• Mixed-use still dominates retail property development. A real estate industry research survey conducted jointly by National Real Estate Investor and Retail Traffic magazines this fall revealed that mixed-use is the dominant retail property type when it comes to both new development and redevelopment projects. Among the 329 respondents surveyed, 80% are currently active in retail, and 77% are active in two or more property types. Slightly more than one-quarter of respondents (28%) indicated that they had developed mixed-use properties during the past 12 months.
• Washington, D.C., City Council approves green building requirement. The City Council in Washington, D.C., has approved legislation requiring all future commercial development of 50,000 sf or more to adhere to the LEED standards of the U.S. Green Building Council. The bill, expected to be signed into law by Mayor Anthony Williams, will apply to new construction and significant renovations beginning in 2012.
• Dire health effects of construction pollution reported. The effects of air pollution from construction equipment in California are “staggering,” according to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The environmental group concluded that at least 1,100 premature deaths and half a million work and school absences in 2005 were caused by people breathing emissions from older tractors, bulldozers, and other diesel equipment, at an estimated public health cost of $9.1 billion.
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