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The Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley has released a statewide assessment of the development of housing five years after the implementation of California's Senate Bill (SB) 35 began in 2018. The bill eased the barriers to housing production for builders, in some cases removing... View full entry
The new developments look startlingly alike, often in the form of boxy, mid-rise buildings with a ground-floor retail space, sans-serif fonts and vivid slabs of bright paneling. The bulky design is conspicuous, jutting out of downtown streets and overpowering its surroundings. Over time, it attracts a certain ecosystem — the craft breweries, the boutique coffee shops, the out-of-town young professionals.
It’s anytown architecture, and it’s hard to know where you are from one city to the next.
— The New York Times
The disappearance of America’s vernacular architecture and subsequent rise of what some call developer modernism is the product of necessity, reluctance towards artistry, and the monopolization of residential development across the country, according to the Times’ real estate reporter Anna... View full entry
In a few short years, policymakers and building designers have gone from pushing energy-efficient design and products—which saved folks money—to targeting carbon emission reductions, even if it costs more in the long run. This paradigm shift is rapidly changing expectations for the development and operation of affordable housing. — Shelterforce
New York, Boston, and Los Angeles are three of America’s largest cities to have recently adopted some version of law or code changes mandating the design of new buildings (with the occasional exception for certain, typically smaller multifamily developments) be made all-electric. The... View full entry
Construction spending in New York City will reach an all-time high of $86 billion this year, up $38 billion from 2021, according to a new report from the New York Building Congress.
The report finds that despite numerous obstacles from the pandemic and economic uncertainty, construction spending and infrastructure investment in New York City remain positive.
— Construction Dive
The influx of capital, unfortunately, has not impacted the city’s most critical area of need as it was recently reported to have fallen short of its planned goals to construct 25,000 units of affordable housing by 36%. The New York Building Congress says the shortfall will only get worse as a... View full entry
According to a new study by storage space marketplace StorageCafe, four of the top five most active downtown areas for new apartment construction are in the South, with Atlanta, Georgia ranking first for built downtown apartments over the past ten years. The city yielded over... View full entry
A new report from the Dodge Construction Network indicates the continued rebound of the building industry in 12 of America’s 20 largest metropolitan areas during the first two quarters of 2022, propelled by new starts in the commercial and multifamily residential sectors. A survey at the... View full entry
Tulsa, Oklahoma’s ongoing transformation into the premier cultural capital of the southern Midwest region may about to get a useful new addition as local news outlets are reporting that Palm Spring-based architect Chris Pardo will design a $51 million mixed-use development located on a blacktop... View full entry
An L.A. developer has a new approach to the so-called tenancy-in-common, or TIC, model, in which residents share ownership of the property. Instead of converting old, rent-controlled buildings into TIC properties, the developer is replacing single-family homes with new townhomes.
Some real estate experts said the model could help the region’s gaping affordable-housing problem, particularly after a new state law opened more areas to similar development.
— The Los Angeles Times
S.B. 9 allows for up to four units to be built on plots formerly reserved for single-family developments exclusively. Since the bill was enacted, many investors have begun to demolish single-family units in order to construct the newer TIC model of townhouses, which was supposedly pioneered by a... View full entry
A pair of statewide incentive programs in Massachusetts is driving a surge of apartment buildings designed to the highly energy-efficient passive house standard.
In the past year, families have moved into 257 affordable housing units in complexes built to the standard, and about 6,000 additional units are now in various stages of development.
— Energy News US
The Commonwealth has been ramping up investment into the technology since 2018, when it instituted The Passive House Design Challenge that awarded a total of $1.73 million (or $4,000 per unit) to eight separate multifamily developments from Gloucester to Boston. Another initiative called Mass Save... View full entry
Located in South Slope, Brooklyn, House Offset is a residential remodel that underwent a recent renovation with a focus on enhancing both interior and exterior architectural details as well as "preserving much of the exterior as a nod to adjacent residences and the traditional New York City... View full entry
The conversation around the shift from workplace to workspace often gets stuck on how the office is transitioning to meet the evolving needs of employees. But it isn’t just offices that are adjusting. Like their office-owning counterparts, multifamily landlords and operators are studying shifts in workplace strategy, planning new ways to design layouts and apply technology to support the growing work from home population. — Propmodo
The pandemic has caused a sharp pullback in multifamily construction as developers have struggled to adapt to the shift in lifestyles. Increased needs for high-quality internet and added remote workspaces have beset the residential market historically driven by amenity trends and aesthetic... View full entry
The latest building adaptation report from the American Institute of Architect (AIA) highlights steps that building owners and designers can take to retrofit existing multi-family homes for pandemic occupation. Following recently published guides for schools, offices, and hospitals, AIA has issued... View full entry
Big Mouth House was developed by Hybrid Architecture, led by Rob Humble in collaboration with Kailin Gregga of Best Practice Architecture and sole practitioner Steven Lazen. The team transformed a 5,760-square-foot single-family lot in Seattle's Central District into three dynamic townhomes. Each... View full entry
Many residential developments today try to balance the issues of density and materiality with neighborhood scale, and the Origami residences by Waechter Architecture are no exception. The 12-unit townhome development occupies an entire city block in northeast Portland's Piedmont neighborhood... View full entry
For minorities and female developers, “access to capital has been the biggest challenge,” said Peebles, who has been an outspoken advocate for diversity in the industry. “I looked at how to address that for a number of years. No one in the country is doing this on a national level.” — therealdeal.com
Real estate developer Peebles Corporation has unveiled a $500 million investment fund that will be used to fuel development projects led by women and racial minorities. According to The Real Deal, the fund will focus on urban infill projects with budgets between $10 and $70 million in... View full entry
