Yearly Archives: 2018

A project in Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, was among four projects in New England to repair and upgrade drinking water infrastructure that were recognized for excellence and innovation by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) will complete the first-ever net-zero energy renovation of an existing commercial building in the District of Columbia in 2019, AGU’s Centennial.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 544,000 units in October after an upwardly revised September report, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the lowest sales pace since December 2016. However, on a year-to-date basis, sales are up 2.8 percent from this time in 2017.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced the finalists for its 2019 Best of 55+ Housing Awards, the premier design and marketing competition for the 55+ housing industry. A total of 116 entries were chosen as finalists and are eligible for either a gold or silver award from NAHB's 55+ Housing Industry Council

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today charged the owners, architect, and builder of a Denver, Colorado apartment building with housing discrimination for failing to make the complex handicap accessible.

The Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, presented by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and owned and operated by Informa Exhibitions, concluded last week in Chicago, where thousands of members of the global green building community gathered.

This morning, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced it will raise the national conforming loan limit for 2019 by 6.9 percent from $453,100 to $484,350. In addition, the high-cost limit will rise from $679,650 to $726,525. As a result, loan limits will be higher in all but 47 counties or county equivalents across the country beginning on January 1, 2019.

Eric Wilson, Deputy Director at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Resiliency, will serve as the Opening Keynote Speaker at Building Innovation 2019: The National Institute of Building Sciences Seventh Annual Conference and Expo. Addressing the Conference theme of Optimizing for Tomorrow

Are you repairing or rebuilding damaged property? Have questions about flood insurance? Want to protect your property from potential loss or damage from future disasters? Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rebuilding specialists can provide tips and advice on making homes stronger and safer and answer questions about protecting homes from future damage

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a $614 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the City of San Diego, Calif., to help finance its Pure Water project.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today filed an amendment to a large tax package that would provide federal tax incentives for investment in low-income District of Columbia neighborhoods.  Norton’s amendment would make the District of Columbia eligible for the Empowerment Zone program. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced key changes in the processing of GI Bill benefits payments under the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (Forever GI Bill).

Mortgage applications increased 5.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 23, 2018. This week's results include an adjustment for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, a nationally recognized real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in retail property sales, announced today that the firm has completed the sale of three single-tenant retail properties in Illinois in separate transactions for a combined value of $5.2 million. All three sales were significant because they had less than eight years of lease term remaining. The properties are located in Woodridge, Arlington Heights, and O’Fallon, Illinois

New-home sales in the Houston region registered gains in volume and price in October, a new report showed. Based on a 12-month rolling average, the number of new-home sales in the local

CBRE’s Executive Vice President Philip D. Voorhees and Director Kirk Brummer announced today that the National Retail Partners-West (NRP-West) completed the sale of Santa Fe Trail Plaza in El Monte, California, a dominant Los Angeles grocery-anchored community center, leased to high-performing, national and regional credit tenants including Superior Grocers, Ross Dress for Less, Petco, Five Below (opening soon)

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for October 2018. Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,263,000. This is 0.6 percent (±2.4 percent)

On Tuesday, November 27, at 2:30 pm, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner will break ground on the Residences at St. Elizabeths East, a 252-unit apartment community with 202 affordable housing units, on the historic St. Elizabeths East Campus, delivering on her commitment to provide high-quality, affordable housing to the Congress Heights neighborhood in Ward 8.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today announced that a record number of individual employees from MBA member companies were awarded a Path to Diversity (P2D) scholarship during the 2018 fiscal year, ending September 30. The scholarships are granted to existing industry professionals from diverse backgrounds who are seeking to advance their careers through training in MBA Education programs and courses.