6 must reads for the AEC industry today: July 20, 2020

1. Ryan Companies breaks ground on 122-acre Highland Bridge redevelopment in St. Paul, Minn. (BD+C) 
"This $1.3 billion project—whose funding includes $320 million in public and private investments for parks, infrastructure, affordable housing, and tax-increment financing—has been a decade in the making. Bringing the master plan to life involved 45 public meetings that drew 1,300 attendees, and 80 presentations to business, civic, and nonprofit groups."

2. Never waste a crisis (BD+C) 
"Count Fred Bland among the AEC executives who were blown away by how efficiently their associates performed from home during the pandemic lockdown. “It was a great surprise to me that, remotely, we’ve been able to serve our clients well,” says Bland, FAIA, AICP, Managing Partner with Beyer Blinder Belle. He attributed that success to a combination of technology and esprit de corps."

3. A Florida company is helping developers optimize their buildings’ parking amenities (BD+C)
"RPS, which built the first autonomous garage in the United States in Hoboken, N.J., in 2001 (a garage that’s still operational to this day), has been focusing its attention in recent years on the Middle East. The company is preparing to release an online, AIA-approved education program that provides details for planning, installation, and operation of autonomous parking facilities.

4. Will luxury condos sell in a pandemic? SF High-rise is the market’s first big test (San Francisco Chronicle via National Real Estate Investor)
“Despite the difficulties of selling luxury condos in a downtown neighborhood mostly bereft of workers and festooned with boarded-up stores and restaurants, San Francisco’s condo market is performing far better than its rental housing market, as families put a premium on quality living spaces during shelter-in-place.”

5. The hottest job in commercial real estate? Infectious disease expert (Fast Company via National Real Estate Investor)
"Even after the pandemic, the chief health officer could be a permanent fixture in real estate."

6. ‘I can’t keep doing this:’ Small business owners are giving up (New York Times via National Real Estate Investor)  
“More owners are permanently shutting their doors after new lockdown orders, realizing that there may be no end in sight to the crisis.”