News
US Badly Requires Infrastructure OverhaulCalled Infrastructure 2008Â A Competitive Advantage, the reports findings are more downbeat than last years, which predicted that infrastructure will emerge as a new asset class for institutional investors seeking stable growth that can keep up with inflation. The 2007 report stated, somewhat hopefully, that one potentially good source of funds for such investments would be the various permutations of public-private partnerships that are so popular in Europe and Asia. Howeve
Bay Area Bound For A Massive Traffic JamTampa Bay area traffic congestion will increase sharply within 30 years, with the amount of time stuck in driving delays growing as much as 2 1/2 times, a new report says.
The 68-page report released Tuesday by the Urban Land Institute, an independent research firm, looks at transportation issues and needs in 23 U.S. metropolitan areas, including Tampa-St. Petersburg, as well as Europe and Asia.
Real Estate Fears Spread Across Europe“Property returns in future will be driven essentially by rental
growth, with active asset management playing an increasingly important role
in boosting performance at the investment level.â€
A
separate report by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers
suggests Moscow and Istanbul may be better bets.
London Property Prices Continue to SoarWilliam Kistler of the ULI said London is treble other European
capitals, both to acquire assets as well as the rental costs that underlie
those prices. The differential means that London had appreciated to a point
that was unsustainable.
Mr Kistler added you couldn’t
continue to grow rental income or the price being paid for buildings. So,
there is that factor, but there is also a more fundamental factor which is
the concerns about London’s dependency on the financial
Russia Gets $1B 'Yuppie Town'Russia's 10th-straight year of economic growth has helped Moscow
to become the top European city in terms of investment and development
prospects, according to a report by the Urban Land Institute and
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Publications
The State of Europe’s Housing MarketThe worst-hit countries have been Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Baltic region; Germany has gone from stagnant to declining.
New Mixed-Use Project Seen as Stimulus for Belfast’s ResurgenceThe £400 million ($800 million) Victoria Square mixed-use project, which opened in early March in the center of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the largest commercial development in the history of the oft-troubled country. The 760,000-square-foot (70,600-sq-m) retail-led regeneration project, which has added over 30 percent to the total trading space in the center of Belfast, took almost a decade to deliver and came to fruition only after several different sites had been considered.
In Much of Mainland Europe, Deals Are Still Being Done—Despite the Changed Economic ClimateThe credit crunch is slowing real estate activity, but March forecasts from global real estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) suggest that in Europe especially, transaction rates may revive later in the year, prompted by opportunities provided by price reductions.
Europe’s Housing ChallengesEurope’s housing challenges are wide ranging, and exist at the Trans-European, national, regional, and metropolitan levels. They are the manifestations of underlying market failures and investment gaps, socioeconomic issues, and inadequate policy responses. Building a Europewide agenda on housing is a key priority if Europe’s growth is to be balanced.
U.K.’s Proposed Ecotowns Spur Local ObjectionsOne of Gordon Brown’s first policy announcements after his election as British prime minister a year ago was a plan to build five new settlements in England as “ecotowns.” The goal was to have all structures in these communities achieve net-zero carbon standards, and for the towns to be walkable and include a mix of uses. The policy was initially widely welcomed, prompting Brown to announce last September a potential doubling of the number of ecotowns. “Ecotowns are tackling both the challenge of climate change and the need for more families to have a future in a home of their own,” Caroline Flint, U.K. government housing minister, noted this past April.