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In a hot downtown apartment market , many developers are asking: Should I sell or refinance? A group led by Chicago developer John Buck recently picked the latter, taking out a $150 million mortgage on Mila, a new 41- story apartment tower near Millennium Park. The move generated a big payday for Buck and its partners, allowing them to pull about $60 million out of the property without selling it. Like homeowners who extract cash from their homes by taking on more debt, developers and landlords can use cash-out financing amid rising property values to pocket big profits . For some developers, it's an especially appealing move because they can borrow so much more against an occupied property than they can against an unbuilt construction project . It also helps that lenders are so high on apartments, offering plenty of choices and good loan terms for landlords. "We're doing a ton of" refinancings, said Danny Kaufman, managing director in the Chicago office of HFF,...

Hoping to tie a surging demand for more apartment units in Spokane with a desire for density, the Spokane City Council approved changes to a city tax law this week aimed at spurring construction of more multifamily housing structures . The changes to the Multiple Family Housing Tax Exemption expand the boundaries where the exemption can be used, and aligns the boundaries with land identified by the city to be prime for denser development. The changes also increase the income levels required under the exemption. “This will help us to continue building the city from the core out,” said Councilwoman Candace Mumm . The exemption applies to the construction or rehabilitation of a building that has four or more living units. Under the exemption, the land is fully taxed, but any new improvements related to housing are exempt from property taxes. After the exemption ends , taxes are paid on the property’s full value. The exemption stays with the property even if it’s sold. There are many ...

As Sister Christina Heltsley led families on a tour of an affordable housing apartment building in the North Fair Oaks neighborhood last month, she couldn’t help but reflect on the growing gap between the number of affordable homes on the Peninsula and the need she witnesses daily as executive director of the St. Francis Center , a nonprofit serving families in a low- income neighborhood just outside Redwood City. Dubbed the St. Leo’s Apartments, the project and others aimed at preserving affordable housing have been a focus for Heltsley in recent years, marking a shift in the strategy her nonprofit employs to meet the needs of families in the area bordered largely by Caltrain tracks to the east and Woodside Road to the north. Francis Center " class="img-responsive lazyload full" width="1600" height="1067" /> Sister Christina Heltsley has helped the St. Francis Center , a nonprofit aimed at providing resources for the North Fair Oaks ...