{full article here} Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provided $57.2 billion in multifamily volume in 2014. Working with their lender partners, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) financed more than 850,000 units, many of which are affordable to households earning low or moderate incomes. Fannie Mae provided $28.9 billion to the multifamily market last year, slightly up from its 2013 total of …

{ full article } Polaris Industries Inc. plans to build a 600,000-square-foot production facility in Huntsville that will create hundreds of jobs. The new manufacturing plant will focus on off-road vehicle production and will employ 1,700 at full capacity. Employment at the facility could eventually rise to 2,000, according to Alabama officials. Polaris’ facility will be constructed on a 453-acre …

{ full article here } Developers recently closed on $11 million worth of land surrounding the Lifetime Fitness in Vestavia Hills and will begin work on the Patchwork Farms project in March. Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downessaid during an interview with the BBJ this week that $100 million worth of construction will begin on the site around March 15. …

{ full article here } The cost to rent an apartment jumped in 2014 for the fifth consecutive year as strong demand and short supply left vacancies near historically low levels. Nationwide, apartment rents rose an average of 3.6% last year, according to data from Reis Inc., a real-estate research firm. The increase pushed the average monthly lease rate to …

Recent Transactions BIRMINGHAM, AL – Rock Apartment Advisors has advised clients in transactions totaling over $100M and 1,500 apartment units located across Tennessee, Louisiana, and Alabama in the 4th quarter of 2014. The transactions involved properties presenting a wide range of investment opportunities including stabilized class A, major renovation and repositioning, and class B value add through interior and amenity upgrades. …

{ full article here } No official groundbreaking date has been set by Bayer Properties, but work on the Pizitz building could begin around the first of the year. The Birmingham City Council will consider this week a number of resolutions that will finalize agreements between the City of Birmingham and Pizitz LLC regarding improvements to sidewalks, lamp posts and …

{ full article with video here } Through a square hole left by a missing ceiling tile, Vic Desai looked up and pointed out the nearly 100-year-old brick wall hiding behind the suspended ceiling and Sheetrock walls. The original brick walls, wood ceilings and mushrooming pillars inside the old Clemons Bros. building on Chestnut Street downtown have stood the test …

{ full article here } Since downtown’s Empire Building was sold in 2012, there’s been plenty of speculation about what the future holds for the historic skyscraper that sits at what was once called the “heaviest corner on earth.” Now, it appears the 16-story building could become a hotel as part of Marriott’sAutograph Collection. That’s according to the website of …

{ full article here } BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – A British pharmaceutical company will open its first manufacturing center in 2016 in Birmingham, Gov. Robert Bentley confirmed at theBirmingham Business Alliance 2014 Governor’s Luncheon. Oxford Pharmaceuticals is expected to have 61 employees when it opens and 200 within 10 years. Jobs will range in pay from about $12 an hour to more than …

{ full article here } Many of you have read about, and experienced, the current multifamily investment frenzy as we continue to learn of new Class A developments on almost a daily basis. Clearly, the market for apartments has been on a very strong run, driven by the low cost of debt and the abundance of equity that prefers this …