Articles About Industrial

As the 1st quarter 2010 numbers come in, banks across the country are still uneasy about the short-term outlook for commercial real estate – and their portfolios in particular.  At the same time, there is a growing sense that the potential for disaster has faded and that problems are being resolved. In general, banks reported […]

Ten years after Mayor Richard M. Daley ordered a roof garden planted on top of Chicago’s City Hall, the city has 500 green roofs downtown and scattered throughout its neighborhoods.  According to Department of Environment spokesman Larry Merritt, green roofs cover approximately seven million SF, although that represents less than one-tenth of one percent of […]

Congress — wary of 2010 mid-term elections – appears to be unlikely to pass climate change legislation this year, writes Jeffrey D. Sachs in Scientific American. According to Sachs, “The fracture lines are countless, but probably the most important one runs through public opinion.  A recent poll showed only 36 percent of Americans believing that […]

A 43-story residential tower in south London’s Elephant & Castle neighborhood will receive eight percent of its power from three wind turbines  installed at the top of the structure.  The Strata Tower – nicknamed the Electric Razor – is being developed by Brookfield Europe and eventually will be home to 1,000 residents. The Strata is […]

Despite the troubled economy, commercial building owners retain their commitment to making their properties more environmentally friendly.  Going green saves building owners and users money and makes sound business sense. “The fact of the matter is this is just good business – making buildings perform better,” said Dan Probst, an energy and sustainable development expert […]

Worker productivity increased 3.8 percent in 2009, the best record since 2002. Writing in the Washington Post, Neil Irwin notes, “That means high-level gains in productivity – which in the long run is the key to a higher standard of living but in the short run contributes to sky-high unemployment.  So long as employers can […]

The Federal Reserve is ending its purchase of mortgage-backed securities, a sign of confidence that the nation’s economic recovery is well underway.  At the same time, the Fed voted to retain its benchmark interest rate at approximately zero percent, because of remaining economic weakness and the lack of inflation.  According to the Fed, it will […]

The jobs that economists, commercial real estate owners and others in the know have been expecting  seem to be on the horizon.  New data from the Department of Labor show a 64,000 net new payroll increase for November, although the numbers fell again in December, January and February.  More information will be available when Labor […]

The Energy Star ratings system and the Home Star program are likely to be joined by Building Star, which will provide incentives to improve energy efficiency in commercial and multi-family residential buildings.  Legislation to establishe Building Star was introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR). If the legislation becomes law, the […]

Despite the Snowmageddon that crippled Washington, D.C. and much of the East Coast during February, the economy continued to grow at a modest rate.  This is the opinion of the Federal Reserve’s newly issued Beige Book report – officially known as the “Summary of Commentary on Current Economics Conditions by Federal Reserve District” — which […]