An apartment that knows your next move
That’s the vision some technologists have for the future of domestic living, and a startup named Brain of Things says that it is developing what the company’s founder refers to as “robot homes” in...
Paradise lost
San Francisco has topped the list of every national rental report since Zumper began publishing them in August 2014, and was named the most expensive city in the U.S. years before that. The rapid...
The next target in California’s drought? Renters.
The result amounted to a savings in water use in June of 23 percent, just below the mandate required by the governor.
But while single-family homeowners sacrifice their lawns and are saving water, multifamily residents...
Utility costs rising
It isn’t just the additional cost that’s irking California residents—it’s the growing suspicion among neighbors suddenly stuck splitting one big water bill. A vast majority of California’s apartment communities have one master water meter,...
Betting on the City of Angels
Developers are seeing a diverse group of residents and buyers who want to occupy amenity-rich complexes of varying types—lofts, mid-rises and high-rises—and have worry-free, beautiful urban living in environmentally-conscious, yet luxurious settings.
Although price escalation...
West coast story
“It’s a great time to own apartments on the West Coast,” said Essex President and CEO Michael Schall during his company’s presentation at the Citiglobal Property CEO conference held this March in Hollywood, Fla.,...
California offers energy efficiency financing for multifamily
In January, the state of California and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an initiative that would allow PACE financing to fit in with the existing financing for properties that had...
Prometheus exits fee business
San Mateo-based Prometheus is exiting the sector to focus its energy more on its growing development pipeline, said Darren Carrington, senior vice president of portfolio management for Prometheus. Prometheus will continue to manage its...
Sares Regis expands portfolio
The new acquisitions total 300 apartments in Portland and North County San Diego, and for a portfolio of eight properties totaling 1,220 apartments out of the fund formed last year. The fund was initially...
I can’t get no
One person, Arie Shashou, 77, thought just that. That was before Shashou received an eviction notice in March. Shashou’s $825-a-month rent-controlled apartment, and 17 other units, will be demolished to make way for a...
Building lures
The changes are backed by the building industry but have drawn protests from advocates for low-income tenants.
“It’s a race to the bottom,” said Darryl Rutherford, executive director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance.
Mixed-income, or inclusionary...
Golden bucks
Customers of California’s big utility companies will receive “climate credits,” small payments of money raised from the state’s cap-and-trade system for controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
“What we’re hoping for is to engage ratepayers in the...
Lessons on value-add
According to a December article in the Wall Street Journal, a flood of new student housing development from large REITs and private equity firms is squeezing out smaller owners.
More supply than demand is driving...
Zero net energy living
The $300 million West Village campus project opened to much fanfare two years ago, riding on the hope that it would serve as a model for future construction.
Touted as the largest planned "zero net...
The golden state and distributed power
One of the state's highest-profile leadership roles has been on the issue of the environment. For example, California legislators passed and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the most restrictive greenhouse gas emissions law in the...
