Envy Apartment

OpenPath Investments, triple bottom-line company with more than a decade of experience creating value for its investors, announced on Wednesday that it has purchased Ventana Palms Apartments , located in west Phoenix, for $8.5 million, kickstarting an effort to bring a socially responsible investing and property management model to the working- class housing complex in the Maryvale neighborhood. OpenPath’s acquisition includes approximately $3.6 million in equity financing from socially conscious investors who support the firm’s Urban Village community concept and its environmentally friendly investment model . The Urban Village concept calls for investments in community-building efforts for apartment residents , including tools, inspiration and ideas to enrich their community life — from community gardens, to educational classes and leadership development. OpenPath also intends to invest approximately $1.5 million in interior and exterior upgrades at Ventana Palms. The 10-buildi...

The long retail spine of Sydney Road, Brunswick, just north of Melbourne's CBD, was once a prosperous trading outpost on the way to the goldfields. These days it's a bohemian mix of variety stores, op shops, halal butchers and Lebanese bakeries. Take a side street to the west, however, and a different picture emerges. Sandwiched between Sydney Road and the Upfield train line is an area undergoing rapid and widespread transformation. Light industry is fast being replaced by mid- rise apartment buildings , their inhabitants attracted by the short commute into town and cheaper prices than in the city's south-east. The quality of these units is, on the whole, depressingly bad; think poor ventilation and bedrooms that "borrow" natural light (a weasel word for being dark and windowless). The occasional jazzy façade tries feebly to make up for otherwise cheap construction amid a chorus of greys. At ground level, carpark roller doors alternate with mean pocket garden...