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.
The global industrial market is poised for big changes as companies reexamine their supply chain operations, says ULI trustee James J. Curtis III. Labor arbitrage, rising manufacturing costs, and a much greater sensitivity to sustainability are among those factors that will drive the industrial market in the future, he adds. Read what other experts predict for the industrial market going forward.
Leading development groups appear to recognize that competition for tenants, local government attitudes, smart exit strategies, and rising resource costs often require green strategies beyond the market baseline for their developments. Several are seeking differentiation or leadership status within a sector or region. Learn which cities are leading the way in implementing green strategies and about what forces are driving this increasing trend.
Entrepreneurs, developers, architects, and financial executives from around the country say they are seeing increasing signs of a thaw in the real estate sector. Real estate activity is increasing in New York City, Seattle, Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Denver. Find out which sector represents a market bright spot for both Seattle, Washington, and Washington, D.C.
The Orlando area is seeing a gradual improvement in both demand for land and in pricing, but Tampa Bay is doing considerably better, say real estate insiders in Florida. Read how the Orlando area is already seeing strong multifamily interest and how the Tampa Bay residential markets are expected to see a slow recovery in 2011—even in light of the lingering effects of the Great Recession.
“As the recovery in the industry strengthens, hotels have become an attractive sector,” says ULI’s Hotel Development Council chair. But parties entering the hospitality industry should study it carefully, says the owner of Hotel Granduca, which recently posted its highest occupancy ever. Read what other industry insiders are saying about doing business in this sector during the economic recovery.
With a strong economy led by government, education, and health care, the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, area consistently ranks among the nation’s best economies. Read what local insiders have to say about how the multifamily sector and the Class A warehouse segments have improved, as well as what’s in store for the retail and office sectors in the Research Triangle area in 2011.
Ten years ago, downtown Phoenix became a ghost town at 5 p.m.—because emphasis was placed on giant sports arenas, convention centers, hotels, and redevelopment projects with chain stores. Today, however, all is different. Read what real estate insiders say turned that downtown around and how those lessons can be applied to other cities that want to reinvigorate their central business districts.
The so-called redline drawn around the Phoenix market by investors seems to have been erased, says Steve Betts, chair of ULI Arizona. He attributes the metropolitan area’s resurgence to HEAT—Health care, Energy, Aerospace/defense, and Technology. Read what other local players are saying about this uptick in activity and why it appears that the road to recovery will be a long and bumpy one.
