WHAT are the most dysfunctional parts of the global financial system? China’s banking industry, you might say, with its great wall of bad debts and state-sponsored cronyism. Or the euro zone’s taped-together single currency, which stretches across 19 different countries, each with its own debts and frail financial firms. Both are worrying. But if sheer size is your yardstick, nothing beats America’s housing market. — the Economist

“They spend $25,000 per employee per year on perks like free beer and pool tables and massages ... That’s great, but can they spend $1,000 to help the rest of San Francisco survive?”

As it turned out, they could not. Representatives of tech organizations reacted fiercely against the tax, saying that it would suppress growth in the industry that has made the city – parts of it, at least – wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice. — The Guardian

[Google and LinkedIn] announced a large, surprising property swap encompassing over three million square feet of existing and future real estate...

From Google, LinkedIn is picking up seven buildings...In return, Google is getting LinkedIn’s Mountain View headquarters office and...four different surrounding properties that enable Google to follow through on its ambitious plan for a new, green, crazy-futurist campus. — recode

When its spheres and three surrounding towers are completed, [Amazon] will have 10 million square feet of office space in Seattle, more than 15 percent of the city's inventory, on a campus that occupies more than 10 square blocks. That will provide space for Amazon to more than double in size, to 50,000 Seattle workers in the next decade...The spheres, designed by architecture firm NBBJ, are Amazon's boldest statement yet in the first project it's building from the ground up. — Bloomberg

The government of Russia has announced a desire to build a 70km Hyperloop line on its Pacific Coast to link the port of Zarubino with China’s Jilin province, but wants China to help fund it. The link would be part of Russia’s plan to develop a series of transport corridors between its Primorye region and northeast China...The project’s cost has been estimated at about $500m...the ministry would try to interest China in co-financing the link as part of its Silk Road grand strategy. — Global Construction Review

A study commissioned by the developer indicated that total economic output of the companies projected to occupy Hudson Yards will contribute $18.9 billion to the city's gross domestic product. [...]

Many projections in the report are also contingent on a host of economic indicators in the city, including demand for Class A office space. Out of the 10.4 million square feet Related will have to lease up, so far it has locked in commitments from tenants for 4 million square feet. — crainsnewyork.com

The American government’s relaxation of its 56-year embargo against Cuba and the inauguration of direct flights from China has triggered a race to invest in the island’s tourist infrastructure [...]

There are reports that China’s Suntime International Economic Trading Company will go ahead with a luxury hotel in Havana, in a joint venture Cuba’s state tourism agency, Cubanacán. The size of the hotel is reported variously at 600 to 650 rooms, with Suntime investing up to $150m — Global Construction Review

Two giant, translucent canopies spanning several lanes of roadway and sidewalks outside the domestic terminal will be among the most visible aspects of a $6 billion expansion and renovation project at the world’s busiest airport during the next 20 years, officials announced last week.

Among other goals for the coming year: improving wait times for passenger security screenings...'Americans will not tolerate a one-hour wait as normal.' — The Post and Courier

[JRJR Networks] is eager to shed itself of the big basket, but that may not be easy. What non-basket-related company will want a giant basket to be the face of their company? Are there enough well-off eccentrics in or visiting Newark to convert it into market-rate apartments or a boutique hotel?...A deal to donate the building to the city no longer appears to be in the works, and foreclosure is a possibility. — CityLab

The grand openings of the Los Angeles branches of European galleries Sprüth Magers and Hauser & Wirth (called Hauser Wirth & Schimmel), on 23 February and 13 March respectively, are sure to generate even more buzz about the booming Los Angeles art scene [...]

Some of the buzz is well earned, especially when it comes to cheaper downtown real estate and the great artists working and teaching here. But there is another strong incentive behind so many galleries making the move... — The Art Newspaper

When City Manager Oliver Chi looks across Station Square next to the new Gold Line stop in Monrovia, he doesn't see a dilapidated train depot. He sees a bustling restaurant.

Where an empty lot now sits, he sees a five-story apartment complex. That old lumber house? A bustling food hall.

Los Angeles County's growing light-rail network plunges deeper than it ever has into suburbia this week with the opening of the Gold Line extension linking Pasadena to Azusa. — LA Times