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Ralph Bivins

Ralph Bivins is a freelance writer based in Houston. He is a prolific blogger and veteran journalist who covered real estate and economic development as a staffer at the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News for two decades. He is a past president of the National Association of Real Estate Editors. He blogs at RealtyNewsReport.com.

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Development and Construction
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Fall Meeting
Solutions to the Attainable and Affordable Housing Crisis Are Varied, but Promising
No single solution exists among the efforts to deliver attainable and affordable housing in a country where home prices continue to escalate significantly and the dream of homeownership is out of reach of millions of households, an expert panel told attendees at ULI’s 2019 Fall Meeting in Washington, D.C.
September 19, 2019
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Ralph Bivins
Residential
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Fall Meeting
New Forms of Housing in a Changing World
American housing continues to evolve as new forms of shelter arise to meet changing demographics and consumer demands.
October 25, 2017
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Ralph Bivins
Residential
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Fall Meeting
Building Equitable Cities in an Urban Nation
The United States is becoming more urbanized. Cities are becoming stronger. But millions of people are being left behind, unable to participate in the urban success, says Henry Cisneros, coauthor of a new ULI book on the topic.
October 24, 2017
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Ralph Bivins
Development and Construction
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Adaptive Use and Building Reuse
Transforming Obsolete Downtown Towers into Offices, Hotels
Downtown office properties are no longer disposable, throw-away structures with just a 30-year life span. Today, adaptive use initiatives are revitalizing buildings, changing the purpose of the towers to meet current market demands and extending the buildings’ useful life by many decades. At the 2016 ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas last month, panelists demonstrated the case for redeveloping downtown properties.
November 22, 2016
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Ralph Bivins
Development and Construction
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News
Leveraging Successful Urban Regeneration Initiatives
Regenerative developments are breathing new life and economic growth into mature cities with transformative initiatives that are imparting a new competitiveness and bright futures to urban areas, panelists said at the 2016 ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas. “We aren’t just building buildings. We’re building cities,” said David Pitchford, chief executive officer of UrbanGrowth NSW, a government agency of the Australian state of New South Wales.
November 3, 2016
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Ralph Bivins
Development and Construction
Suburbs and Cities Are Becoming More Alike
American suburbs can be developed into more walkable, sustainable places to rival urban ones and potentially satisfy the changing needs of all generations, panelists said at the ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas. “Suburb does not have to be viewed as a dirty word, because it’s not,” said Adam Ducker, managing director of urban real estate at RCLCO, a real estate advisory firm based in Washington, D.C.
October 31, 2016
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Ralph Bivins
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Development and Construction
Downtown Dallas: A Turnaround Built on Parks, Arts, and People
Converting offices to residences—and creating valuable parkland—helped lure people and development back to the urban core.
October 10, 2016
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Ralph Bivins
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Economy, Market & Trends
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Residential
Falling Oil Prices Temper Houston’s Economic Surge
In other times, Houston’s economic performance in 2014 would have been considered outstanding. But despite those strong results, no euphoria spills from the lips of Houston economists today. Caution rules in the business community.
May 7, 2015
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Ralph Bivins
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Development and Construction
ExxonMobil’s New Campus: Giving Houston a Second Energy Corridor
Executives are keeping their large, new campus largely under wraps. Nevertheless, it is transforming the area’s real estate.
May 4, 2015
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Ralph Bivins
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Economy, Market & Trends
Gateway Houston: Attracting Immigrants, Global Trade, and Investors
Last year, veteran Texas homebuilder Jim Lemming decided to construct houses to meet the prevailing tastes and lifestyles of Houston’s growing southwest suburbs. That meant building houses with prayer rooms, Islamic-style arches, domed roofs, and extra master bedroom suites to accommodate multigenerational households.
April 27, 2015
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Ralph Bivins
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