London Gets World's Biggest Urban Meadow

News from The Independent speaks of London giving back to the environment, and to her people. In the shadow of the Olympic stadium where Usain Bolt and other athletes thrilled the world last Summer, a swatch of concrete that consumes 55 acres will be a meadow soon.

The largest urban park inside London in over 100 years is being developed right next to the Westfield Stratford shopping centre. Inspired by Londoners and Olympic attendees warming to the meadow theme at London 2012, landscape project sponsor Phil Askew and the man responsible for The New York High Line, James Corner, are among a team intent on not only transforming this space, but many others around the UK.

The move builds on the wonderful work of Nigel Dunnett and Sarah Price who created the meadow theme for the games. But more significantly than the names, the ecological impact of a meadow in this urban landscape is what is inspiring. A meadow like that being described puts back a bit of what is lost in cities like London. Slated to be the world's largest sown perennial meadow, what starts as 50 acres will later become 100 hectares of flowers, grass, and some 4,000 trees and 127,000 shrubs ' a 24 hour-a-day paradise that will attract the birds and the coveted bees back to London. And therein lies the best part of the story. Bees are dying out everywhere, and the planners of this meadow have specifically taken their plight into consideration.

The Olympic park now ' courtesy The University of Sheffield

While the soil in this part of London is just not suited to growing much, it is perfect for wildflowers. These bits of nature's paintbrush attract bees like no other plants. And then there are those dainty cousins of bees, the butterflies. Insecticides and massive development have nearly wiped those colorful friends off the Earth too. Now East of London will be a Springtime and Summer home for not only fascinating insect inhabitants, but children, cyclists, retired people wanting some sunshine, lovers, young athletes, and the weary of the city out for some solace.

As a matter of fact large segments of this wonderful park already exist out of the development and landscaping for the Games of 2012. The land surrounding those Olympic venues was transformed from degraded land into a biodiverse park that would 'wow' the world as it arrived at London to see the Olympics. If you go here you'll find a developmental and lecture series by the University of Sheffield, Department of Landscape that tells a lot more of this fascinating development.

Those Brits, like other species they do a lot that's wrong in the world, but then they sure do shine at other things. What a nice story.

 

Pinterest Launches 'Pinterest Web Analytics'

Pinterest is one of the best social media platforms for real estate agents. Because its functionality revolves around theme-based image collections, all of your images of homes for sale, real estate interiors, real estate exteriors, different types of architecture, and numerous other real estate-related items are perfect for sharing on pinboards and getting other users to 'Like,' 'Comment,' or 'Repin' your images.

If you're a real estate agent who regularly uses Pinterest to post great real estate photos and drive traffic to your real estate website, you'll be very excited about the most recent release from the trendiest social media darling around. Just launched today (3/13/2013) is 'Pinterest Web Analytics' which now provides account owners the ability to check out in-depth data relating to how many people saw their pins, how many people clicked onto their website from Pinterest, and how many items on their site have been pinned most frequently and most recently.

Pinterest has also provided a video tour for users to learn about all the great features of Pinterest Web Analytics and guide you through how to maximize the use of this great new marketing tool. There's no denying that Pinterest was already among the hippest social media sites out there, but with the recent launch of Pinterest Analytics, it would also appear that Pinterest's owners are very serious about overtaking Facebook as the most mainstream social media site as well.

Just last November, Pinterest announced that businesses will have the opportunity to setup accounts on the site, which now seems to have been a precursor to launching Pinterest Web Analytics. For now, Pinterest doesn't have any revenue-generating advertising on the site, but as large-scale companies continue to use the site to promote products, and with the emergence of analytics tools that document the value of Pinterest accounts, one can only assume such money-making features are sure to come at some point.

In September of 2012, Pinterest edged out comScore's Top 50 Web Properties with an estimated 25.3 million visitors. But with the continued effort of Pinterest developers, you can bet that ranking will continue to climb over the coming months and years and Pinterest really will become one of the top social media sites in the world.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working as a Market Research Associate and writing published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence in Chicago, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and is a managing partner at Real Estate Web Creation, LLC.

Summit Industrial Income REIT Acquires More Properties

Summit Industrial Income REIT has just announced their acquisition of 15 industrial properties in the greater Toronto, Moncton, New Brunswick; and Edmonton, Alberta areas. The REIT adds some 2 million square feet of leasable space to their Summit II portfolio.

