Energy and energy efficiency were recurring topics at a recent event hosted by ULI Los Angeles, as developers and planners wrestle with ways to improve the efficiency of buildings and communities. New technology and government mandates have helped push the issues to the forefront, but speakers emphasized repeatedly the need for a different way of thinking about short- and long-term goals.

Last month, Cushman & Wakefield reported that U.S. industrial markets absorbed 63.6 million square feet (5.9 million sq m) of space in the final quarter of 2016, which propelled net absorption for the year to a record-setting 282.9 million square feet (26.3 million sq m). According to the company, the U.S. industrial vacancy rate for all product types continued to decline in the fourth quarter, falling 30 basis points (bps) from the prior quarter and 100 bps from the prior year to 5.5 percent.

According to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), the FTSE/NAREIT All REIT Index posted a return of 0.2 percent last month, compared to the Standard & Poor’s 500 index return of 1.9 percent. As for REIT property sectors, timber REITs posted a total return of 3.7 percent, while industrial REITs dropped by 6.5 percent. Plus, interest rate survey data from Trepp.

In the six years since Philadelphia began to slowly reverse decades of population loss, the city has seen its share of real estate development controversies. Most of these—involving questions of gentrification, tax abatements, and density—would be familiar in any number of U.S. cities that have undergone a resurgence in the past few years. But lately, discussions about the preservation and demolition of the city’s thousands of historic properties have been particularly pitched.

Avalon is a mixed-use town center that, in its first phase, includes retail, restaurant, multifamily rental housing, single-family for-sale housing, and office uses surrounding a main street and a central plaza. A second phase will add a hotel and conference center as well as additional retail, multifamily rental housing, and office space. The 2.3 million-square-foot (213,676 meters) project is located in an affluent northern suburb of Atlanta.

Data center real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been the best-performing sector over the past two years, posting total returns of 28.36 percent in 2015 and 26.41 percent in 2016. Once considered a fringe sector, data centers have charged onto the center stage as internet use and data consumption have skyrocketed. But data centers are also proving to be one of the sectors most sensitive to interest rates: returns stumbled late in 2016 before making a recovery in December. Plus, interest rate survey data from Trepp.

Seattle’s Westlake Avenue bikeway was named America’s best new bike lane of 2016 last month by People for Bikes, an industry coalition of bicycling suppliers and retailers, as well as a charitable foundation. What makes the $3.6 million project notably effective is that it takes advantage of the flat topography close to Lake Union which is beneficial to cycling while also connecting an existing network of trails to a desirable destination.

A new report from ULI Europe and JLL finds that food and beverage (F&B) and leisure offerings are essential to the success and future competitiveness of shopping centers. The report finds that retail sales in a sample of shopping centers analyzed for the study increased by 6.2 percent in the previous 12 months with the addition of leisure and F&B, with retail sales per square meter growing by 1.2 percent over the same period.

Capitalizing on a strong fourth quarter, hotel real estate investment trusts posted a healthy 25 percent total return for the year. However, hotel consulting firm STR is expecting 2.8 percent RevPAR growth this year, which would be the lowest since 2009. Plus, interest rate survey data from Trepp.

An area adjacent to the North Branch of the Chicago River has been selected as the study site in the 15th annual ULI Hines Student Competition.