Professionals Discuss Mandated Green Building

Business Facilities magazine reports that cities are “racing to mandate sustainable building practices.” Discussing the private sector green building are: Brooks Rainwater, director of local relations for the American Institute of Architects (AIA), author of the study, “Local Leaders in Sustainability”; Kenny McDonald, executive vice president of the Charlotte Regional Partnership; Steve Brown, Jr., VP of Denver, CO-based John Madden Co., a real estate development firm; Brian Parno, VP of Stirling Capital Investments, a joint venture between Foothill Ranch, CA-based Stirling Enterprises and Denver, CO-based DCT Industrial Trust Inc.; Stephen T. Del Percio of gbNYC.com, a green building website; Kenneth R. Lewis, president of AC Martin Partners Inc. and board member of the Los Angeles Business Council; Eric Stavriotis, VP at Jones Lang Lasalle in Chicago, IL; and Ashley Katz, communications coordinator for the U.S.Green Building Council. See the article

Green economic recovery could create 2 million jobs

A green economic recovery program could create 2 million jobs - most in the same areas people already work in today - through a $100 billion investment that would combine tax credits and loan guarantees for private businesses along with direct public investment spending. The program aims to boost private and public investment in six energy-efficiency and renewable energy strategies: retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency; expanding mass transit and freight rail; constructing “smart” electrical grid transmission systems; and increasing the production of wind power, solar power, and next-generation biofuels. See the Residential Design & Build article.

Who's Qualified to be an Interior Designer

A challenge over the use of the title "Interior Designer" ensues in Connecticut. In that state, a designer must have six years of interior design education and experience to qualify to take a two-day exam, and then pay a state fee. Many other states are developing their requirements. Read An Unfair Ban? by Lynn Doan on Housing Zone.

Congratulations to the Custom Builder Design Challenge Winners

The challenge was to design a home for a (fictional) empty-nester couple in their 60s anticipating retirement. The home is to be built on a wooded piece of property on a lake, and will eventually become the owner's primary residence. Winners were:

1st place: Taco Schmid, Project Manager at Carlson Homes in Scottsdale, AZ

2nd place: Rhett M. Osko, Architectural Design Supervisor at Classic Homes in Colorado Springs, CO

3rd place: Steve Perry, Owner of Steve Perry's Design Solutions in Springville, UT

Best Student Design: John Tomaz and David Pereira, students at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA

Susan Bady, Senior Editor for Design at HousingZone.com gives additional design criteria and the winning designs at Custom Builder Design Challenge Winners Offer Imaginative Plans for Lake House


Competition judges were John J. Kern, partner and director of Balsamo, Olson & Lewis in Oakbrook Terrace, IL and David A. Gravel, president of Enon Hill Design & Development in Wheaton, IL.

The Hotel Guest of 2020

What will hotel guests require 12 years from now? Developers and Designers take notes from the article by Jitendra Jain, an employee of Starwood Hotels and Resorts in Dubai. See: Meet the Hotel Guest of 2020

Can a 260-year-old facility be viable today?

Charity Hospital in New Orleans is a 260-year old facility that was ahead of its time when built. Watch the video by the architecture firm, RMJM Hillier, retained by The Foundation for Historical Louisiana (FHL) to see how preservationists believe it can be a model for contemporary healthcare facilities.

Deals are being made in...

Texas


Tenet Healthcare Corp. signed a 10-year office space lease in Dallas. Phil Puckett and Chris Hermann of CB Richard Ellis in Dallas represented Tenet; Mike Lewis and Kirby White represented landlord Crescent Real Estate Equities L.P. internally. Source: CPN


CB Richard Ellis Investors L.L.C. acquired Colonnade I, II and III office complex in Dallas. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P., also of Dallas, represented the seller. Source: CPN

Palmer Logistics leased warehouse space at the InterPort Distribution Center in Pasadena. David Munson of First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. in Houston represented the landlord, USAA Real Estate Co. Bob Berry of The Staubach Co. in Houston represented Palmer Logistics. Source: CPN


An affiliate of Harbor Group International L.L.C. teamed up with ARI to acquire Holly Hall Apartments. American Realty Advisors Inc. represented the seller. The project and companies involved are all in Houston. Source: CPN

Thompson National Properties L.L.C. of Irvine, CA and Morgan Management L.L.C. of Rochester, NY have formed a joint venture, Thompson/Morgan Properties L.L.C., to acquire apartment properties in Texas and areas east of the Mississippi River. Tony Thompson is CEO of Thompson National Properties. Source: CPN

Dallas-based Behringer Harvard (REIT) has acquired One BriarLake Plaza (also in Dallas), a 20-story tower with over 500,000 square feet of office space. Jason Mattox, chief administrative officer for Behringer Harvard. Source: CPN


Virginia
Argon ST renewed a lease in the Argon Plaza in Fairfax. Tom Rogers and Charles Dilks of Grubb & Ellis Co. represented Argon ST. Brian Connolly Jr. and Robert VeShancey of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the landlord, Shorenstein Properties L.L.C. Source: CPN

Monday Properties is planning a 35-story office tower in Rosslyn. DCS Architects is the design architect and Cushman & Wakefield Inc. is the leasing agent. Source: CPN


Washington

Four Seasons will open its hotel-condo in Seattle at the end of October. NBBJ designed the 21-story tower and worked on the interiors with BraytonHughes Design Studios of San Francisco.
Source: Hospitality Design

Amazon Inc., has expanded the potential size of its headquarters in Seattle. The project includes five phases totaling 11 buildings adjacent to the city’s streetcar line. The buildings are slated to have a combined 100,000 sf of street-level retail space, and to qualify for LEED-Silver certification. Paul Allen’s Vulcan Real Estate is the developer. Schnitzer West, a joint venture that includes Portland, OR-based Schnitzer Investment Corp. is partnering with Vulcan on the first two phases. Amazon may financially assist in constructing a portion of the project. Jeff Watson and Grant Yerke of the Broderick Group have the direct leasing assignment for the building. Source: Globe St.com

Wisconsin
The village of Pleasant Prairie, WI has approved plans by Uline, Inc. for a $100 million facility. Mike Pollocoff is village administrator and John Steinbrink Sr. is village president. Source: Globe St.com