Articles About Office

Two young New York entrepreneurs are looking to cash in on what might be one of the commercial real estate brokerage community’s best-known secrets – that brokers commonly share hush-hush details of office transactions.  But Michael Mandel, a 29-year-old broker who spent more than five years with Grubb & Ellis, and Vadim Belobrovka, a 33-year-old […]

Back in the day, hot weather that overtaxed the power grid meant that office buildings had to turn down the air conditioning to save electricity.  Meanwhile, the employees would notice that their surroundings were getting appreciably warmer.  Today – because more buildings are connected to a smarter grid – fewer adjustments need to be made, […]

The landmark 102-story Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan could raise as much as $1 billion in a share sale and become a real estate investment trust (REIT), if the company that controls that iconic structure if its plans pan out.  According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Empire State Realty Trust, Inc., intends […]

If you’d like to slash your electric bill, switch to the LED light bulb, the “light-emitting diode” that General Electric invented 50 years ago.  Now, LED bulbs are the focus of intense competition among all of the major lighting manufacturers.  “There are two races going on,” said Todd Manegold, LED product manager for Philips Electric. […]

In the nearly 10 years since the 9/11 tragedy, the site that once seemed impossible to redevelop is very much alive.  The World Trade Center redevelopment and the electrifying changes going on in Downtown New York City — 56,000 new residents (doubled that of before the attacks) and 300 new tenants (since 2005) must be […]

According to a recent study, a 100-point scale, a 10-point increase in walkability increases property values by one to nine percent, depending on the property.  Chicago – with a Walk Score of 74 — was one of the nation’s most walkable cities.  The others are New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.  The […]

A giant spaceship is destined to land in Cupertino, CA – at least if Apple CEO Steve Jobs gets his way with the city council.  The new building will accommodate 12,000 employees and house its own green-energy power plant.  Apple’s current headquarters accommodates approximately 2,800 people, Jobs said.  “We’ve got almost 12,000 people in the […]

The nation’s largest conglomerate – General Electric – is getting into the solar business in a big way with the firm’s announcement that it is investing $600 million to build a new solar-panel manufacturing plant as it pursues what it thinks could be a $3 billion business by 2015.  The firm, already a leader in […]

As gas prices seesaw up and down at the pump and Americans reluctantly pay more to fill their tanks as the economy slows, OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting States) could not agree on whether or not to increase production and provide some relief. The two key factors are Saudi Arabia and Iran. At an […]

Ben Bernanke’s first-ever press conference is important because the unprecedented move gives the world a look at the inner workings of the often arcane Federal Reserve.  As a general rule, the Fed’s chairman avoids press conferences.  Typically they issue statements that are worded with extreme care.  Since the economic meltdown, however, the Fed’s increased role […]