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buildings are a big part of our lives ・let’s get to know them

Many of us, somewhere in the world, live, work, study, go to school, see the doctor, worship, shop, eat out, vacation, collect and/or exhibit and/or sell art in buildings of some sort. The building might be a single-family home, large or small, grand or modest, a multi-family home, a residential tower, an office building, library, school, a shop large or small, a hotel, resort, or spa, a restaurant, hospital, a gallery or museum, public or private, … the list goes on and on. Buildings are a big part of our lives. Let’s get to know them.

A building is much more than an inert structure that we can take for granted. A building is a system of systems that interacts with us on many levels. A building almost lives.

Dodge Data & Analytics together with United Technologies have published a SmartMarket Report that we all can read. This particular report, World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report, focuses on a crucial aspect of buildings, how they are “going green.” The intent of the report is to provide information, new world green building trends data, to support green building development.

The report is long-ish. 60+ pages. So I suggest that you read through it step-by-step, in small increments, perhaps a page or two a day. You’ll find lots of good information, valuable economic analyses, and comparative analyses, illustrating how people in different countries are approaching the development, costs, benefits, and economics of green.

How is “green” defined? “Green building” is defined in the study as a construction project that is either certified under any recognized global green rating system or built to qualify for such certification.

Why “green”? We’ll examine this question step-by-step. Hint? Quality of life, longer-term value, longer-term credibility, higher resale values, “future proof.”

Stay tuned.

See:

“World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report” | Dodge Data & Analytics, United Technologies, 2016

#buildings #builtenvironment #resilience #luxury #smartluxury #houses #museums #galleries #retail #restaurants #hospitals #art #artcollections #collections #hospitality #realestate #CRE #commercialrealestate

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Amazon expanding into physical stores, agrees to acquire Whole Foods Market

Amazon announced today that it has agreed to purchase Whole Foods Market.

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire Whole Foods Market for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion, including Whole Foods Market’s net debt.

Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods Market, BusinessWire, 16 June 2017

The New York Times reports that Amazon wishes to expand beyond online retail into physical stores.

The company is experimenting with physical stores. The Atlantic reports that “Amazon needs food and urban real estate.” The company has opened a small chain of book stores across the country. In Seattle, Amazon has opened two drive-through grocery pickup locations;  customers order their items online.

With Whole Foods, Amazon will acquire more than 460 stores in the United States, Canada and Britain.

“’The Whole Foods acquisition provides them more physical locations. They’re going to be within an hour or 30 minutes of as many people as possible.’”

Mikey Vu, partner (retail), Bain & Company

Whole Foods’ urban and suburban locations are extremely valuable for Amazon’s delivery business.

“’Amazon did not just buy Whole Foods grocery stores. It bought 431 upper-income, prime-location distribution nodes for everything it does.’”

Dennis Berman, financial editor, the Wall Street Journal, via Twitter

Whole Foods, The Atlantic reports, “needs help.” While Whole Food Market sales were approximately $16 billion in the 2016 fiscal year and while the United States grocery industry produces approximately $700 to $800 billion in annual sales, the grocery business is low-margin. Whole Foods revenue growth has fallen every year since 2012. Whole Foods investors have been encouraging the company to sell itself to a larger grocer like Kroger.

Under the terms of the proposed deal, Amazon would pay $42 a share for Whole Foods, a 27 percent premium to Thursday’s closing price.

Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by Whole Foods Market’s shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The parties expect to close the transaction during the second half of 2017.

Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods Market, BusinessWire, 16 June 2017

Whole Foods was founded in 1978 in Austin, Texas.

See:

“Amazon to Buy Whole Foods in $13.4 Billion Deal” | Michael J. de la Merced & Nick Wingfield, The New York Times, 16 June 2017

“Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods Market” | BusinessWire, 16 June 2017

“Why Amazon Bought Whole Foods” | Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, 16 June 2017

#Amazon #WholeFoods #WholeFoodsMarket #organic #retail #groceries #grocery #food #smartluxury #urbanluxury #urbanliving #realestate #resilience

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non-smart luxury | investors & retailers slug it out on Madison Avenue

The Real Deal points out that as of May 2016, the amount of available retail space along Manhattan’s Madison Avenue had been growing. Retailers with financial wherewithal were looking elsewhere.

New owners had  bought Madison Avenue properties at record prices. Investors, partners and banks were preventing the new owners from leasing to retailers below certain “pro-forma” numbers. Rents were increasing steeply.

The effect did other than than satisfy investment requirements. As asking rents broke $2,200 per square foot in prime stretches of Madison Avenue, retailers who might otherwise have taken space there were looking for alternative locations.

Retail insiders said some of the buyers who acquired properties over the last year or two at eye-popping prices have their hands tied by investors, partners or banks who won’t let them lease to retailers below certain target amounts or “pro forma” numbers. That, they say, is exacerbating availabilities.

“New owners who bought at record prices that required record rents are less likely to cut pricing because they can’t satisfy their investment returns,” said Jeremy Ezra, a broker at RKF.

But brokers said this slowdown is different from the recession in 2009 and 2010 when retailers did not have the financial wherewithal to make deals. That’s not the case today.

See:

“Madison Avenue retail empties out” | retail spaces on the tony stretch are clearing out as rents get too high and tenants look for cheaper options, Adam Pincus, The Real Deal, 1 May 2016

#luxury #urbanluxury #smartluxury #realestate #retail #resilience #MadisonAvenue #Manhattan #finance