Urbanexus Update - Issue #44
Urbanexus Update - Issue #44
Please scroll down for the weekly compilation of analysis, reporting and opinion about real estate and community development. Some links may lead to material that is behind a paywall.
Demographics
a new cohort, reported to make up a quarter of the U.S. population, turns 22 this year. They were 10 when iPhones came out. Millennials may have been the first digital natives, but this new generation of adults takes what that means and why it matters to a new level altogether.
The economy
Q3 2018 household debt service ratio at series low — www.calculatedriskblog.com
This data suggests aggregate household cash flow has improved significantly since the great recession.
Lower interest rates stabilize builder confidence — eyeonhousing.org
Buoyed by falling mortgage rates, builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose two points to 58 in January.
Will the government shutdown depress the economy?
Headlines across the media are talking about how much the government shutdown is costing. Most of it is true to varying degrees, but the words are telling only part of the story.
Real estate acquisition & disposition
An IPA isn't just a beer, it's a secret to commercial real estate investing
When investing in real estate, picking the right property is paramount, and one way to go about that is by using an IPA evaluation philosophy.
Unico sells 11-property office portfolio in Seattle & Denver for $710 million — rebusinessonline.com
Real estate investment and operating firm Unico Investment Group LLC has sold 11 office assets totaling 1.8 million square feet in Seattle and Denver for $710 million. Broad Street Principal Investments LLC, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, was the buyer.
Real estate development
Seattle's construction crane count dips, but city still tops U.S. markets
With 59 construction cranes dotting the city's skyline in November, Seattle remains atop the latest Rider Levett Bucknall Crane Index. Seattle, which has led the biannual index for three consecutive years, had six fewer cranes than in May but 14 more than in November 2017.
$212.2M construction loan for resort in California’s Coachella Valley — rebusinessonline.com
George Smith Partners arranged the three-year senior construction loan. The lender was an affiliate of Mosaic Real Estate Investors. Proceeds of the loan will go toward the predevelopment and construction costs of a 140-room Montage Resort, a 200-room Pendry Resort, 10 luxury golf villas, a conference facility and a golf clubhouse.
Newland adds to master-planned community in Phoenix area
For the first time in over a decade, the developer has broken ground on a new village in Estrella, about 25 miles west of downtown Phoenix.
A new DC neighborhood that doesn’t feel prefab — nymag.com
The Wharf doesn’t gaslight us into pretending it’s something it isn’t.
Urban planning, design and construction
Urban planning trends to watch in 2019
A few ideas about what to watch in the world of planning in 2019.
How the garage became America’s favorite room Nikil Saval writes on the rise of the garage in American culture, as described in “Garage,” a new book by the artist Olivia Erlanger and the architect Luis Ortega Govela.
We don’t build ‘em like we used to—but that’s not a bad thing
New technologies and standards in construction have made buildings safer.
Homelessness
Once a national model, Utah struggles with homelessness Place is a news and information website designed to shed light on the many issues revolving around land and property rights.
Environment & resiliency
What people get wrong about climate change
When discussing climate change, it's not about saving the planet. (NOTE: Watch the entire video or you might get the wrong impression.)
Glaciers are retreating. millions rely on their watern
Glaciers are crucial sources of water for people and crops in Central Asia. But global warming is causing glaciers there and around the world to shrink every year.
Around the world
The world Is getting quietly, relentlessly better If you spent 2018 mainlining misery about global warming, inequality, populism or other anxieties, here is some good news, Greg Ip writes. The world got better last year, and it is going to get even better this year.
Half the world's poor live in just five countries
Today, 736 million people live in extreme poverty. Half of those people, some 368 million, live in just five countries. But two are on track to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.
In Haiti's city-without-a-government, residents want land titles, taxation
Without titles, residents risk losing any investment they make and cannot use their property as collateral.