Many investors are seeking to take advantage of the downturn (now supposedly coming to an end) to pounce on distressed multifamily commercial real estate opportunities. Little wonder that the GreenPearl Events’s Distressed Real Estate Summit held in New York last week far exceeded the organizer’s expectations. The day-long event was attended by over 700 industry professionals. Word at the conference is that if you expect a fire sale of distressed properties, such as the opportunities created by the RTC in the early-1990s, this is not the time. Banks are not letting go of their distressed assets at bottom-feeder prices or…

Ah, if only. People around here are fond of saying “God stopped making land a long time ago.” If not precisely scientifically correct, at least those words capture the emotional tone of the current predicament—we’re running out of dirt. Allow me to qualify. It’s not so much that there isn’t bare land available anywhere, but powerful forces have conspired to make a great deal of it simply in the wrong place, even if for the right reasons. Of course, I’m talking about real estate suitable for the development of new multifamily communities. With the tiniest glimmers of light beginning to…

How many times in the past year have I found myself saying, “You know, when the next recession comes along, doggone it, I’m going to have a hundred grand laying around so I can take advantage of these dang fire sales that are constantly tempting me.” Wishful thinking only? Well, perhaps, but let me explain the latest observation to spark this ambition. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a couple of occasions to enrich my in-depth appreciation of the City of Angels. First was a downtown walking tour, sponsored by the LA Conservancy, of the locations that were central…

 Does it matter how green your buildings are if the people responsible for their daily operations don’t know how to properly maintain their sustainable lifestyle? In New York City, Urban Green (the city’s chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council) and 32BJ, a building service workers union, have launched a plan to train 1,000 green building superintendents this year. According to the program’s website, the group of managers currently undergoing training (within the first two courses) represent 55 buildings, or 4,600 apartments throughout the city, ranging in age from one to 120 years old. The program is designed to prioritize…

So I was sitting in a ULI professional conference on “Developing Green” several months ago and made a small note to myself. “What a good idea it might be to consider the adaptive re-use of shuttered automobile dealerships.” Well, imagine my ironic delight as I read in Globe St. this morning about a new arm of a well-known brokerage firm that had been set up to deal in “work-outs” for closing car lots. Hmmm. Should have registered my idea somewhere, I guess. Anyway, I still find the notion quite compelling. Naturally, there are as many variants in the location of…

Today, when uncertainty surrounds us and the world outside seems lost to confusion and chaos, we seek, almost by instinct, sanctuary and communal comfort, much like our ancestors once did around an open fire.  Reaching into our collective past, to a time when all family, community and social activates took place deep within the heart of the castle, we find the “Hearth”, a place where life, feasting, entertainment and communal gatherings centered. Today’s hearth, the modern kitchen has evolved far from its original function of food preparation to that of “the social hub of the home”.  In the modern kitchen,…

According to McKinsey & Co.’s recent report, “Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy,” investing in energy-efficient buildings now will lead to $1.2 trillion in savings, as well as reduce the nation’s energy consumption by 23 percent, by 2020. “Green building can stimulate the economy at a level one and a half times larger than the federal stimulus bill,” says Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chairman of the USGBC, one of the 12 sponsors of the report.  “By leveraging existing green building approaches, like LEED, which is rooted in holistic and integrated design, we have the ability and capacity…