June column for Builder & Developer magazine now online

My column for the June 2014 issue of Builder and Developer magazine is now posted online.

For this issue, entitled "The Changing Face of Retail Forces Developers to Adapt," I wanted to revisit mixed-use communities (especially residential/retail) and how developers are having to adapt to the changes in the way that retailers serve their customers. An excerpt:

Today, many retailers are reducing their footprints, boosting their online presence and merchandising fewer products in their stores to avoid “showrooming,” in which customers compare products in person but buy them online. As a result, the future of the mixed-use project is also in flux, with the winners and losers likely to be determined based mostly on how well developers match retail stores with local and visitor demographics...

In the short run, businesses which can’t be replaced by online shopping – such as health clubs, yoga studios, doctor’s offices and restaurants – can take up some the slack, but in the long run the very idea of the traditional retail store is being challenged.

Not surprisingly, these changes are also impacting the types of smaller, mixed-use projects encouraged by cities, but often leave absorption of the retail space to the whims of the market as well as the marketing expertise of the local broker. So far, there seem to be two ways to goose retail demand: appeal to specific demographics or create an in-person experience unavailable online...

To read the entire column, click here.

To read the entire June 2014 issue in digital format, click here.

August column for Builder & Developer magazine now online

My column for the August issue of Builder & Developer magazine is now posted online.

For this issue, entitled "The 2012 Gold Nuggets: Where Design Meets Green Building," I reviewed some the Grand Award winners in various categories at the 2012 Gold Nugget Awards in San Francisco.

An excerpt:


In today’s competitive business environment, product design for consumer technology, cars and Web sites has taken center stage, and it is now increasingly felt in updated designs for a variety of building projects whether they’re intended for single-family homes, multi-family projects, mixed-use projects or even the growing demand for multi-generational homes...

With new home projects such as these capturing the interest of buyers or renters and winning the plaudits of their peers in the building industry, I think it can be said that practical and efficient need not equal boring.  Best of all, these designs will provide a compelling alternative to older, more staid homes which, relatively speaking, hog both water and energy.

To read the entire column, click here.

To read the entire August 2012 issue in digital format, click here.

Urban infill definitely a trend

Prior to the housing downturn, a major shift in certain parts of the country was a greater focus on urban infill projects: condos, townhomes and small-lot subdivisions. According to a story in USAToday, some new stats from a government report bear this out.

I've written a few articles on this trend, including high-rise condos, transit-oriented developments and mixed-use projects.

From the story:

In more than half of the 50 most populous metropolitan areas, communities at the urban core have captured a significantly larger share of their region's new residential building permits since 2002 than in the first half of the 1990s, according to an analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency...

Long-standing patterns remain: A large share of residential construction still takes place on farmland on remote fringes of metro areas. In most regions, new housing in urban core neighborhoods accounts for less than half. Nonetheless, there was a consistent increase in housing in urban centers from 2002 to 2007, and the trend could transform growth patterns in some places for decades to come...

Changes in demographics, high gas prices and longer commutes on congested roads are generating more interest in smaller homes in urban settings...

• In 15 regions, the central city greatly increased its share of residential building permits. Those regions include large cities with strong ties to the global economy (New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles) and medium cities that are leaders in controlling growth (Portland, Ore., Denver).

• In 26 cities, including Sacramento and Milwaukee, the share has doubled or tripled since 2000.

• Old suburbs on the edge of cities captured a significant chunk of new housing in eight metropolitan areas, including Boston, Minneapolis and Washington.