Texas was the last state affected by the recession and is one of the first to emerge. It benefits from population and job growth and from being a business- and tax-friendly state. Read about the bright spots in the state’s real estate sector—including major markets like Dallas–Fort Worth and Austin—and learn which sectors hold the most promise.
Internet giant Google is among a number of new investors in low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) that have breathed new life into the affordable housing sector. However, the market is currently in flux: high yields that characterized the affordable housing market in 2009–2010 have returned to more normal levels—requiring those who want to enter the LIHTC arena to do their homework.
Hong Kong–based Swire Properties is planning Brickell CitiCentre (BCC), a nine-acre (3.6-ha) mixed-use development in the heart of Miami’s Brickell Financial District. And in May, Genting Malaysia Bhd announced plans to build Resorts World Miami after buying a 13.9-acre (5.6-ha) piece of land. Read how downtown Miami’s fast-growing residential population has made these projects possible.
Across the United States, making old new again is rapidly becoming a trend in the retail real estate industry. In a market where competition for tenants is fierce, sprucing up older properties can make a difference in getting retailers to sign leases. Read more to learn how developers can successfully renovate tired retail properties to secure higher rents and better tenants.
South America’s largest and most vibrant economy, Brazil, is very hot for real estate development nowadays. It is also one of the fastest-growing emerging countries in the world, with gross domestic product gains of 7.5 percent last year, and expectations of 4.5 percent this year—substantially outpacing the United States. Learn what companies should know before jumping into this exciting real estate market.
Thinking of doing real estate development in China? Then read what tips ULI members Bill Callaway, principal at SWA Group, a Sausalito, California–based international landscape architecture and planning firm, and Gene Schnair, managing partner in the West Coast offices of the international architecture firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, have for those who want to do business in the Middle Kingdom.
After two years of tough times, America’s second-home market is showing signs of life in select markets, thanks to increasing confidence in the economy, targeted marketing of properties to select segments, and a desire by many baby boomers to get on with their lives, say industry insiders. Read what advice they are giving to developers and entrepreneurs who want to enter this reviving market.
To transform the city’s moribund central business district, municipal officials in Quincy, Massachusetts, are partnering with Street-Works—a development firm that specializes in the creation of mixed-use districts around public spaces. What’s unusual about the Quincy project, however, is that the private sector—rather than the public sector—is doing the heavy lifting upfront. Learn more.
Traditional lending sources such as commercial banks are returning to the marketplace and alternative methods of financing are becoming more available to real estate entrepreneurs—signaling that the credit crunch that has plagued the real estate industry over the past 18 months is easing. Read what experts say about banks and investment firms that are looking to place debt capital in real estate.
With 300-plus days of sunshine a year, Phoenix is becoming a center for solar innovation, with developers and cities alike taking the renewable-energy push to new heights. Read how residential, commercial, and industrial developers there are incorporating new technologies—from films and window systems to concentrated dishes that are not much bigger than a computer monitor—into their developments.