According to the news release, Summit adds over $107 million in new funding with an overall maturity some 6 years down the road. The REIT also announced having increased their revolving line of credit from $38 million to $55 million in order to take advantage of further growth possibilities. Paul Dykeman , Chief Executive Officer of Summit offered this via the release:

'With the completion of these key acquisitions, Summit II now has a platform with sufficient size and scale to generate stable and increasing long-term cash flows and on which we can grow significantly in the coming quarters. We were also pleased to have improved on the forecasted mortgage profile for the acquired properties, arranging longer-term funding at lower overall interest rates, improving our cost profile for the next few years.'

About Summit II
Summit II is an open-ended mutual fund trust focused on growing and managing a portfolio of light industrial properties across Canada. Summit II's units are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and trade under the symbol SMU.UN. For more information, please visit our web site at www.summitIIreit.com.

Spain's Bright Shining Hope; Amid the Worst Despair Ever Known

If where you live has been hit hard by the recessive economy, just think about people in Spain for a spell. People there are preparing for yet another recession as six million Spaniards sit out of work with not even a ray of hope in sight. Accordingly, the property market in Spain is absolutely saturated with supply, and little or no demand.

While speculators and normal investors have rescued a part of the property sector in Spain, toxic assets owned by banks are virtually impossible to unload. While the government reels underneath the weight of criticisms over such issues as 57% of the youth of the country being jobless, the banking and business sector hurt even more clinically. As a sign of the business times in Spain right now, once profitable Bankia registered a record 19.2 billion euro loss for 2012.

In what is seen by some as a desperation fire sale of bonds, Spain's leadership is pretty much pulling out all stops trying to effect a reversal of fortunes. In increasing the maturity date for bond debt, this latest sale of Spanish potential does look better on the books, but down in the country, where the people live, despair is the flavor of every day. Over 26% of the working population stand in unemployment lines as I type this report.

And the misery people in Spain are feeling was in large part caused by a Wall Street ' like property bubble that saw prices climb 200% from 1996 to 2007. Then the same sort of hell America felt, was unleashed on a country far less capable of curing itself than the US. Fully one third of the houses built to satisfy the boom for property there are currently uninhabited ' red ink on the books of dozens of banks.

The situation in Spain actually resembles something from a Hollywood SciFi flick. Whole towns have become the Spanish equivalents of ghost towns of the American West. The reality of so called 'ghost airports' even exits where the speculation over the housing bubble led investors to actually begin construction of hubs like Ciudad Real Central Airport, which now sits like a '1.1 billion euro deserted albatross hanging about the neck of the country.

From the collection 'I call it home' (Yo lo llamo hogar) ' Courtesy César Astudillo

Then there's Castellón-Costa Azahar Airport, yet another lonely reminder of Spain's current plight. That airport even has a monument to misery, the $375,000, 24 meter tall statue of Carlos Fabra (top image). To add insult to injury there, Fabra is a politician under investigation for corruption and tax evasion.

The stresses caused by all this strife threaten to tear the country apart actually. Some suggest Catalonia would be far better off as a separate nation, for instance. The trend going forward from today, it just simply does not look positive.

All the economic folly of the last few years has hit Spain, perhaps hardest of all the EU countries, like a bolt from out of the blue. The loss of over 800,000 jobs in a country of only 47 million, the equivalent in the US would be losing almost 5 million additional jobs in the same span. And this with no funds to prop up the long term unemployed.

Good Notes to End On

Even still, crooked politician news to greedy speculator stories, incompetent banks, austere EU Commission and World Bank obtuseness, there's a factor in all this news even the world's greatest economist cannot fathom. Dead broke and SOL as they say, the heart of the Spanish people is something we can all admire. I leave you with a bright ray of sunshine, characteristic of that place in the Southwest of Europe. A little sweet serenade that took place at a Madrid unemployment office is captured in video below. I know, as sure as I am typing this, the sun will shine on Spain again ' probably not due to a banker though.

Trump Rio Tags Cushman & Wakefield to Manage Leasing

The people behind the development of Trump Towers Rio de Janeiro, MRP International, have just appointed Cushman & Wakefield as leasing agents for the property. The 38 story skyscraper, the largest ever office development within a BRIC country, will be opened in 2016.

Cushman & Wakefield are slated to be the sole leasing advisers to the property according to the news. The five stellar towers of the Trump development will offer almost 600,000 square feet of office space. The estimated cost of the project is said to be in the neighborhood of $2.6 billion.

