Games

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Cities, Games, Urban Planning

Daniel Hertz, a senior fellow at City Observatory, wrote an article for The Atlantic describing what he learned about urban planning by playing computer games. He cites two specific games about building: SimCity and Cities:Skyline. Zoning, traffic, parking, public transportation, and growth are all challenges to be had in the games. Seemingly, left out are the human aspects: politics, diversity, income driven neighborhoods. These factors contribute to the richness of urban dwelling that the games don’t appear to incorporate.

If you don’t want to plan a city, you may want to try being President. Gene Billingsley, founder of GMT Games, has a board game in development called Mr. President, which will hopefully be available by late fall 2016. “Mr. President is a solitaire game that puts you in the shoes of the President of the United States, attempting to govern, with limited resources, in a complex and ever-changing world.”, according to Billingsley.

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Malls: Dead or Alive?

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Businesses, Cities, Malls, Retail

Every adult must know of a mall that they grew up with that is no longer a mall. While some may have been repurposed most have been closed or torn down. If you’re unsure of the status of your childhood mall go to the website deadmalls.com. There is a forecast that hundreds of malls will be gone in the next decade.

Some of their demise can be attributed to consumers doing their shopping online. However, high-end malls seem to be doing better and are getting a help from sales at technology stores, think Apple and Microsoft.

As malls are declining in the US, it appears that investors are interested in financing malls in China and Korea where there is growing demand.

Malls have always been social gathering places and as baby boomers age the mall is still a good place to meet.

Racked has some ideas of what a mall might look like in the future: interactive technologies (full body scanner); hypercustomization (3-D printing); commerce center to community experience (unique activities); digital shopping carts, varied tenant mix and smarter selling floors.

Source:  The New Yorker

Source:  Fortune

Source:  Wall Street Journal

Source: Yahoo Finance

Urban Land Institute’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2015 Report

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Cities, Commercial Real Estate, Real Estate Trends

The Urban Land Institute and PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) have published their Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2015 forecast report.

This is a lengthy report but worthwhile to peruse.

Some points in “Chapter 1: Sustaining Momentum but Taking Nothing for Granted” are:

• Job growth will be in those cities that have an activity in the evening, the live-work-play experience
• During the next seven years watch whether millennials stay in urban centers or move to the suburbs
• Boomers actually set the trend of moving to urban areas
• Medical office use strengthening
• US labor force may face a worker shortage
• Technology is pushing the change of how space is used; focus on tech and media companies to lease office space, retailers are using the internet to drive consumers into stores
• US is not investing in its infrastructure, which will be a problem for real estate if it continue; public/private partnerships may help

“Chapter 2: Real Estate Capital Flows” indicates that for 2015 it may be better to be a seller than a buyer.

A few points in “Chapter 3: Markets to Watch”

• You have to pick the right market that will be sustainable
• Crowdsourcing is a movement to raise capital for real estate which may be subject to regulation in the future
• Equity and debt investors are moving ahead, carefully
• Capital will continue to flow in more markets in 2015
• Dollars invested in tertiary markets continue to grow
• Due to rising labor costs overseas, US manufacturing is coming back

“Chapter 4: Property Type Outlook”, provides an in-depth look at these property types: Industrial, Hotels, Apartments, Retail, Offices, & Housing.

Detroit from Above and Before

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Cities, Detroit, Investment, Planning

In the New York Times Sunday Review, aerial photographer and pilot, Alex S. MacLean, showcases Detroit. Not every photo is flattering but all are interesting. Detroit is rebounding and as with all cities that have rebounded, it takes time.

A fantastic place to see photos from Detroit’s great past is at HistoricDetroit.org, on their website they have photos of “Buildings, Places and Landmarks”.

Looking at what Detroit once was it’s easy to be optimistic that the city can reflect that spirit once again.

Repurposing School Buildings

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Cities, Repurposing Buildings, Schools, Senior Housing

As schools close across the country a trend is developing to find new uses for these buildings. The school buildings are being sold and finding a variety of new uses. As of June 2013 the Detroit public school district has made $16 million either by selling or leasing closed school buildings or vacant land. One of the purchasers converted a 100 year old school building into a movie theater, Cass City Cinema which is now called Cinema Detroit showing indie films. Other Detroit schools buildings have been turned into lofts, a music school and a recording studio.

In Kansas City a school is being repurposed as affordable senior housing. A school in Portland was bought and turned into a hotel. Chicago has closed nearly 50 schools and is having a harder time finding buyers. They have sold 8 building for approximately $8.3 million in total. They have received interest for turning a school into a community center, affordable senior housing or market rate housing.

When a new high school was built in Ypsilanti, Michigan the former historic 3-story Ypsilanti High School was sold and successfully developed into senior housing units.

The Michigan Historic Preservation Network has “A Community Guide to Repurposing Vacant and Underutilized Historic Buildings”.

Amy Freundl of Reinhart Commercial has an elementary school building in Munith listed for sale which could be developed into a vocational training center, multi-family or senior housing. See Listing info.

Source: Huffington Post

Source: Chicago Tribune

Detroit: Good Bars & Good Blight

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Bars, Blight, Cities, Detroit, Urban Renewal

Esquire magazine gives Detroit the honor of being the 2014 “Bar City of the Year” in their June/July issue. Is Detroit renewing from the inside out? Keeping with the bar theme, Curbed Detroit looks at archived photos from old Detroit’s famous and popular bars.

On another note, in the New York Times there is a map where the Blight Removal Task Force has identified more than a fifth (over 370,000) of Detroit’s properties struggling with blight. Over 40,000 are recommended for demolition. After demolition will Detroit be bright? Discuss it at the bar.

Source:  Deadline Detroit

Photo:  Morguefile.com

Vibrant Cities Offer Transportation Options

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Ann Arbor, Cities, Transportation

Millennials are a demographic group of over 80 million Americans and cities are paying attention to what is important to them.  Transportation options are one of the key considerations when they decide where to live. Cities that can’t attract young professionals may lose out.

Aging boomers are another group of 80 million or more that are moving into urban areas and seeking those cities with walking and transportation options. In a study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, people of all ages are driving less. The decline started right after 2004, before the recession, indicating that there is a real shift in driving habits.

Ann Arbor, adjacent Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township voters, passed a tax increase on May 7th, 2014 to expand transit services in those cities and township. It passed by 71% clearly making transportation options important to the majority of voters.

Source: The Atlantic Cities

Graph: CNBC