Urbanexus Update - Issue #73
Urbanexus Update - Issue #73
Scroll down for the weekly compilation of analysis, reporting, and opinion about real estate and community development, prepared by H. Pike Oliver, Acting Chair of the Runstad Department of Real Estate in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. Please note that some links may lead to items that are behind a paywall.
The economy
The Fed voted to cut interest rates despite a decade of economic growth and low unemployment. Interest rates are already super low. What's going on?
A “race to the bottom” for rates and Currencies
Worldwide bond yields are plummeting as fear grips the market. A pillar of the post Cold War world economic order has been free and unmanipulated trade. Interestingly, the last time the 10 year was below today’s yield was in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. Will a worldwide devaluation of currency finally trigger inflation? Stay tuned.
Investment
How family offices are thinking about real estate
Given a family office’s access to long-term capital, real estate investments seem like a good fit. But management fees continue to be an area of contention.
Investors from Singapore to Toronto are wondering why North America’s vaunted urban sprawl ebbed before the billions they pumped into a giant "land banking" firm could pay off.
Location intelligence can mitigate land investment risk
When the $3.8 billion speculative land investment described in the article above leaves some investors with just 20 percent of their principal, alarm bells sound. Here’s how that problem might be avoided with recent advancements in location analysis technology.
Residential
U.S. zip codes with the most expensive residential land A U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency’s working paper pinpointed where the land under homes is most valuable.
Retail
The retailer plans to close 15 of its 22 locations and pursue a sale, but said its flagship Madison Avenue store would remain open.Not even luxury stores have been immune to the rise of e-commerce, which lets customers shop from home and buy directly from designers. Even recent efforts by Barneys to stay relevant--like a cannabis shop--have fallen short.
Pizza Hut to close 500 stores by mid-2021
Pizza Hut operates about 7,500 locations across the United States and 18,000 worldwide. In the United States, roughly 6,100 of the company’s locations are dine-in restaurants. Pizza Hut joins Subway and Burger King as fast food chains that have experienced triple-digit store closures over the past couple years. Subway closed more than 1,200 stores in 2017 and 2018 and is expected to add to that total this year, while Burger King announced in May its plans to shutter between 200 and 250 restaurants in the coming years.
Transportation
Passenger travel in Europe and the US
There are differences. But the overwhelming share of urban and intercity travel in both Europe and America depends largely on cars. According the Eurostat's 2018 edition of EU Transport in Figures, there was a less than 10 percent difference in the market share of cars between the EU and the United States. Europe, it turns out, is more like the United States than many retro-urbanists, not to mention casual tourists, assume.
Taming city street parking chaos
Testing ways to manage the intense competition for curb space that is resulting from the proliferation of delivery and ride-share services.
Community development
Gentrification is beneficial but painful for some
Newly-released research found that gentrification produces mostly positive effects for original lower-income residents, but that doesn’t mean there are no losers. Rather, neighborhood change is far more complex than the typical narratives let on, and there are a lot of ways to decipher and judge its effects on individuals.
Environment and resilience
Escaping California’s deadliest blaze — www.nytimes.com
Paradise, CA, became a zone at the limits of the American imagination — and a preview of the American future.
“Did fire come to Paradise or did Paradise go to the fire?” — story.californiasunday.com
Perspective on the longer term causes of the Paradise fire of 2019, the worst in California history.
Human activities are causing the persistent and rapid loss of America’s natural areas. The human footprint in the continental United States grew by more than 24 million acres from 2001 to 2017. Despite these worrisome domestic and international trends, the United States can still curtail the decline of its natural systems and protect a substantial portion of its remaining natural areas. Sixty percent of lands in the continental United States are in a largely natural condition or could plausibly be restored to a natural condition.
Places
A ranking of the best big cities
WalletHub compared the 62 largest U.S. cities based on 56 key indicators of attractiveness. Our data set ranges from the quality of public schools and life expectancy to job opportunities and property taxes. Read on for our findings, insight from a panel of experts and a full description of our methodology.
Design
The architectural legacy of Sea Ranch, — www.dwell.com Here’s what you need to know about the idyllic, seaside community of Sea Ranch, located 100 miles north of San Francisco, which was born out of the 1960s and remains an icon of modern architecture.
The legacy of 'Design With Nature' 50 years later Fifty years ago, a Scottish landscape architect revolutionized how designers and planners think about ecology. His legacy matters now more than ever.
Community development
High-rises planned for Phoenix — www.azcentral.com Six high-rise towers may soon replace a long-vacant plot of land at the northeast corner of Indian School Road and Central Avenue in Phoenix.
How the megadevelopment era shapes cities The company has made its name with oversized, transformative urban projects. But are these projects in cities’ best interest?
Gulch bond controversy in Atlanta A dispute over a blockbuster incentive package for downtown Atlanta’s Gulch project could be headed back to court.
The 'Building Boom' myth Contrary to popular myth, New York is not drowning in new housing.
Social development
A better address can change a child’s future
An experiment in Seattle is breaking the cycle of poverty. by reducing housing segregation and enhancing opportunity. For background on this go here and here.
The feedback loop of housing and income inequality New research shows how housing and income inequality reinforce one another, effectively splitting the U.S. into two different economies.
Environment and resilience
The impact of renewable energy — www.wsj.com Building one wind turbine requires 900 tons of steel, 2,500 tons of concrete and 45 tons of plastic.