California RealEstateRama

Washington, D.C. - July 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today praised U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan’s announcement that the agency has awarded more than $10.5 million in federal grants to provide housing for homeless veterans in California. Grants will be distributed as 1,125 housing assistance vouchers by local housing agencies that have partnered with VA medical centers to benefit veterans all across the state.

Los Angeles, CA - July 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Del Rey Square Senior Housing Project is a new affordable housing community at 11976 Culver Boulevard in West Los Angeles. The project will contain 124 units (4 studios, 119 one-bedroom units and 1 two-bedroom manager’s unit) that will be targeted to households earning 60% of AMI or less. 30 of these units will be public housing units targeting senior and disabled households. The project is unique in its location on the Westside of Los Angeles, which suffers from a severe lack of affordable housing.

La Jolla, CA. - July 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Bay Area home sales rose sharply last month from May to the highest level for any month since June 2010, when outgoing homebuyer tax credits gave housing demand a final boost. The median price rose slightly from May but remained below the year-ago level for the ninth consecutive month amid a sluggish move-up market and a higher share of sub-$300,000 transactions, a real estate information service reported.

WASHINGTON, DC - July 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Congresswoman Lois Capps (CA-23) voted for the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011 (H.R. 1309), which passed the House by a vote of 406-22. The bill re-authorizes the National Flood Insurance Program for five years, and makes needed reforms to address the financial stability of the program by phasing out non-essential premium subsidies. The legislation is particularly relevant for homeowners in the Santa Maria Valley and the cities of Oxnard and Ventura. The County of Santa Barbara, the County of Ventura, and the City of Santa Maria all written letters to the Congresswoman expressing support for the legislation.

Washington, D.C. - July 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) held a press conference call to discuss her bill, the Helping Responsible Homeowners Act of 2011, which would remove barriers that have prevented millions of homeowners with non-delinquent, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac-backed mortgages from refinancing at historically low interest rates. She also urged the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to use its existing authority to eliminate these obstacles to refinancing.

Washington, DC - July 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the House Financial Services Committee approved legislation introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), the "Housing Trust Fund Elimination Act." Royce’s legislation eliminates the Affordable Housing Trust Fund established in 2008 as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act.

La Jolla, CA - July 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Southern California home sales last month shot up more than usual from May to the highest level for any month since June 2010, when the market got its last big boost from homebuyer tax credits. Sales of lower-cost homes, driven by investors and first-time buyers, and even high-end sales continued to outshine traditional move-up activity in middle price ranges, a real estate information service reported.

LOS ANGELES, CA - July 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Six Los Angeles County residents have been charged for their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme that used fraudulent loan applications and supporting documents to convince lenders to fund approximately 20 loans that resulted in approximately $4 million in losses.

IRVINE, CA - July 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, one of the most dominant retail investment groups in the western United States and a market leader in the sale of retail properties, announced today that the firm is now marketing for sale a portfolio of four shopping centers in southern California in Hawaiian Gardens, Lancaster, Mission Viejo and Oxnard. Consisting of approximately 517,870 total square feet, the four properties are offered for sale unpriced and can be purchased individually or as a portfolio.

TUSTIN, CA - July 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gold Max of California announced today they are on track to open 100 Gold Max stores in Southern California within the next year. With more than 150 stores, Gold Max operates the United States’ largest chain of stores specializing in buying gold and precious metals from consumers. Gold Max entered the Southern California market in the fall of 2010 and opened 8 stores. Since retaining Present Value Properties as its exclusive real estate broker for California in early 2011, Gold Max has already opened 6 new stores in Southern California and will soon open 9 more. Currently, Present Value Properties is in negotiations on additional 23 stores for Gold Max in Southern California.

TUSTIN, CA - July 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gregory A. Fisher of Present Value Properties, Inc., a full service retail real estate brokerage, and consulting firm headquartered in Tustin, Calif., announced today that Britt Nelson, a retail real estate veteran and the former President of NewCity Development, LLC and a consultant to the architectural and engineering, retail, municipal and development segments of the industry, has joined Present Value Properties as Vice President.

Washington, DC - July 1 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today announced that legislation to spend $35.5 million to address a severe shortage of housing options for homeless veterans in Los Angeles has passed committee and will advance to the full Senate

IRVINE, CA - June 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, one of the most dominant retail investment sales groups in the western United States and a market leader in the sale of retail properties, announced today that William B. Asher and Edward B. Hanley have exclusively listed for sale a 31,900-square-foot multi-tenant retail center on Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The asking price is $7,765,000.

ALISO VIEJO, CA - June 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- David L. Ball, president of Arnel Development Co. in Costa Mesa, Calif., has joined the board of directors for CT Realty Investors. Ball has nearly 30 years of commercial and residential real estate development and lending experience. As president of Arnel Development, a subsidiary of Arnel & Affiliates, Ball is responsible for overseeing all real estate investment and development activities, joint ventures and real estate-related banking relationships. A member of the Arnel management team since 1983, Ball has developed more than one million square feet of retail space, numerous apartment projects, hundreds of single-family homes, and nearly 500,000 square feet of office space. He has also engineered numerous investments involving land development and industrial parks on behalf of Arnel.

IRVINE, CA - June 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Award-winning KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture + Planning, is pleased to announce that KTGY Principal Manny Gonzalez, AIA, LEED AP, CAASH, has been invited to be a featured speaker in an upcoming webinar presented by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) on July 6, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT.

