The threat of rising sea levels could prompt commercial property developers and owners to reduce their assets in vulnerable areas, according to at least one prominent investment manager.
Owners of rental properties and other commercial real estate assets in coastal areas that face increased flood risk would be wise to adjust their portfolios over time, Marc Singer, co-founder of investment advisory firm Singer Xenos told GlobeSt. Taking this into account would mean selling properties in areas such as South Florida and directing new investments to areas less likely to suffer damage from the impacts of climate change.
Climate change should be taken seriously, as scientific evidence mounts indicating that significant coastal flooding will impact the real estate industry this century, Singer noted.
That doesn’t mean an immediate large-scale sell-off. Rather, a more gradual reduction of vulnerable properties over the coming decades would be prudent.
Recent studies have shown that a quarter of Boston could be underwater by 2045, and catastrophic flooding in New York City may become more common over the next few decades, he said. One impact within a decade might be a change in the way FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program is administered to more realistically assess flood risk, resulting in higher premiums.
Related Stories
| Aug 16, 2012
New York’s Barclays Center project accused of ignoring noise, pollution regulations
Construction crews racing to finish the Brooklyn Barclays Center are ignoring strict regulations to reduce noise and pollution, a new report by critics has found.
| Aug 16, 2012
Harness saves life of worker cleaning Washington state Capitol
Fall-protection equipment helped save the life of a worker who was cleaning the Washington state Capitol building in Olympia, after the platform he was using gave way.
| Aug 16, 2012
CSI webinar on August 21 focuses on electronic energy control
The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) is sponsoring a free webinar on August 21 at 2:00 p.m. (EDT) on electronic energy control.
| Aug 16, 2012
Public sector pushes sustainable building forward
Not usually noted for its innovation, the public sector has done the most to advance sustainable building, according to a recent panel of green building professionals.
| Aug 16, 2012
Canada’s first net-positive building under construction in Milton, Ontario
The GreenLife Business Centre in Milton, Ontario near Toronto is set to become the first net-positive energy building in Canada.
| Aug 9, 2012
St. Paul cannot adopt overly restrictive egress windows policy, court rules
The Minnesota state Court of Appeals rejected St. Paul's attempt to adopt a policy on egress windows that was stricter than state law.
| Aug 9, 2012
Fire chief questions building code after St. Louis apartment building fire
A blaze that destroyed a 197-unit apartment building in St. Louis, Mo., displacing 250 residents, led the city’s fire chief to question the materials used in the construction of the four-story building.
| Aug 9, 2012
Ramps have strict criteria for ADA compliance
It is important for businesses to understand that an existing ramp at a building entrance may not mean that barrier removal obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act have been met.
| Aug 9, 2012
ClickSafety, AGC provide online training program for construction professionals
Construction professionals will be able to take a wide range of mandatory and optional safety training programs online through a new collaboration between the Associated General Contractors of America and ClickSafety.
| Aug 9, 2012
Tornado-ravaged Greensburg, Kansas’s new green buildings save $200K a year
The town of Greensburg, Kan., virtually destroyed by a tornado in 2007, decided to rebuild 13 public buildings according to green standards.
