Sterling Construction broke ground on November 13th in Savannah, Georgia on a new luxury, 222-unit apartment community and resident clubhouse. Savannah Highlands, a $16 million project, is schedule to be completed by Spring of 2011.

Savannah Highlands will feature a swimming pool, fitness center, cyber café and will be a completely fenced community. Information on leasing opportunities will become available as the project develops.

A ribbon cutting ceremony celebrated the grand opening of 216 new units in the second phase of the Mini Storage Depot in Merrillville, Indiana. Despite economic challenges in both markets, the self-storage facilities have succeeded in growing their companies through inventive marketing and sales efforts. The addition of a 24-hour self-service kiosk at the Merrillville location now serves as convenience to customers who need more flexible hours to purchase storage and to generate additional sales.

Village at Brooklyn Pointe, a senior development in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has recently wrapped up construction. The Sterling Construction Corporation began the 3 buildings in December 2008 and officially completed construction September 6, 2009, ahead of schedule. The project was built in collaboration with the Fort Wayne Housing Authority and Martin Riley Architects/Engineers.
This HUD project was the first HUD financed project for Fort Wayne in 20 years and has been tentatively given a Silver rating by the LEED Inspector, and is still awaiting final approval of this designation by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Sterling Management, Ltd., Inc. was selected by Housing Horizons, LLC to manage a diverse 1225 unit apartment portfolio, including garden style, luxury high-rise, historic midrise rehabs as well as commercial space. Sterling Management assumed the day-to-day operational responsibilities of all twelve apartment communities as of September 1st.
Sterling Management has over 30 years of experience assisting owners in achieving both physical and financial goals for their assets. The company excels at creating tailored, hands-on business strategies unique to the industry, that utilize the basics of property management and marketing and apply them based on the conditions of each individual market and community. Sterling has been hired to execute this approach to enhance the performance of the portfolio.

Sterling Group, Inc. has just finished a complete revamp of the company web site. The purpose of the redesign was to provide a more direct link for residential customers to the information they seek and to better demonstrate the other services provided by Sterling Group through the management, development and construction divisions. The newest features of the web site include quick links to Find an Apartment; a section on Beyond Mugs and Candy, the company’s internal marketing department; as well as an enhanced Career Center.

Lee County, Florida has seen its unemployment rate jump from 3.5% to nearly 10% in less than a 2 year span. Home prices are plummeting, foreclosure rates are soaring, and layoffs continue. The situation in Fort Myers, Florida was one detrimental enough to catch the eye of the President of the United States as he traveled to the location on February 10th, to draw support for his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.

In August 2008, Sterling Group, Inc. of Mishawaka, Indiana was brought on as a third-party management entity to assist Key Bank in leasing up their challenging asset in Fort Myers: Park Crest at the Lakes. Park Crest at the Lakes has 360 one, two and three bedroom apartment homes. Since the beginning of the fee management contract, the management team has increased occupancy rates by over 29%, taking the community from 69.72% to 99.17% in 7 short months.

Park Crest at the Lakes apartment homes come equipped with gorgeous views, vaulted ceilings, balcony/patios, ceiling fans, nicely-equipped kitchens, generous closet space, air condition, intrusion alarms, and washer/dryer options.

Residents enjoy a luxurious swimming pool and spa, fitness center, business center with high speed internet, a beautiful resident clubhouse, tennis courts, laundry facility, and playground. The 24-hour emergency maintenance team and an on-site professional office staff are focused on exceeding customers’ expectations, which makes all the difference in today’s economy. For more information on Park Crest at the Lakes, please visit their website at www.parkcrestatthelakes.com.

Wow, that was fast! In four short months, Sterling Management filled 80 apartment homes with eager residents, excited to become a part of the newest housing opportunity in Decatur, IL. Despite a troublesome economy and a chilly weather, the community went from 0% occupied to 100% in record time.

Sterling Group, Inc. a multifamily housing specialist from Mishawaka, Indiana began building the Reserve at Lakeview in the early months of 2008. The company has successfully leased up a number of similar senior communities, but this was the quickest yet. “We had a mammoth task in front of us and a great team to conquer the task. It was clearly the focus on the goal and the commitment of the team members that made the difference,” explained Andrea Hurn, Vice President of Sterling Management Ltd., Inc.

The new apartment homes are designated for income qualifying Seniors ages 55 and better. The 4-story building includes 80 one and two bedroom apartment homes, each with one bathroom and its own patio or balcony. Each level is accessible via a centrally located elevator. The community features include an activities center, computer room, library, fitness center, trash chutes, beauty salon and on-site laundry facilities. The apartment homes also include an open gourmet kitchen with appliances, emergency pull cords, intercoms that connect to the key-coated automatic main entrance door, with all utilities included.

For more information on The Sterling Group and their communities, visit www.thesterlinggrp.com. For information on Sterling Management’s fee management services, please contact Andrea Hurn, Vice President of Management, at ahurn@thesterlinggrp.com.

Sterling Construction Corporation recently completed the building of 375 additional self-storage units at an existing Mini Storage Depot facility in Walled Lake, Michigan. Sterling Construction will soon begin building on 216 new units in the second phase of the Mini Storage Depot in Merrillville, Indiana as well.

Despite economic challenges in the market, Sterling’s self-storage facilities have succeeded in growing their companies through inventive marketing and sales efforts. This success provided Sterling Construction an opportunity to build second phases of both communities, one in Walled Lake, the other in Merrillville, showing that solid planning, fast problem solving and creative thinking can bring about new projects and new business during tough times.

Sterling Management is now leasing the new self-storage units in Walled Lake, and will soon be adding the new units in Merrillville. Sterling Management and Sterling Construction Corporation are companies of Sterling Group, Inc., which have built other self-storage and housing communities throughout the Midwest. Sterling Construction Corporation is currently expanding across the country, seeking General Contracting opportunities.

For more information regarding the Mini Storage Depot, visit www.ministoragedepot.com. To learn more about Sterling Management and Fee Management Opportunities, please contact Courtney Swank at (574)247-3215.Find more information on Sterling’s Web site by visiting www.thesterlinggrp.com.