Real Estate Issues

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

Editor's note.(Editorial)
THIS VERY PUBLICATION WAS MY FIRST exposure to The Counselors of Real Estate. I have been citing and referencing its authors and articles in my own work for years. OK, make that decades ... but, lon . . .

Corporate real estate: an interview with experts.(LEADERSHIP ROUNDTABLE)(Interview)
INTRODUCTION IT'S ALWAYS BEST TO START AT THE BEGINNING. AND BEFORE real estate can be discussed as an asset class or as something to be valued, leveraged, traded or securitized, it must first be . . .

Enterprise component allocation: methodology discussion.(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)
BUSINESS ENTERPRISE VALUE (BEV) HAS FOR MANY YEARS eluded a universally accepted method of appraisal. It has been the subject of much discussion, writing and even litigation. By definition intangibl . . .

Mixed-use development and financial feasibility: part I - economic and financial factors.(FEATURE)
INTRODUCTION MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENTS ARE GROWING IN POPULARITY AS they reportedly can create additional value and outperform standard single-use real estate developments. The synergy and appeal of . . .

Credit crisis has weakened global property fundamentals.(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)
A STRIKING FEATURE OF THE RECENT FLOW OF MACRO DATA IS how the downturn in those economies most directly affected by the credit crunch has spread across the rest of the globe. No longer is there any . . .

Managing risk in income property loan portfolios: relative index methodology: a proposal to enhance Basel II regulations on inco
INTRODUCTION The purpose of this article is to propose Basel II regulation to significantly reduce the risk of another real estate boom-bust cycle threatening the viability of the U.S. financial s . . .

Islamic financing and foreclosure.(FEATURE)
IN THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, THE UNITED STATES HAS SEEN substantial growth in a subsection of international finance sometimes called "Islamic Finance." Although conclusive data is not yet available, F . . .

Counseling the banks: what is the market for branches?(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)(Industry overview)
INTRODUCTION LOSSES ARE IN THE BILLIONS, CENTURY-OLD FINANCIAL institutions are failing, and those that formerly lent money to the rest of us now are on government assistance; these are the darkes . . .

The income tax effects of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 on real estate transactions.(FEATURE)(Statistical data)
INTRODUCTION IF REAL ESTATE INVESTORS ARE TO MAXIMIZE AFTER-TAX profits and maintain appropriate levels of capital investment, they must have a working knowledge of the latest legislative changes . . .

When will the Miami condominium market recover? Follow the land, man.(COMMENTARY)(Industry overview)(Statistical data)
Since 2003, DEVELOPERS HAVE BEGUN CONSTRUCTION ON 22,000 condos in downtown Miami, which is more than double the number built over the last four decades. "For sale" condominium inventory has doubled . . .

Navigating the Redevelopment Maze: Redevelopment-Planning, Law and Project Implementation: A Guide for Practitioners.(Book revie
EDITORS BLAESSER AND CODY HAVE put together a number of individual chapters, creating a primer on the redevelopment process. The book is targeted to attorneys acting on behalf of their developer cli . . .

A Practical Guide to Commercial Real Estate Transactions.(Book review)
"It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly, a shot rang out! A door slammed. Someone screamed. Without warning, a ..." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Well, this volume is not quite all that enticing--unl . . .

Enough. True Measures of Money, Business and Life.(Book review)
JOHN BOGLE IS THE FOUNDER AND former CEO of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group. He created Vanguard in 1974. Fortune Magazine rated him as one of four "Investment Giants" of the twentieth century. Time. . . .

"Like any professional, an architect is simply an educator".(Editor's Statement)
ONE OF THE GREAT BENEFITS OF MY JOB as editor in chief of Real Estate Issues is that I have the opportunity to read all of the wonderful manuscripts that the members of The Counselors submit for rev . . .

Shifting the sustainability paradigm: from advocacy to good business.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUILDING)
INTRODUCTION SUSTAINABILITY HAS BECOME THE WATCHWORD for imagining a new utopia where the relationship of the human endeavor with the natural world is properly aligned to the benefit of both. But . . .

Weather-related losses in the built environment: societal change and climate change.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUILDING)
INTRODUCTION IT IS NOW COMMON IN POLICY DEBATES to invoke human-caused climate change as a possible cause of economic, public health and catastrophic property losses. A close look at climate chang . . .

Selling and governing the green project: owner risks in marketing, entitlement and project governance.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUILDING)
INTRODUCTION CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT THE LEGAL AND RISK MANAGEMENT issues related to green buildings is in its relative infancy. With the sustainable development revolution upon us and a general c . . .

