USA

Well-known Portland developer faces foreclosure

Ryan Frank The Oregonian 07/23/2009

Olivia Bucks/The Oregonian. This downtown Portland building on Southwest Sixth Avenue is one of 10 properties owned by longtime developer John Beardsley that are in foreclosure proceedings. Beardsley says his troubles reflect how the recession has hammered once-valuable downtown commercial real estate.

John Beardsley, known for renovating historic downtown buildings, is Portland's first major commercial developer to see his properties move toward foreclosure amid growing problems nationwide in commercial real estate.

Santa Clara County Housing Market Turns Into a Seller's Market Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS 07/15/2009	Forty-One Defendants Charged In Five New Area Mortgage Fraud Cases; Two Schemes Involve Expensive Condos and Suburban Homes U.S. Department of Justice 06/23/2009
The housing market in Santa Clara County is quickly turning from a buyer's market to a seller's market as new listings are absorbed by the market much faster than a year ago.	Forty-one defendants are facing federal charges relating to various mortgage fraud schemes in five separate cases made public today by federal law enforcement officials.
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Most Overvalued and Undervalued Housing Markets Les Christie Yahoo! Real Estate 06/12/2009	Seattle Mayor seeks tax boost for affordable housing in Seattle Bob Young The Seattle Times 04/29/2009
Home price declines have sent affordability soaring. Prices have fallen so far that the average U.S. home is now undervalued by 12.2%, according to a new report from IHS Global Insight.	Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels wants to ask voters in November to nearly double the city's property-tax levy for affordable housing. The city's current seven-year $86 million property-tax levy expires this year. Nickels today proposed a $145 million, seven-year renewal of the levy.
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Microsoft workers get their very own mall, The Commons, on corporate campus Sharon Pian Chan The Seattle Times 04/20/2009	More Seattle homeowners falling into foreclosure DEBORAH FELDMAN King5.com 04/17/2009
Microsoft is opening the splashy dining-shopping destination The Commons, a signature piece in a massive expansion that will add the equivalent of a Columbia Tower to the corporate campus.	SEATTLE - Holding onto your home appears to be getting harder during these tough economic times, and that includes people living around the Puget Sound region.
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Foreclosure Filings in U.S. Climbed to Record in First Quarter Dan Levy Bloomberg.com 04/15/2009	Beyond Sideshows, the City and a Developer Face Off Over Coney Island’s Future CHARLES V. BAGLI The New York Times 04/11/2009
U.S. foreclosure filings rose to a record in the first quarter as employers cut jobs in the recession and temporary programs to delay action on defaults came to an end, RealtyTrac Inc. said.	It was John Strong III who threw down the gauntlet in the latest Coney Island showdown. “Dick Zigun and his Coney Island Circus Sideshow had better hold onto their hats, because we’re bringing the weirdest, most bizarre, outlandish and strangest collection of freaks and oddballs that the People’s Playground has ever seen,” said Mr. Strong, a newcomer to Brooklyn but a well-known figure on the carny circuit as the head of one of the largest carnival side shows in the country.
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