The Weekly 3: Land Development
August 9, 2010
What are the three biggest stories each week in the world of California land development? You’ll find them right here each Monday, or follow LP&A all week long on Twitter at @LPALand for up-to-the-minute news and analysis. This week:
1. Will the Drought Contingency Plan squeeze future land uses?
The California Department of Water Resources didn’t go so far as to blame your picket-fenced bit of the ‘burbs for causing the state’s ongoing water crisis, but it is looking at limiting future land uses as part of the solution. According to its newly released Drought Contingency Plan, “development intensity has a direct relationship to water supply,” and since the state’s thirst for water outstrips available resources, that means builders best prepare for more regulation and limits on what they can do with their property.
2. Lehman Bros. bets big on real estate turnaround. Will others fold or double down?
Big bets on real estate brought mega-financier Lehman Bros. to its knees in 2008, but the global financial services firm is now confident the commercial and apartment markets have bottomed out … and Lehman is putting its money where its mouth is with a $1 billion investment. Despite earlier misfires, Lehman says it’s only making this move because the firm is certain to achieve “market or above-market” returns. Lehman is one of the nation’s largest commercial property owners, so we’re anxiously waiting to see if others follow suit and open up new opportunities for developers looking to take their plans from paper to reality.
3. What’s the difference between a NIMBY and a YIMBY? A bad economy.
A new survey s
uggests “Not in my Backyard” (NIMBY) sentiments toward development may be weakening, as more Americans are going YIMBY (that’s “yes” instead of “not”). They’re more willing to support new commercial projects in their neighborhoods than in years past. Several years of economic hardship have made the bustle of new jobs and the shine of new community benefits much more attractive to would-be opponents. But the survey also gives developers a caution: Nearly three-quarters of all Americans still don’t want new development in their hometowns. So it’s still important to keep pushing your benefits-based messages.
>> Read the CityBiz Real Estate Article
Tags: California, Development, drought, jobs, key messages, Water, water supply
This entry was posted on Monday, August 9th, 2010 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Development, Environment, Government, Politics, Water, Weekly 3, communication, messaging, outreach. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
