A new CEQA ruling may impact California development for decades. Image from Wikimedia Commons California is a state that was built on contradictions. It is a state of huge desert swaths that also feeds the country and the world. It birthed the counterculture, but also the aerospace industry. It is where the environmental movement started
The drought is going to have a major impact on California, including its real estate market. Image from Wikimedia Commons Dried-up river beds. Parched, cracking fields. Once-full reservoirs now reduced to puddles, with the rings of previous highs looming like a distant memory on the mountains around them. Maps show huge portions of the state
A booming housing market can help bring up the commercial market as well. Image from Wikimedia Commons Trying to give a simple explanation for the 2008 recession is a fool’s errand, at best. It was incredibly complicated with multiple causes and many people to blame. For the general public, however, it seemed to start with
Many green building practices are fairly routine now across the country, but some companies and nonprofits have gone far beyond the standards to reduce the environmental impact. Could this become the new normal? Image source: Flickr CC user bobarcpics A few years ago, companies would issue news releases when they installed energy-saving lights and appliances,
The street-level space is great for retail, but developers often struggle to find uses for the upper stories of older Main Street buildings. Credit: Flickr CC user Madeleine Deaton The main attraction of Main Street buildings is often their ground floor. In these street-level retail spaces, a shop owner can envision the city’s best new
Nonprofits often find ways to make extra money; they may lease out unused space to another nonprofit, open a thrift store, or make a deal with a cellular phone company. Although sometimes lucrative, this “business” is usually a side venture. The organization still survives primarily on donations from its members or government grants. However,
An old school can become a blight or an opportunity. Districts must first make the hard decision to dispose of them. Credit: Flickr CC user alamosbasement The decision to close a school is never an easy one. People tend to be passionate about their old school buildings; they have fond memories of gathering around their
The California Community College system is considered one of the best in the world, but even they can use help in finding ways to improve vocational training. Image source: Wikimedia Commons In California, we have a unique relationship with our community college system. Considered perhaps the premiere system in the country, California Community Colleges (CCC)
San Diego is embracing a mixed-use City of Villages strategy, which is something that can help government real estate needs. Image source: Wikimedia Commons. There are two distinct, seemingly opposite, but intimately related trends in 21st-century American life, and both affect the fate of government real estate. The first is the growing desire to automate
Los Angeles is loaded with historic buildings like the Tower Theater. The city has passed ordinances encouraging the renovation and use of its old buildings. It is not hard to find old buildings that have been converted to serve new purposes. For example, take a look at this former hospital power plant in St. Louis
A closing big-box store can be a blight or an opportunity for a community. A problem has emerged in American cities and towns. Big-box retailers like Kmart and Borders have closed hundreds of stores. Aside from lost sales tax revenue and jobs, this leaves behind another problem: a large, concrete box that sits empty among
A revival in American main streets started 30 years ago, providing an opportunity for businesses. American main streets once seemed to have lost their way. Freeways led to spacious new malls in the ‘burbs that catered to a shopper’s every need. The old department stores with the toy train sets and dressed-up mannequins in the
- 1
- 2
