Fraunhofer USA Inc. has won approval for a $3 million loan from the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, which an agency spokesperson describes as part of an overall plan to rehabilitate 5 Channel Center in South Boston and have Fraunhofer lease it. The $3 million loan went to an entity known as the Fraunhofer Center Investment Fund LLC. The MassDevelopment money will be put together with various grants and loans from other sources, according to MassDevelopment, and, after a few more intervening entities and subsidiaries, a group known as 5 CC LLC will buy and renovate 5 Channel Center. Fraunhofer USA will then lease the space. When reached by phone, Nolan Browne, managing director for the Cambridge-based Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, said he was not at liberty to talk about Fraunhofer’s plans for the space at this time. B
March is often considered a barometer of what the year will hold for the housing industry, and it did not offer hope for a strong rebound of homebuying in Inland Southern California in 2011.
Reporting Wednesday on Southland home sales and prices for March, DataQuick of San Diego blamed lackluster results on “a fussy mortgage market, slow job growth and a continued wait-and-see attitude among potential buyers and sellers.”
Perceived bargains are attracting investors. In Riverside County, absentee buyers who are mostly investors and buyers of second homes accounted for 32.4 percent of home sales, the highest percentage since January, 2000, which is as far back as DataQuick can check. Absentee buyers also constituted a near-record 33.8 percent of home sales last month in San Bernardino County.
Six months after the nation’s largest banks discovered errors in their foreclosure practices, the home-repossession process continues to lag.
The number of South Florida foreclosure filings in March dropped 68.6 percent compared to the same month last year, according to data released Wednesday by foreclosure research firm RealtyTrac.
In Miami-Dade County, there were 2,749 foreclosures in March, down 70.2 percent from March 2010, when there were 9,224 filings. In Broward County, there were 2,199 foreclosures in March, down 65.3 percent from 6,341 in March 2010. Rather than a sign of an improving market, the drop in foreclosures stems from banks’ decisions to temporarily slow or stop taking back homes, as they face accusations of “robo-signing” and forging documents.
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Distracted drivers beware: The penalty for texting or talking on a handheld cellphone while driving in Connecticut could get a lot tougher. The legislature’s judiciary committee on Thursday narrowly passed a bill that would allow police to seize the driver’s licenses of repeat cellphone scofflaws for 24 hours. The measure also would bolster the fine for repeat offenders. However lawmakers dropped a provision that would have subjected violators to a sentence of up to three months in prison. Supporters of the bill say it adds teeth to the state’s ban on using a handheld cellphone while driving. Penalties have been steadily increasing since the prohibition first took effect in 2005. Instead of the current tiered system — a $100 fine for the first violation, $150 for the second and $200 for third and subsequent ones — the new fine would be no more than $500 for second and subsequent offenses. (Th Read more…
On their 1928 holiday card, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Coit Tyler sent a photograph of their home and an engraved promise to family and friends: “You will always be welcome here.”
The three-story Tudor they built in 1926 is as elegant and inviting today as it was when the Tylers first greeted guests, but with 21st-century comforts, including central air conditioning and a remodeled kitchen with double ovens, two sinks and two dishwashers.
“When you walk into the house, the open floor plan, the light and the grandeur really capture you,” said Mollie Abend of Prudential Connecticut Realty in West Hartford. “It has all the original charm, but also beautiful, beautiful updates for today’s lifestyle.”
It also has a third-floor bedroom that could be used as suite for an au pair or a teenager.
Owners Meg and James Casey rented the 12-room house to a couple they knew when they moved in 2009 to Arkansas, where James Casey, a former executive with The Hartford, took a similar position.