Bridgeport project gets $2M loan
The Connecticut State Bond Commission approved a $2 million loan for MDL Realty, as it readies a headquarters facility for Columbia Elevators in Bridgeport.
The $9 million project supports 95 construction jobs.
The company customizes elevators. Columbia Elevator relocated to Bridgeport from Port Chester, N.Y.
Stamford project gets $1.2M
The State Bond Commission approved $1.2 million in loans to support Marshal Commons L.P.”™s construction of 50 units of affordable housing at Ludlow Place in Stamford”™s Harbor Point district under development by Building and Land Technology.
The $22 million project is supporting 260 construction jobs. The loans carry a 1 percent interest rate over a 40-year term.
Ludlow Place is to include eight 3-bedroom townhouses; nearly 40 multi-bedroom units in a new structure; and three units in an existing building. Families who make 60 percent or less of the area”™s median income will qualify for residency.
New housing starts down
February permits for new homes dropped in Connecticut by more than 40 percent from a year earlier to 105 total, the lowest number since January 2009 according to data on file with the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.
That was also 10 fewer permits than in January, according to DECD.
Starwood makes grab for CreXus
Starwood Property Trust made an unsolicited offer to acquire CreXus Investment Corp., a New York City-based real estate investment trust that is in the process of acquiring a portfolio of loans from Barclays.
Greenwich-based Starwood Property offered $14 in its own stock for each share for CreXus, about $2 above the level at which the issue traded in mid-March. CreXus is preparing a $586 million offering of equity to finance the Barclays purchase.
In a press release, Starwood Property CEO Barry Sternlicht voiced skepticism that CreXus could maintain its current level of dividends in acquiring the loans, many of which mature this year. CreXus responded it is evaluating Starwood Property”™s proposal.
