Real Estate is a dynamic industry tied to many facets of our culture and economy. There is no questions that what is happening in the news, both locally and globally, impacts the real estate market. Being aware of trends and issues will allow a real estate professional, developer, or investor to make strong even cutting-edge decisions about how to best meet the changing demands in the real estate market. Three current trends that seem to have a far-reaching impact on real estate are market recovery, technology, and sustainability.
The recovery of both the real estate and debt markets are crucial to the recovery of our economy. The breadth and depth of the problems created in the last several years has surprised even experts. It has, in a very bad way, been a perfect storm. Regaining positive momentum and stability is only the first part of our problem. The greater challenge is rebuilding trust - trust in our lending institutions, trust in our home builders, trust in investors and home buyers. Trust is a difficult to build and the process requires the investment of time. Identifying positive trends in the debt market will help signal improvement in both the commercial and residential real estate markets.
Technology is no longer a thing of the future, but rather a strong and growing element of virtually everything we do. From social networking to automated maintenance of facilities, technology has the power to make us more connected and more efficient. Unfortunately, it also has the power to make us lazy and ignorant if we defer all knowledge and responsibility to computer based systems. Technology is already impacting real estate in numerous ways and this will continue and expand in the future. Telecommuting may impact what office space and homes look like in the future. The ever smaller size of technology may impact the size of residential and commercial buildings. Knowing what the current trends are in technology may allow you to market of plan real estate developments in a creative and new way. It has been said that to know what is coming up next in technology you need only look at what is not working, or working as well as we want it to and imagine a solution.
Sustainability is defined as the ability to endure and there is no doubt that this initiative will last. While we have had green elements in many areas in the past, it is now becoming a real, tangible, measurable part of the world of real estate. LEED certification has made great strides in creating a consistent and credible standard by which to measure the sustainaibilty of a building, extending into the ongoing maintenace and operations. The real estate opportunities in the area of sustainability are vast and varied as it is a relatively new paradigm shift, but one that is gaining ground quickly. Knowing what the current trends are within this initiative will allow a real estate professional to position themselves be very successful.
With a global focus on responsible use of resources, two real estate practices are finding new momentum - reuse and redevelopment. Finding unused buildings and "remaking" or repurposing them into something that can and will be used today achieves many goals. It minimizes building material while capitalizing on existing structures. It also helps revitalize areas of the community that have fallen out of use. While many of these non-traditional makeovers end up with fairly traditional looks, recycled building material can also make for some
very funky buildings as seen in these "junkitecture" examples. This community center in Amsterdam, Netherlands (right) is made of recycled sinks! Some recycled material is more difficult to identify in the form of recycled drywall, bricks, and steel. Reuse can also take the form of renovating a building for a new purpose. This has been seen in everything from old warehouses being coming loft apartments to deteriorated waterfronts becoming destination locales for retail and dining, even a vacant church becoming a library (see above).
Redevelopment may not use all the existing buildings, but it looks at land and attempts to identify the highest and best use based on current demands. It is the reclaiming of land for another use and often requires demolition (or recycling) of existing buildings. One local example of redevelopment has been on the site of the Old Cowboy Stadium in Irving, Texas. The triangular piece of land is the merging point of Highways 114 and 183 and is minutes from downtown Dallas. The master plan for the now vacant site is a multi-use retail, business, living development that capitalizes on the extraordinary location and visibility of the site. Another exceptional and completed redevelopment project id High Line Park in NYC. An abandoned inner city rail road track has been transformed into a pedestrian park and walkway.
Seeing beyond the obvious is the key to the success of the redevelopment, repurposing movements. Both of these approaches require out of the box, creative thinking and both are meeting a growing demand for responsible development.The ability to see what could be may be one of the greatest keys to success in this growing real estate initiative.
world of real estate. LEED certification has made great strides in creating a consistent and credible standard by which to measure the sustainaibilty of a building, extending into the ongoing maintenace and operations. The real estate opportunities in the area of sustainability are vast and varied as it is a relatively new paradigm shift, but one that is gaining ground quickly. Knowing what the current trends are within this initiative will allow a real estate professional to position themselves be very successful.
