No Longer Washers And Dryers: Developers Put Arts Districts On Amenity List

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has introduced a program to combat what has been seen as a shortcoming of the opportunity zone program so far. HUD released a notice last week announcing the expansion of a pilot program expediting Federal Housing Administration…

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Constructing a building can be an arduous and convoluted process. Even the slightest hiccup during construction can be ruinous, so innovative companies are always striving to take the guesswork out of the equation. The next frontier in putting up concrete and steel isn’t in the physical world, but the digital one. Data warehousing is…

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The area around Howard University is barely recognizable from when Robert Jenkins graduated from the HBCU in 1970.

The Shaw neighborhood has emerged as one of the hottest areas in D.C., with new apartments and retail amenities opening every year and a Whole Foods currently under construction. But 49 years ago, still recovering from the 1968 riots, the neighborhood had little to offer Howard's students. 

"When I finished Howard, it was typical of many HBCUs: a really nice campus, but that section of Georgia Avenue was full of blight," Jenkins said. "You couldn't walk off campus and buy a soft drink. There was nothing there. It was desolate." 

Jenkins, a senior managing director at D.C.-based Renaissance Equity Partners, is now utilizing the opportunity zone program to help spark the transformation of HBCUs' neighborhoods around the country. The firm is launching a $50M opportunity fund to direct capital through the new federal program into mixed-use developments around the campuses of historically black colleges and universities. 

Read the full story here.

Lisa Pope-Westerman, a hospitality design vet, is launching a new platform that she hopes will solve two concerns she has with the architecture industry. She believes smaller boutique firms aren't getting a proportionate number of projects and that design philosophies too often aren't centered on the customers' experiences. 

Pope-Westerman has created LUCID, a collective of creative individuals and independent firms from around the U.S. that will collaborate to design lifestyle projects.

Read the full story here.

After years of planning and a nearly $23M construction budget, the design team behind the renovated Massachusetts State House’s Senate chamber couldn’t help but feel a little anxious in early January. 

It was opening day of the 2019 legislative session and time for the chamber’s carefully restored woodwork — some dating back to when the state's own John Adams was president — to endure its first test. 

“The first time that gavel was hit, I kind of cringed,” CBT associate principal Christos Coios said. “It was a good, almighty whack.”

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Once a year, a carefully curated group of commercial real estate’s best and brightest converge to build bonds, share experiences and explore conversations beyond the industry.

Welcome to Escape. 

What began as an answer to the lack of networking platforms for top owners, developers and investors has grown into a multiday excursion that gets influential dealmakers out of the office and forging lasting partnerships. Conversations over breakfast flow into golf outings, yoga sessions and art tours. In between those activities, industry-changing ventures are born. 

Here are eight things you need to know about one of the most exclusive retreats in the industry.