Yearly Archives: 2011

WASHINGTON, DC - August 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it has charged the owner and manager of Breckenridge Plaza Apartments in Phoenixville, PA, with violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against families with children. Breckenridge Plaza, Inc., and Morris Zelikovsky were charged with making discriminatory statements, including in advertisements on craigslist.org, indicating a preference against families with children, offering different rental terms and conditions to families with children, and discouraging families with children from applying for housing.

BRISTOL, PA - August 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- National Honey Almond, Inc., a wholesale distributor of fine cigars and a long-term client of commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., has acquired a new headquarters property at 247 Rittenhouse Circle in Bristol. Gerry Blinebury, Brian Hilger and Leah Balerno, industrial specialists in Cushman & Wakefield’s Philadelphia office, orchestrated the $1.7 million transaction

HARRISBURG, PA - July 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The board of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency yesterday conditionally approved $11.2 million in funding and approximately $30 million in tax credits for the construction of affordable multifamily housing developments located throughout Pennsylvania.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - July 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Private equity real estate group Tryko Partners, LLC of Brick, N.J., has acquired a West Philadelphia property recognized as the nation’s first retirement community. The $8 million purchase includes age-restricted rental housing at Kearsley Apartments and Kearsley Square, and skilled nursing services at Kearsley Long Term Care. The Kearsley campus had been part of the NewCourtland Network since 2004.

WASHINGTON, DC - July 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes following severe storms and flooding in April.

Beacon Commercial Real Estate - July 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Taylor Young of Beacon Commercial Real Estate, LLC represented the landlord, BioMed Realty Trust, Inc., in leasing 11,185 square feet of office space to Ferrandino & Son, Inc. at 2600 Eisenhower Avenue, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

HARRISBURG, PA - June 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Wondering where your property tax or rent rebate payment is? State Treasurer Rob McCord provided an answer today when he said Treasury will issue approximately half a million payments totaling $240 million to Pennsylvanians on July 1.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - June 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Edward G. And Jacqueline McCusker, both 47, of New Hope, PA, were convicted today in connection with a $14.6 million mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in at least 35 fraudulent mortgage loans, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. The couple was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, six counts of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud. Edward McCusker was also convicted of an additional count of mail fraud. The McCuskers operated Axxium Mortgage, Inc., along with co-defendant John Bariana who pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. Co-defendants Jeffrey A. Bennett and Stephen G. Doherty, owners of the Doylestown law firm Bennett & Doherty, P.C., also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing

ERIE, PA - June 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord – seeking to reunite more than $650,000 in unclaimed property with the state’s K-12 schools – visited the Erie City School District today to return over $20,000 to administrators there, and he said the returned money should be used to help preserve educational opportunities in challenging economic times.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - June 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gennaro Rauso, 47, of Trenton, NJ, was sentenced today to 160 months in prison for several mortgage fraud related charges, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. Rauso owned and operated a real estate management company—D&B Property Investors—that purported to help financially distressed homeowners with their foreclosure problems

HARRISBURG, PA - June 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Steel City will become Gotham City when filming for “The Dark Knight Rises” begins this summer in Pittsburgh. To welcome Batman to the Commonwealth, State Treasurer Rob McCord today highlighted Pennsylvanians in Treasury’s unclaimed property database with names straight out of Gotham.

Pittsburgh, PA - June 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) of Pittsburgh today announced Williamson, WV-based Bank of Mingo as its newest member. The addition of Bank of Mingo complements the nearly 200 commercial bank members of FHLBank Pittsburgh and the nearly 5,500 commercial banks within the FHLBank System. At year-end 2010, Bank of Mingo had $116 million in assets.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - May 31, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kirk H. Kirby, 40, of Capital Heights, Maryland, and Sholonda Y. Johnson, 39, of Philadelphia, were sentenced today to 60 months and 30 months in prison, respectively, in connection with a real estate investment scheme, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. Kirby and Johnson pleaded guilty to three counts each of wire fraud in connection with a real estate investment scheme that caused millions of dollars in losses to lenders. Kirby owned and operated Invictus Financial Group ("IFG"), located in Havertown, PA. Johnson was a loan officer at various mortgage brokerage companies.

PITTSBURGH, PA - May 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A resident of Richland Township, Pennsylvania has been sentenced in federal court to 27 months in prison and two years of supervised release on his conviction of wire fraud conspiracy, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Wilkes-Barre, PA - May 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of its exclusive representation for Gap Inc., Metro Commercial announced today that it has brokered a new lease for a Banana Republic Factory Store in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

HARRISBURG, PA - May 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency today announced that registration is open for its 2011 Housing Services Conference June 21-23 in State College at The Penn Stater Conference Center.

HARRISBURG, PA - April 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency today announced the keynote speakers for its 2011 Commonwealth Housing Forum set for May 5 and 6 in Harrisburg.

PITTSBURGH, PA - April 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A resident of New Kensington, Pa., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, filing a false tax return, and failing to file income tax returns, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Harrisburg, PA - April 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Tom Corbett today announced that Pennsylvania has been approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to receive $105 million to aid homeowners facing foreclosure through the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program.

NEW YORK, NY - April 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today released Help for Unemployed Borrowers: Lessons from the Pennsylvania Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program, the latest article in its Current Issues in Economics and Finance series from the Research and Statistics Group.