Sign of the Times - Five cities bringing new life to abandoned sites

Estimates vary, but foreclosure listing company RealtyTrac approximated 261,255 homes in foreclosure in May of this year, almost double the number in May 2007. The Brookings Institution estimates that vacant and abandoned properties of all kinds— whether from foreclosure or not—occupy about 15 percent of a typical large city, an average of 12,000 acres.

Taking Flight: A Florida developer helps Panama City court airlines

Back in the ’90s, the Panama City–Bay County Airport Authority had a problem. It wanted to attract major airlines to serve the area. But in order to accommodate full-size jets, the landing strip would need to be extended. So the Authority attempted to lengthen it by more than 6,000 feet. The problem: On one side was a single-family residential neighborhood; on the other was St. Andrews Bay, home to a rare endangered sea grass.

Empty Space - Declining imports and plummeting demand for distribution

Other U.S. markets are experiencing a similar oversupply of warehouse space, thanks to a surge of development activity from 2004 to 2006. Spending on warehouse construction nationwide increased 19 percent from mid-2006 to mid-2007, according to Norcross, Ga.-based Reed Construction Data; increases of, respectively, only 4 percent to 5 percent are anticipated in 2008 and 2009.

Green Push - Liberty finds sustainability is good business

In May 2001, Liberty Property Trust announced that it was building a 58-story property on a site it had acquired a year earlier in downtown Philadelphia. The Malvern, Pa.-based REIT expected the more than $500 million project to be its first venture into sustainability.

by Les Shaver

Nationals Ballpark Development

When the D.C. Nationals needed a home, a new stadium met the need. But will a reverse “build it, and [they] will come” approach succeed in L.A.?