mineral filtration pool system; full recycling with separate trash chutes on each floor; Energy Star appliances; upgraded energy-efficient exterior windows and doors; programmable thermostats;  dual flush toilets and low-flow fixtures; large, efficient  floor plans; floor-to-ceiling windows; hardwood flooring; upgraded insulated window treatments; slab granite countertops in kitchens and baths; custom cabinetry; soaking tubs; frameless shower doors; large walk-in closets; reserved garage parking; gas fireplaces; individual washer & dryer; private balcony with gas grill; demonstration kitchen; media lounge; private wine cellars; concierge services; bike maintenance and storage facility; Denver B-cycle Bike Sharing Program location;

 Large floor plans

The Seasons expansion includes large floor plans. One-bedroom plus den floor plans range from 945 square feet to 1,195 square feet; two-bedroom floor plans range from 1,282 square feet to 1,512 square feet; and three-bedroom floor plans range from 1,652 square feet to 1,811 square feet. Rental rates range from $1,880 to $3,850 per month. Residents will also enjoy full access to the existing amenities at The Seasons of Cherry Creek, including its 10,000-square-foot private health club, complimentary yoga and Pilates classes, massage therapy and personal training services and private dog park. In addition, the site was selected as a Denver B-cycle Bike Sharing Program location.

All apartments are available for immediate move-in. Currently, all new leases are eligible for $2,400 in savings, representing a discount of $200 per month.

“We are proud to offer an environmentally friendly luxury rental option in Cherry Creek, a neighborhood epitomized by extremely high housing costs and very few rental options,” said Zoellner. “Our brand-new Built Green apartments provide new opportunities for Denverites to lead the ultimate urban lifestyle in one of Denver’s most prestigious – and walkable ­ neighborhoods with the amenities and finishes typically found in for-purchase housing.”

Fentress the architect

The Seasons expansion was designed by Fentress Architects. Saunders Construction was selected as the general contractor for the project. The expansion of The Seasons of Cherry Creek represents RedPeak’s first ground-up development since the company was founded in 2001.

The Seasons’ leasing office is located at 3498 E. Ellsworth Avenue, just two blocks east of the Cherry Creek Mall in Denver. Leasing information, including floor plans, photos, pricing and availability, can be found at this link  or by calling 303.394.4333.

RedPeak Properties is a full-service apartment owner, operator, developer and acquirer with an exclusive focus on Denver and Colorado’s Front Range. The company continually upgrades the value of its portfolio through the l development, redevelopment and repositioning of its assets. RedPeak strives to provide distinctive, highly amenitized residences close to key employment centers, public transportation and entertainment districts. RedPeak’s portfolio comprises 2,054 units located in Downtown Denver, Cherry Creek, Greenwood Village, Cheesman Park, Glendale, Littleton and Colorado Springs. Its current portfolio includes 1600 Glenarm Place, The Seasons of Cherry Creek, Timber Creek Apartments, Heritage Creek Apartments, Cottonwood Creek Apartments, Arboretum at Cheesman Park, Hunters Cove Apartments, Quail Ridge Apartments and Briarglen Apartments.

Complete company information can be found at this link.  

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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“We’re bringing back the favorite elements of the Parade, but we’re adding more homes for visitors to see throughout the metro area and admission to the Parade will be free,” said Clarence Hughes, chairman of the Parade of Homes and an HBA board member.

Hughes said a call for entry has been submitted to HBA member builders with special invitations to community developers, real estate agents and banks to also participate with new, never-lived-in homes eligible for the parade. He said homes will range in price from less than $300,000 to more than $1.5 million. Homes in the higher range ($1 million and above) will be considered for the category of ‘Dream Home.’ These homes will be similar to  parade homes seen in the past. Visitors who want to see a ‘Dream Home’ will be asked to give a $5 donation which will be donated to a charity to be announced soon.

Parade homes across the board

“We may have as many as 100 homes for visitors to see,” said Vicki Pelletier, vice president of operations for the HBA and director of the Parade of Homes.   They will be in all price ranges and they will be located throughout the Denver metro area.”

Due to last year’s down market in real estate and home building, the HBA took a hiatus from its traditional parade because builders could not get financing to build million-dollar homes. Instead, the HBA promoted a multi-site tour of luxury homes that were already on the market.

“Wow” factor promised

“This year’s parade,” Pelletier said, “will still give the public the ‘wow factor’ they look forward to seeing each year. The ‘Dream Homes’ will be fully decorated, furnished and landscaped, and full of great ideas. But, the new parade also gives the public the opportunity to see great new homes, in a variety of prices and styles, from established neighborhoods to new communities. All of the homes will be available for sale.”

Hughes added: “We think the new Parade of Homes will be available to more people and still showcase some of the best building practices available today from our premier professional home builders.”

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

Share this:

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