Greening the standard of care: evolving legal standards of practice for the architect in a sustainable world.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUI
OVERVIEW THE TASK OF DELIVERING GREEN OR SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS requires the coordination of many parties in the chain of asset management and construction. Arguably, one of the more important figu . . .

Trust, but verify ... building enclosure commissioning in sustainable design.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUILDING)
INTRODUCTION Sustainable design does not necessarily result in a sustainable building. As an architect practicing in the area of building enclosure failure investigation and repair design, persona . . .

Expanding the principles of performance to sustainable buildings.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUILDING)
A MAJOR ISSUE IS EVOLVING WITH REGARD TO THE MEANING and implications of the term "building performance." To some, this expression means a promise to design buildings that will function in accordanc . . .

Sustainable buildings and the surety.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUILDING)
ONE OF THE MORE VITAL, THOUGH OFTEN HIDDEN, types of risk transfer mechanisms on many construction projects is the surety. In fact, sureties act as a basic backstop against the possibility that a pr . . .

Green building representations and the emerging potential for securities fraud liability.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUILDING)
INTRODUCTION IN THE PAST TEN YEARS, THE NOTION OF "GREEN" or high-performance building has moved from an isolated concept discussed among small groups of idealists to become a key element of any c . . .

Legal issues arising out of green building legislation.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUILDING)
AS CONCERN ABOUT THE STATE of the natural environment continues to rate higher on the public's agenda, an increasing number of state and local governments have enacted legislation to combat the sign . . .

Energy performance in residential green developments: a Florida case study.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUILDING)
THE COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL SECTORS both have an important role to play in any worthwhile attempt to decrease the overall energy consumption of the United States. Often, the residential sector is . . .

Blinded by the (green) light: the rise of environmentalism and a new vocabulary-four perspectives.(FOCUS ON GREEN BUILDING)
Awareness of Energy and the Environment: Perspective One A NEW ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS Was thrust upon the United States in the 1970s with the OPEC oil embargo. (1) Facing rising energy . . .

Through a muddy crystal ball.(real estate market)(Editorial)
The views expressed here are those of Maura Cochran, Bartram & Cochran, Inc., and Marc Thompson, Bank of the West, and not necessarily those of the The Counselors of Real Estate. "THE MARKETS ARE . . .

Green building: balancing fact and fiction.(LEADERSHIP ROUNDTABLE)(Roger Bezdek of President-Management Information Services, In
BACKGROUND A new phrase has entered the vocabulary of real estate: "green building." Everywhere one turns, there is yet another conference, article or marketing campaign advocating for green or su . . .

Investing in residential real estate in the United States of America.(FOCUS ON REAL ESTATE)
This article is developed from CRE Richard A. Hanson's presentation made at MIPIM in March 2008. The presentation addresses U.S. real estate development patterns and investment in view of current ma . . .

Caution! not all house prices have declined.(FOCUS ON REAL ESTATE)
A DAY DOES NOT GO BY WHEN THE NATIONAL ant international press do not report with great authority that house prices, typically a median, have declined significantly--across the board, for all market . . .

Agricultural land.(FOCUS ON REAL ESTATE)
IN THE PAGES OF REAL ESTATE ISSUES, WE HAVE EXPLORED many aspects of land use and development including entitlement, valuation, zoning, environmental remediation, urban renewal and urban sprawl. We . . .

The U.S. senior housing opportunity: investment strategies.(FEATURE)
With favorable demographic fundamentals and the achievement of higher yields relative to conventional apartments, we believe that the senior housing sector is emerging as an increasingly attractive . . .

Special master bias in eminent domain cases.(FEATURE)
OVERVIEW OF EMINENT DOMAIN VALUATION The various state laws in the United States are consistent on eminent domain valuation: the stated goal is the difference between the total value of the proper . . .

Real estate conveyances from livery of seisin to electronic transfer: Real estate transactions enter the digital/electronic Worl
THE AGE OF "STICKS AND STONES:" MANUAL TRANSFER Prior to 1500, most real estate conveyances (1) were by livery of seisin: "livery" meaning delivery and "seisin" meaning possession. Ownership follo . . .

Commercial real estate loss expectation and CMBS/CMBX prices.(FEATURE)(commercial mortgage-backed securities)(commercial mortgag
WHILE PRICES HAVE BEEN SLOW TO CHANGE IN THE COMMERCIAL real estate equity market, the commercial real estate debt markets have been driven by ever increasing costs and decreased availability of mor . . .

