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...
Apartment play house
Now it's back and steaming ahead.
Demolition and of two vacant warehouses on the 2.9-acre site is underway and construction has begun on 320-units.
The project comes as a JV between toy manufacturer and wholesaler MegaToys,...
A bright idea
Ashoff manufactures fluorescent lamps with motion sensors. He designed it to replace bulbs in building stairwells which burn around the clock, and found that they slash energy costs for stairwell lighting by 97 percent....
How green is that building?
Ecologically-sustainable building practices -"green labels"-will now be included on official land records maintained by the city, according to Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting and Department of Environment Director Melanie Nutter. That means that along with information...
Celebrity magnet El Royale tower sells for record price
The 12-story building at 450 N. Rossmore Ave. was built in 1929 for the Hollywood crowd and early residents included Clark Gable, William Faulkner and Loretta Young. It was designed in a mix of...
SF landlord won’t let tenant charge electric car
California is trying to promote green technology, but one of San Francisco's biggest landlords has told a tenant he cannot use a plug to charge his new electric car. Neither can the other tenants.
Richard...
Should smoking be banned in apartments?
The new rule will affect complexes located in unincorporated areas of Marin County. Marin itself was recently named the healthiest county in California by a report from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute...
San Francisco gold rush
Largely in response to the city's growing technology sector, 22,000 residential units are in various stages of approval and construction. In a few years, residents could be signing leases for new addresses in South...
Is multfamily’s future in TOD?
The citizens of Seattle have just such an opportunity by encouraging development of dynamic pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods in the areas surrounding Sound Transit's light-rail stations. Nationally, these "new" neighborhoods are called transit-oriented developments (TODs). Locally,...
The great shrinking state
Unable to afford Orange County's skyhigh rents, she opted for Portland, Ore. "A big motivator was that I lived with roommate after roommate after roommate," said McCluer, 30. "Friends said you could probably live...
The latest cottage business: app fees
At a "nice" $3,500-per-month loft in the Mission, "80 people showed up for the open house," said Ms. Lamas, 23, who recently began working at a tech company in SoMa. "And the landlord said...
Multifamily green retrofit case study
First, an energy and water consumption assessment was commisioned. Simcoe Consulting was designated.
The County of San Diego had just raised the drought warning to a level two for the City of San Diego, and...
Sunny skies. Great buys.
Land is sacred in Hawaii. And, going vertical makes perfect sense on an island where real estate is in finite supply. The success of the pre-sales at Pacifica Honolulu, where a ground blessing ceremony...
Affordable multifamily worth its metal
Until now, affordable, green and rental housing haven't always gone hand in hand. With the opening of the first and only affordable apartments in the East Rancho Dominguez redevelopment area, eco-friendly housing no longer...
