In Case You Missed it: Week of August 8 – 12
Lenders rush to apartments; NYC’s new crop of tallest buildings; Freddie Mac announces ‘green’ finance initiative; five top construction markets and more in this week’s roundup.
Towering Town: NYC’s Tallest Buildings
StreetEasy – August 10, 2016
“Nowhere to go but up: That’s long been the motto in New York, the city that never sleeps, the city that promises people if you can make it here you can make it anywhere. Big talk and hyperbole are part of the Big Apple deal. Never has it been more demonstrably true then it is now, as a blistering spate of super-tall skyscrapers are being built and redefining the New York City skyline.”
The people who are truly harmed when cities say no to new housing
Wonkblog – The Washington Post – August 10, 2016
“You may effectively live your life within, say, San Francisco or Washington, D.C., going to school there, working there, dropping your children at day care there, spending your money and your waking time there. But if, at the end of the day, you go sleep somewhere else, you are invisible to the process of how we decide what’s right for that city.”
Who owns the city? How urban real estate became the corporate asset class of choice
CityMetric – August 8, 2016
“The term “gentrification” does not quite capture the massive changes that have been happening in a growing number of cities worldwide in the last few years. In mid-2014 to 2015 alone, more than a trillion dollars was invested in real estate in just 100 cities across North America, Europe and Asia; this is excluding properties priced under $5m and sites available for development.”
Lenders Rush to Make Loans on Apartment Properties
National Real Estate Investor – August 9, 2016
“Lenders made slightly more multifamily loans in the first quarter of 2016 than during the same period in 2015, according to the originations index kept by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The MBA index for multifamily rose 2.0 percent in the first quarter compared to the year before. Many bank lenders have become more competitive in their offers of permanent financing at the same time as they are more conservative for construction financing.”
Teenagers Aren’t Interested in Your First Seven Jobs
Bloomberg – August 9, 2016
“Many teens and their parents now have other priorities than starting out with the parade of part-time gigs and grunt work that older adults are remembering, fondly or otherwise, on social media with the hashtag #firstsevenjobs.”
Counting Cranes: 5 of the Most Active Construction Markets
Multifamily Executive – August 8, 2016
“Demand for rental housing has had multifamily construction booming since 2010, with several cities in particular enjoying the renaissance. A look at five such metros and their submarkets reveals some common ingredients—and differences—behind their success.”
Freddie Mac Announces Multifamily Green Building Financing Initiative
U.S. Green Building Council – August 9, 2016
“Tipping the scales for financing upgrades to multifamily housing toward sustainability, this new program from Freddie Mac has the potential to unleash large amounts of capital for green building improvements. This is very good news for green building.”