The housing theory of childless cat ladies
Would a YIMBY building boom rejuvenate urban family life or produce sterile, megacity hellscapes? Housing Boom = Baby Bust? America’s low birth rate is in the news again, thanks largely to Vice Presidential candidate Sen. J.D....
Insider fraud in multifamily leasing: Is it happening under your nose?
A few years ago, the reputations of some of the world’s most prestigious universities came under serious question when the U.S. Department of Justice charged dozens of super-wealthy and, in some cases, famous parents...
Is land-use regulation holding back construction productivity?
Ed Glaeser is perhaps the pre-eminent urban economist working today, and I’ve cited his work repeatedly when looking at land-use restrictions and burdens on new development. So I was very interested to see he’s coauthored...
“Sitting empty:” Vast expanse of federal land eyed for new housing
The White House and the Republican National Committee agree on one thing at least: The sale of surplus federal land could help alleviate a crushing shortage of affordable housing. Proposals to sell federal land to...
The sticky combination of heat and high humidity
Extreme weather alerts in a community communications program is an operational baseline. Extreme weather warnings can help residents understand their risk and protect themselves, which is especially important for small children and older adults,...
Office to apartments
download pdf Hybrid work is likely here to stay. This shift isn’t just changing lifestyles—it’s also affecting commercial spaces. Office vacancy rates post-COVID shot up almost overnight, and they remain near 20 percent nationwide, the...
L.A. homeless tower building cost rings bells
Gym, balconies, restaurant, soundproof music studio, business center, located in downtown Los Angeles, and it’s pet friendly. Sounds like a pretty good hotel, four-stars at least. Sounds like it, but it isn’t. It’s the new Weingart...
Rents fall behind inflation
Tracking rents is important for understanding the dynamics of the housing market. For example, the sharp increase in rents helped me deduce that there was a surge in household formation in 2021 (September 2021:...
Market demand sets stage for few rent hikes
While asking rents for new leases nationally are running nearly flat over the past 12 months, those figures are heavily influenced by the Sunbelt, where record-high supply has turned rent growth negative in some...
Economics and the hidden order
The “real world” is calling. But the real world is a real mess. So how do we clean up the mess? That’s a massive task: too big for any one person. This looks like...
Why Johnny can’t build
We were once a nation of builders—from the toll roads and canals of the early nineteenth century and the railroads of the second half of that busy century, to the construction of power, energy,...
Major U.S. Supreme Court decisions coming down the track MAJOR UPDATE
June 28, 2024 Update: The Supreme Court in an unprecedented victory for multifamily and other businesses, has today reversed its 40-year-old decision in Chevron v. Natural Resource Defense Council. This law governed how courts...
Lawyers take big government to the Supreme Court
“We all get to vote, but the ability to make legislation is no longer in the hands of the people we elect,” Columbia law professor Philip Hamburger said. As the administrative state implements more regulations...
Bozzuto acquires Gables property
Over the last decade and a half, it has made much more sense for Bozzuto to build rather than buy apartments. However, as it has become harder to pencil out new projects, the Greenbelt,...
