California RealEstateRama

San Francisco, CA - April 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco has allocated $12 million to its 2011 Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership (WISH) and Individual Development and Empowerment Account (IDEA) first-time homebuyer programs.

OLD TOWNE ORANGE, CA - April 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Orange Home Grown, Inc. announced today the Grand Opening of the Certified Farmers & Artisans Market in Old Towne Orange, Calif., on Saturday, May 7, 2011, from 8:00 a.m. - 12 noon, at Chapman University's Historic Villa Park Orchards Packinghouse parking lot located at the northwest corner of Cypress and Palm Avenue.

Washington, DC - April 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) yesterday reintroduced H.R. 1567, the Foreclosure Prevention and Sound Mortgage Servicing Act of 2011. Congresswoman Waters has introduced similar legislation since the 110th Congress, and has long maintained that the servicing industry is broken. By reintroducing and updating the bill, Congresswoman Waters continues to demonstrate her commitment to ending the foreclosure crisis and holding servicers accountable.

MORENO VALLEY, CA - April 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- CT Realty Investors of Aliso Viejo, Calif., has acquired a 225,000-square-foot warehouse/distribution building located on the grounds of the March Air Reserve Base at 16875 Heacock in Moreno Valley, Calif., from March Philmar, LLC.

San Francisco, CA - April 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have drafted consent decrees with the nation’s largest mortgage servicers that would purportedly improve their foreclosure practices. These legal agreements represent an inadequate attempt by regulators to address illegal servicing practices that have caused countless people to lose their homes.

April 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Long Beach Housing Development Company (LBHDC) and Councilmember Robert Garcia, 1st District, today demolished a check cashing facility that had long been a public nuisance for area residents and businesses

San Francisco, CA - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The San Francisco Business Times recognized two of Martin Building Co.’s projects as “best financial” deals among the publication’s annual “Deals of the Year.” Martin Building Co. was recognized for its creative financing in their effort to build two housing projects in San Francisco. Potrero Launch, an $80.4 million, 196-apartment project, and Arc Light Co., a $41 million, 94-unit rental project with a historic preservation component, were the two specific projects honored.

Washington, DC - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, introduced legislation to permanently abolish the affordable housing goals of the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

ALISO VIEJO, CA - March 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Stefan Manolakas, a longtime developer of commercial, residential and mixed-use projects in Northern California, has joined the CT Realty Investors board of directors. Manolakas represents the third addition to the real estate investment firm’s board of directors in the past few months.

Torrance, CA - March 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Lee & Associates, one of the largest national commercial real estate providers with regional expertise, has closed on the $5.86 million sale of a 78,486-square foot industrial building located at 2525 El Presidio St., in Carson, Calif., just outside Los Angeles.

San Francisco, CA - March 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) today announced that Clearinghouse Community Development Financial Institution (Clearinghouse CDFI), the newest member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, is the first non-depository community development financial institution (CDFI) to borrow from a Federal Home Loan Bank.

March 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has selected San Francisco’s HOPE SF transformation plan for Alice Griffith Public Housing Development and the surrounding Bayview neighborhood as a finalist in its Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant competition. The Alice Griffith Plan was one of 42 plans submitted by communities nationwide competing for the $61 million in total funding and one of six finalists to enter the second application round

Washington, DC - March 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee and a top congressional advocate for affordable housing, reintroduced H.R. 1209, The Section 8 Voucher Reform Act (SEVRA), late last week. The bill would reform the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, which provides rental housing assistance to 2 million low-income American families

SAN JOSE, CA - March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Tara Denise Bonelli, 31, of Santa Cruz, Calif., was arrested today by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. Yesterday, a federal grand jury in San Jose indicted Bonelli, charging her with 18 counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and three counts of money laundering

Washington, DC - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The House of Representatives voted today to end the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), which Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) created and which President George W. Bush signed into law three years ago under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA). Last week, House Republicans also voted to end the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Short Refinance Program and the Emergency Homeowners Relief Program (EHRP), the latter of which Congresswoman Waters worked to include in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

Washington, D.C. - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Over the past two weeks Congressman Howard Berman (CA-28) has voted against three separate Republican proposals that would hurt struggling homeowners and further exacerbate the foreclosure crisis facing California. Congressman Berman has been working to help homeowners struggling to avoid foreclosure and recently hosted a Homeowners Assistance and Retention Workshop in Van Nuys where over 100 Valley residents received free counseling.

IRVINE, CA - March 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Award-winning KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture and Planning, is pleased to announce that it is providing architectural design services for a new 103,255-square-foot mixed-use retail and student housing building to be developed by Hanover Pacific, LLC at the University of La Verne (ULV) in La Verne, Calif. Located on the site of a former campus parking lot, the new building will add 378 beds and approximately 8,300 square feet of ground floor retail for a new university bookstore. A ground breaking ceremony will be held on the site at the end of March to celebrate the commencement of construction.

San Francisco, CA - March 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Since 1993, Zephyr Real Estate has produced an annual calendar for distribution to more than 10,000 clients each year. This year, for the first time ever, Zephyr is inviting the public to vote on the theme for the 2012 calendar.

San Francisco, CA - March 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- International law firm Nixon Peabody LLP has expanded its Affordable Housing practice on the West Coast with the arrival of new partner Tuan Pham. Mr. Pham joins Nixon Peabody’s San Francisco office from Goodwin Procter where he also served as the hiring partner for the San Francisco office and a co-chair of the West Coast Diversity Committee.

Washington, D.C. - March 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today joined with Senate Democrats and veterans advocates to condemn a provision in the House Republicans’ budget that would eliminate housing assistance to 10,000 homeless veterans nationwide. The Republicans’ proposed cuts could undermine a program that has helped keep thousands of veterans in California off the streets.