Posts by: Suzann D. Silverman

Stars to Watch

Commercial Property Executive

This week, Commercial Property Executive unveiled this year’s Stars to Watch, 17 up-and-coming individuals and teams from across the commercial real estate industry that are sure to make more waves as they climb the career ladder. Like others recognized by this decades-long program, these 40-and-unders are exhibiting insight, creativity and dogged determination in completing deals […]

People

Group Focused

New Senior, Affordable Approach

John Huskey has a different twist on seniors and affordable housing. He’s giving it a theme—and not just to attract residents but to drive resident interaction and engagement. His theory, at least in the case of senior residents, is that being an essential part of a group is vital, answering a desire to feel needed […]

News

Micro-Size It!

How small is too small?

SAN DIEGO —Even in markets like New York and San Francisco, it may soon become prudent to ask: Can apartments be too small? In recent years, developers have begun experimenting with layout and design to determine just how tiny a space they can easily lease. During the Urban Land Institute’s 2013 Spring Meeting, Kauri Investments […]

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The Top 10

Issues for Real Estate Right Now

The Counselors of Real Estate annual list of the top 10 issues to affect real estate, unveiled during the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference in early June, encapsulated some of the most critical issues to emerge in recent months. And while some longer-term concerns emerged on this list, derived from surveys and polls […]

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Shopping for Gen Y

Housing preferences

As more of the 80 million-member Millennial generation enters the workforce, these so-called Gen Y-ers, age 18 to 35, are on everybody’s minds these days as one of the largest—and most fickle—groups to influence housing, shopping and the workplace. Financially strong and responsible, they nonetheless like to shop, prefer convenient housing over expansive, and while […]

News

Evolving E-Commerce

Impact on real estate

Today’s retail market is something of a “living” sector, seemingly in a state of constant change as manufacturers and retailers learn to harness ever-advancing technology to attract and retain customers. Over the years, advancements have led to a variety of concerns, some of them significant: The growing popularity of online shopping has at various times […]

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Green Design

Quantifying business returns

The concept of sustainable design is taking significant steps forward, according to one expert, but it still has a way to go. While efforts are expanding into the planning stages and incorporating operations and asset management as well, hard data evidence of results are still missing, affirms Tom Paladino, founder of consulting firm Paladino and […]

People

Finding Inspiration

Top Women in Real Estate

It’s inspiring to hear the details of a success story, and never more so than when the person had to fight their way to the top. Talk to a female executive in commercial real estate, and chances are you’ll walk away with more than a few such inspirations. Talk to 25 of them, and you’ll […]

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Risky Weather

Wind-Driven Property Damage

The growing incidence of extreme weather poses a range of risks for commercial and residential properties—and one of the most underestimated is wind. Particularly with so much property being built along the coasts, dollar losses to wind are increasing at a rapid rate, catching up to the historically predominant risk for fire. Indeed, according to […]

Technology

Getting to the Future

Corporate tenants, changing needs

Executives making long-term plans face an interesting juxtaposition: Significant changes lie ahead, but at the same time history is sure to repeat itself. How best to handle this? Move cautiously, but stay open minded and don’t be afraid to try new things. Never has the industry faced as many big changes simultaneously as those coming […]

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America’s Changing Face

Demographic trends

America today is a veritable melting pot of demographic trends. The first Baby Boomers have arrived at senior citizen status. The population’s balance is shifting, with the historical white majority on its way to becoming the minority, while certain minorities are on their way to becoming the majority through a combination of organic growth and […]

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Joining the Global Party

Investing overseas

Global business. Those are catchwords the real estate industry has been grabbing onto for some time now, always as if it’s a current trend. Businesses are expanding globally; U.S. real estate service providers need to follow their clients, and investors purchasing property overseas can be their landlords. And foreign lenders are as much a source […]

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Learning from the Stars

Lessons from industry achievers

The commercial real estate industry can learn a lot from its rising stars. Still young enough to be idealistic and take advice from their mentors, industry under-40—and sometimes under-30—achievers are able to turn it into successful business. Unfortunately, it is human nature to forget or lay aside ideals with age and experience—but doing so may […]

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Commercial Projects: Controlled but Creative

Slower pace, remarkable projects

While the movie “Field of Dreams” gave voice to the commercial development mantra “If we build it, they will come,” in the past few years this generally enthusiastic group has been admirably cautious

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Greener Building Design

Commercial gets eco-friendly

Building design has taken a big leap forward in the past decade. There is more attention paid to sustainability and efficiency, and buildings are better integrated into their environments, which by default makes them more attractive than the box-like and sometimes fortress-style structures of the ‘70s and ‘80s. However, such efforts still have a long […]