Construction of the towers is scheduled to be completed in phases, the first two of five towers to be completed in advance of the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. Interestingly, Cushman & Wakefield just won Cushman & Wakefield today won five of seven awards at the Boston Commercial Brokers Association (CBA) the other day.

Trump Rio conceptual ' courtesy MRP International

Saudi Real Estate Co. Eyeballing $1.3 Billion in Development

The CEO of Saudi Real Estate Co. (SRECO) told Bloomberg recently his firm is intent on building a housing development in Riyadh estimated to be worth $1.3 billion. According to reports from news outlets and the company, Saudi Real Estate is refocusing on middle-income buyers who can leverage a home shortage there.

Al Akaria Residences ' from the brochure

Seeking governmental approval of the construction of some 7,000 homes, Saudi Real Estate will also be committed to building the connective community elements of office, hotels, shopping, and other developments as well. Dr. Fahad A.M Al-Said, CEO of Saudi Real Estate Co. Al-Akaria, addressed the Future Housing Summit last week concerning issues facing his country where the availability of housing is concerned.

Finally, to cement the idea of Saudi Real Estate's leadership where jump starting the youth of Saudi Arabia is considered  their chairman's confidence in the young community there was highlighted late last year in an interview with Arab News, and I quote describing Saudi Arabia for the coming decades:

'I can describe the Kingdom using the words ' flourishing continuous development. I do have strong trust in Saudi youth. I can say that every student is more intelligent than the older student generation. Our future is for the youth, and I strongly have trust on them.'

Saudi Arabia is largely a youthful country possessed of a very well educated younger set. Clearly the focus of future investment there will be attuned to not only satisfying the needs of this population, but taking advantage of the pluses excellent and youthful contributions can foster. Fahad A.M Al-Said and his company are fairly notorious in their revamped focus toward Saudi's taking advantage of global job opportunities too.

Finally, the residential property market there in Saudi Arabia creates something of a demand vacuum not only for Saudi investment, but with the potential transformation of the country's bank regulations and foreign investment allowances of late, a potential investment boom for outside investors too. A growing population and other factors made the country a big target for speculation where investments go.

The Plaza development by Al Akaria

Loffs Bay Estates Launches Website & Opens Door to Development Opportunity

With the recent launch of the Loffs Bay Estates website, a unique development opportunity has now presented itself in one of America's fastest growing resort towns. Located in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Loffs Bay Estates is a 40-acre parcel of scenic mountain property that has the potential to be a very lucrative development prospect and provide real estate developers with a very high return on such an investment.

There's no doubt that what makes residential development in Loffs Bay Estates so desirable is the rapid rate in which the Coeur d'Alene area is growing. What was once a small mining town in the northern panhandle of Idaho has now blossomed into the second largest metropolitan community in the state and arguably one of the 'go-to' cities to vacation or retire in the United States.

The substantial increase in the Coeur d'Alene tourism industry can be attributed to the numerous resorts in the area and the rise in golfing culture. The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course is now considered to be one of the top courses in the entire United States and is actually home to the world's first and only movable floating island green. But golfing isn't the only outdoor recreational activity to do around Coeur d'Alene. Two major ski resorts are also located near the area and the expansive Lake Coeur d'Alene enables both tourists and residents alike to enjoy an array of water sports and boating activities.

Real estate developers interested in the Loffs Bay Estates property have the option to subdivide the land into separate lots with no more than 5 acres per lot, or use the land to build a dream family compound that provides plenty of acreage of some of the best mountain outlooks money can buy. Just some of the favorable aspects of the Loffs Bay Estates land for sale include its close proximity to the Loffs Bay boat launch and the fact that the land is utility ready for electricity and phone lines. In addition, the Loffs Bay Estates parcels are also well-water ready and conveniently located adjacent to state-owned wilderness preserves'ensuring the immediate surroundings will always retain the true natural beauty.

Recently, Money Magazine voted Coeur d'Alene as one of the 'Best Places to Retire Young,' with Barbara Walters referring to the area as 'a little slice of heaven.' As Coeur d'Alene continues to grow, development opportunities are becoming harder and harder to find, so anyone interested in developing Loffs Bay Estates should act fast.

According to census statistics, Coeur d'Alene's population grew by nearly 10,000 people from 2000 to 2010, while median home or condo values grew over $87,000 from 2000 to 2009.

For more information on the scenic mountain property for sale in Coeur d'Alene or to learn how you can invest in Loffs Bay Estates, contact Louise Study at (312) 981-2072.