Quo vadis redux--or where are we heading?(TALK OF THE TIMES)(real estate market)
Below is the text of a speech presented by CRE Daniel Rose at the first national conference of the Yale Alumni Real Estate Association, held at Yale University in April 2008. Rose asks real estate p . . .

Last Harvest: How a Cornfield Became New Daleville.(real estate market)(Viewpoint essay)
I AM CERTAIN THAT VIRTUALLY EVERY member of The Counselors of Real Estate has an active level of curiosity for the real estate projects we all observe in our professional and day-to-day lives. While . . .

Editor's statement.
"Everything you know, I taught you. I did not teach you everything I know" THESE WERE THE WORDS of an investment banker who was providing me documentation for a pool of low-income, tax credit apart . . .

Economic and market trends in second half of 2007 and early 2008: an assessment and outlook.(LEADERSHIP ROUNDTABLE)(Company over
Panelists: RAYMOND G. TORTO Ph.D., CRE Principal and Chief Strategist CB Richard Ellis--Torto Wheaton Research Boston, Mass. KENNETH P. RIGGS, JR., CRE President and CEO Real Estate Re . . .

Deflation risk in income-property investments and permanent loan portfolios: a 2008 update.(FEATURE)
Note: These are the views of the author, and not necessarily the views of Bank of the West. THIS ARTICLE UPDATES A PREVIOUS ARTICLE I WROTE for the Summer 2003 issue of Real Estate Issues (REI) un . . .

Seizure in the capital markets and its impact on Washington's investment-grade office building deal volume.(FEATURE)
THE LENDING CRISES THAT HIT THE U.S. ECONOMY in the late 1980s and early 1990s had their foundation in poorly underwritten commercial loans and, for the most part, the impact of this failure remaine . . .

Home price indices futures.(FEATURE)
THIS ARTICLE ANALYZES THE POTENTIAL USE OF Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) housing futures for hedging, arbitrage and speculative purposes. The quote from the CME web page on housing futures reads . . .

Focus on real estate analysis; Rebuilding after Katrina: an owner's perspective two years later.(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)
WE ARE TAUGHT TO THINK OF REAL ESTATE AS A STABLE investment, with predictable behavior. Two years after Katrina struck, the rebuilding of our seven New Orleans properties is finally complete, and I . . .

Focus on real estate analysis: how major hurricanes impact housing prices and transaction volume.(FEATURE)
WE SEEK TO INVESTIGATE THE EXTENT TO WHICH COASTAL impacts of major (1) hurricanes may affect short- and medium-term housing prices. Our investigation is largely motivated by the increased strength . . .

Editor's statement.(Editorial)
I recently enjoyed a lengthy conversation with a friend concerning the operation of our respective firms. She is a land use lawyer with one of the best (and largest) law firms in the Northeast. By c . . .

Leadership Roundtable: the real estate industry & the CRE organization.(FEATURE)(Conference notes)
Panelists: RICHARD A. HANSON, CRE 2008 CRE Chairman of the Board Principal -- Mesa Development, LLC Chicago, Ill. A.C. SCHWETHELM, CRE 2008 CRE First Vice Chairman (to serve as 2009 Ch . . .

Conservation easements: windfall or straitjacket?(FEATURE)
A CONSERVATION EASEMENT CREATES A NON-POSSESSORY interest in land. In granting or donating a conservation easement, a landowner normally transfers certain property rights to a nonprofit conservation . . .

Unintentional redlining? Zoning ordinances and the living wage.
AS SOCIETY BECOMES INCREASINGLY MULTICULTURAL, LAWSUITS involving discrimination by race and national origin are likely to become more prevalent. While many such cases are filed under the 14th Amend . . .

Focus on Real Estate Analysis: comments on the probability of rezoning.(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)
IN THE SPRING 2007 EDITION OF REAL ESTATE ISSUES, THE concept and definition of highest and best use was discussed in the article, "Comments on the Concept and Definition of Highest and Best Use." w . . .

Commercial real estate derivatives: the developing U.S. market.(FEATURE)
"Derivatives make markets more complete--that is, they make it possible to hedge risks that otherwise would be unhedgeable.... [R]isks are born by those who are in the best position to bear them and . . .

Focus on the United Kingdom: what is driving the change in the U.K. retail market?(INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE)
ONE OF THE REASONS FOR WRITING THESE INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE articles is to draw, in the mind of the reader, a similarity or contrast between the U.K. and the property market in which the reader opera . . .