The former meat packing plant and dry/cold storage facility at the intersection of Sunol and San Fernando streets had been an eyesore in central San Jose, Calif., for years. But Joe Head, president and CEO of Palo Alto, Calif.–based SummerHill Homes, saw beauty in the 5.86 acre lot. It was a mere...
When RÖhe & Wright acquired the 24-unit apartment building that would eventually be razed and resurrected as Cheyne Walk, there was one small sticking point: It still had tenants. So the Houston-based builder/developer gave the existing occupants ample notice, served as landlord for one year while...
In the 1920s, U Street, the capital corridor known as “Black Broadway,” boasted thriving cabarets and was a favorite stomping ground of the jazz elite, including hometown legend Duke Ellington. But over the years, the area fell into disrepair.
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The former meat packing plant and dry/cold storage facility at the intersection of Sunol and San Fernando streets had been an eyesore in central San Jose, Calif., for years. But Joe Head, president and CEO of Palo Alto, Calif.–based SummerHill Homes, saw beauty in the 5.86 acre lot. It was a mere...
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When RÖhe & Wright acquired the 24-unit apartment building that would eventually be razed and resurrected as Cheyne Walk, there was one small sticking point: It still had tenants. So the Houston-based builder/developer gave the existing occupants ample notice, served as landlord for one year while...
It wasn't long ago that urban infill was a niche market dominated by a select few. Not anymore. With land in scarce supply and prices skyrocketing, it's no wonder that more than a handful of volume builders have gone sniffing for new profit centers and launched infill divisions. Empty-nesters are...
Many small businesses lack plans to weather—and recover from—a disaster, whether it's natural or man-made, unique to their business or affecting an entire region.
When Dennis Johnson and his wife, Joan Black, moved in to their new home in Warmington Homes' Bayport Alameda community in Alameda, Calif., the couple didn't have to spend any time figuring out how the garbage disposal or the thermostat worked. They'd already had a detailed lesson during a...
Allison Grant knows, more or less, how her Mondays will play out. She'll turn on her computer, pour a cup of joe, and attend meetings like every other American worker. But Mondays also bring an assignment that is an essential part of the sales manager's job at the Fairfax, Va., office of Brookfield...
Not too long ago, First American Title, one of the industry's largest title companies, found itself on the defensive when some of its large builder-clients complained that its service wasn't cutting it with their customers. “Builders said to us, ‘You guys have to change,' ” recalls Mike Hinkle, a...
It's a rainy Saturday in February, and home buyers Lisa and Chuck Brousseau have an appointment at Creative Touch Interiors (CTI), in Landover, Md., to select the hardwood and vinyl flooring, carpeting, padding, and window coverings for their new 4,700-square-foot home. The task doesn't seem...
At the Ryland Homes sales center for its newest phase, Northwest Village, the team of three sales consultants—Darci Brammer, Troy Alexander, and Maddy Rosado—and an assistant have arrived early to unlock the models and to check their to-do lists, a computer-generated task list of follow-up phone...
Every builder provides essentially the same product. The elevations, floor plans, and square footage may vary, but it's all about providing shelter. So in order to differentiate your company, especially in markets that are beginning to soften, the question becomes one of how to offer customers...
It takes Olthof Homes six fewer days to close a house now than it did last June. But the St. John, Ind.–based builder didn't find that time in the sticks and bricks of its homes. It shaved the days from its “soft cycle,” the time between when the buyer signs the contract and the builder breaks...
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Atlanta's City Council voted to nix a 120-day infill moratorium in February, but the issue of so-called McMansions has become so controversial that the city council has appointed a task force to revisit the city's infill regulations.
In 1960, european real estate giant Societa Generale Immobiliare paid $10 million for the 10-acre riverfront tract that was to become the infamous Watergate complex. When the site's namesake hotel closes its doors and re-emerges as 96 luxury condo residences in 2007, its penthouses are expected to...
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Last year was the first year that a Chicago-area builder sold more than 2,000 homes.
U.S. Commerce Department officials have announced an agreement in principle with Mexico to virtually eliminate anti-dumping duties on Mexican shipments of cement to the United States.
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Home builders in Wisconsin may soon need to take classes, show proof of insurance, and stay out of criminal trouble if they want to do business in the state, according to legislation pending in the state Senate.
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Does it seem like everyone you know is getting into real estate? In California, it's not far from the truth.
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Sprawl is driven by low land prices and economic prosperity, not by highway expansion, as previously thought.
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Home prices rose ever higher in 2005: The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the median new-home price came in at $237,300, compared with $221,000 a year earlier—but the increases didn't keep first-time buyers out of the market.
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As if there were any doubt that land is a hot commodity, the latest research from the National Auctioneers Association confirms it.
A redevelopment plan in the small city of Riviera Beach, Fla., has drawn national attention as part of the eminent domain firestorm. The working-class, predominantly black community sits across the Lake Worth Lagoon from the playground of billionaires, Palm Beach. According to the U.S. Census, in...
Built on the site of San Francisco's 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition, the Marina District rests on a base of sand and mud dredged from the bottom of the ocean, a landfill specially created as the setting for that year's world's fair.
These have been heady months for the Z-Wave Alliance.
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President Bush gave energy efficiency a nod when he signed the Energy Policy Act in April 2005. But one year later, some builders and home buyers are confused about their eligibility to receive tax credits for using energy-saving materials in new-home construction and renovations.
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M.D.C. Holdings made a play to jump to the top spot among home builders in the Salt Lake City market with its March 1 acquisition of local builder Salisbury Homes.
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It takes Olthof Homes six fewer days to close a house now than it did last June. But the St. John, Ind.–based builder didn't find that time in the sticks and bricks of its homes. It shaved the days from its “soft cycle,” the time between when the buyer signs the contract and the builder breaks...
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It takes Olthof Homes six fewer days to close a house now than it did last June. But the St. John, Ind.–based builder didn't find that time in the sticks and bricks of its homes. It shaved the days from its “soft cycle,” the time between when the buyer signs the contract and the builder breaks...