IRVINE, CA - June 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Award-winning KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture + Planning, is pleased to announce that Olson Homes, the leading developer of in-town urban living, is debuting two model homes in its newest residential community, Citrus Walk. Located in the heart of downtown Covina, Calif., and within walking distance to shops, restaurants, and MetroLink, Citrus Walk will offer LEED Certified homes that are innovatively designed to fit active, urban lifestyles and attract first-time homebuyers. KTGY is the project's designer of this new mixed-use community.

SACRAMENTO, CA - June 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Shalena P. Leggett, 37, of Vacaville, pleaded guilty today to two counts of wire fraud arising out of her embezzlement from her former employer, a local Sacramento real estate developer.

IRVINE, CA - June 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Hanley Investment (HI) Urban Retail Advisors, a division of Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors specializing in the sale and advisory of high profile mixed-use and urban retail properties in dynamic commercial districts across the United States, announced today that Carlos J. Lopez and Edward B. Hanley, represented the buyer and seller in the sale of a 1,448-square-foot individual retail/commercial condominium unit in Irvine, Calif. The price was not disclosed.

SILICON VALLEY, CA - June 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- David Bicknell along with business partner and wife, Melisa Bicknell, will have a grand opening of their new Intero Real Estate Services franchise office in Folsom, CA on June 29, 2011.

SACRAMENTO, CA - June 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that a grand jury returned a nine-count indictment today against Alonzo Jackson Brown III, 44, of Fairfield, charging him in connection with an investment fraud scheme and a mortgage fraud scheme.

Washington, DC - June 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Representative John Campbell (R-CA) and Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) have introduced H.R. 2126, the Risk Retention Modernization Act to allow risk retention groups (RRGs) and risk purchasing groups (RPGs) to expand their insurance offerings to include commercial property coverage. This legislation would encourage increased competition in premiums and significantly lower the rates consumers, especially small businesses, pay in places where coverage is currently very limited and relatively unaffordable.

West Sacramento, CA - June 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The State of California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has awarded the City of West Sacramento $2,488,625 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to provide public infrastructure in support of a new metals recycling facility proposed for the Port of West Sacramento.

IRVINE, CA - June 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Award-winning KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture + Planning, is pleased to announce that KTGY Principal Manny Gonzalez, AIA, LEED AP has been invited to be a speaker in the Boral Sustainability Speaker Series at the PCBC 2011 show, Homebuilding’s Premier Tradeshow and Conference, held June 22-24, 2011, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif. Gonzalez will speak at the Boral booth #5111 on Thursday, June 23, at 11:00 a.m. Gonzalez is a frequent guest speaker and panelist at the various industry events including PCBC, NAHB and ULI

La Jolla, CA. - June 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Bay Area housing market in May posted modest month-to-month gains in sales and median prices, but those same measures fell sharply from year-ago levels, which had been pumped up artificially by homebuyer tax credits. Move-up buying and new-home sales were especially weak last month, while the share of sales involving distressed properties, cash buyers and investors remained far above normal, a real estate information service reported.

LOS ANGELES, CA - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the appointment of four new commissioners to the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) Board of Commissioners: Isabel Ayala, Kimberly Freeman, Dennis Hernandez, and Mitchell Kamin.

TUSTIN, CA - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Coreland Companies of Tustin, Calif., one of the largest private real estate service companies based in California, announced today that its brokerage division has recently negotiated three quick serve restaurant leases in Southern California, totaling 7,300 square feet with a total value of more than $2.5 million. Coreland represented the property ownership in all three transactions

San Francisco, CA - June 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Eric Castongia, a top-producer with Zephyr Real Estate, will be participating in San Francisco’s 25th Annual AIDS Walk on July 17, 2011. Remarkably, Castongia has participated every year since the fundraiser began in 1987.

June 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- “More than two years after the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was launched, I am pleased that the Administration has finally decided to take enforcement seriously and penalize three servicers who have, as a matter of standard practice, foreclosed on millions of homeowners, often without properly screening them for modifications or otherwise following program rules.

IRVINE, CA - June 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Award-winning KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture and Planning, is pleased to announce that KTGY’s Principal Manny Gonzalez, AIA, LEED AP and CAASH has been invited to participate in Building Industry Association (BIA) of Southern California 50+ Housing Council program, "'ABC' Demonstration Home - A Preview Before PCBC Debut," on Thursday, June 16, 2011. The new ABC Home, which was designed by Gonzalez, is an "Affordable, Buildable, Certified" Green home designed for Net-Zero energy use that incorporates Universal Design to accommodate people of all ages and capabilities. The first of three demonstration homes planned by Southern California Edison Company, the ABC home will be built in fall 2011.

IRVINE, CA - June 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture + Planning, and some of this country's top builders/developers have earned nine Awards of Merit in the 2011 Gold Nugget Award design and planning competition. The awards honor the firm's wide range of capabilities, excellence and innovation in addressing complex design/build issues in attached, detached, sustainable communities, mixed-use, transit-oriented developments, and campus housing. The winning projects include: University of California, Irvine (UCI) East Campus Apartments Phase III; The Crossing at Anaheim in Anaheim, Calif.; Gallery 421 in downtown Long Beach, Calif.; Paragon at Old Town in Monrovia, Calif.; La Floresta in Brea, Calif.; 12th & Burnside in Portland, Ore.; and The Shell House in Nassau, Bahamas.