Urbanexus Update - Issue #42
Please scroll down for the weekly compilation of analysis, reporting and opinion about real estate and community development. Note that some links may lead to material that is behind a paywall.
Real estate investors and managers
Largest real estate portfolios 2018
The 10 largest portfolio sales of 2018 combined for a value of more than $4.5 billion, and included multifamily and commercial properties. Thanks to Brandon Sedloff for highlighting this article.
Bentall Kennedy and GreenOak merger creates $47biion global real estate platform
Sun Life is paying GreenOak shareholders $146m for a 56% stake in Bentall GreenOak.
Blackstone's global real estate fund to close at $20 billion
New Mexico commits $100 million to what will be Blackstone’s largest-ever fund.
Brookfield nears $10 billion for real estate fund
Brookfield Strategic Real Estate Partners III has raised $9.04 billion.
Real estate supply and demand
Rental rates are on the decline for the U.S. self-storage market as owners look to increase absorption of their new supply, according to a December self-storage report from research firm Yardi Matrix.
Construction technology
Things are looking up for wood-building developers
Some builders are choosing timber for offices, apartments and campus buildings, rather than the concrete and steel that dominated construction for decades. They scored a huge win recently when the International Code Council said some wooden buildings could climb as high as 18 stories, without compromising safety.
Master-planned communitues
Top-selling master-planned communities
Since 1994, RCLCO has conducted a national survey identifying the top-selling master planned communities (MPCs). They surveyed MPCs throughout the USA to establish the 50 top-selling communities of 2018.
A residential builder problem
Hiding shoddy homebuilding from buyers
PulteGroup and its subsidiary, Pulte Home Company, allegedly built homes in the state of Florida that were not to code and hid that information from homebuyers, according to the office of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
A leader residential designer
The man behind Danielian Associates
The founder of Danielian Associates is a veritable titan in Orange County’s architectural scene. Over the past five decades, he has amassed more than 640 awards and completed 5,272 projects around the world.
Where the millennials are
Suburbs and exurbs dominate millennial growth in the USA — www.newgeography.com
America’s suburbs and exurbs continue to dominate population growth among post-college Millennials, those aged 25 to 34 in the 53 major metropolitan areas.
Climate change
A brief explanation of global warming — www.forbes.com
The Earth is getting warmer, and humans are the cause.
The story of 2018 was climate change Future generations may ask why we were distracted by lesser matters.
Climate change: 11 policy ideas to protect the planet in 2019 More competitive electric markets, a Green New Deal, carbon farming and other ideas that could help slow global warming.
Resilience
Paradise ignored warnings and became a deathtrap — www.latimes.com
After California’s worst wildfire, local and state officials said the tragedy of the Camp fire was unavoidable. But a L.A. Times investigation found authorities ignored repeated warnings of a wind-driven fire and never planned for an evacuation of the entire town of Paradise at once.
Around the world
A Palestinian court sentenced an American-Palestinian on Monday to life imprisonment for violating a ban on selling land to Israelis, judiciary officials said.