|
Print using landscape mode
Featured Stories
LAI Phoenix Land Economics Weekend
Dear Fellow LAI Members and Supporters, Planning for the LAI Phoenix Land Economics Weekend is well under way. Very soon the registration will open and in approximately 10 weeks we will have visitors arriving from across the US, Canada, Great Britain and the Far East. Please take a look at the great agenda we have lined up for you and our visitors. We are actively seeking sponsors for the weekend as outlined in the Sponsorship Form . The weekend kicks off with the students in our ASU LAISA chapter organizing a golf outing on Wednesday April 30th for our early LAI arrivals and you to benefit their chapter. Our headquarters for the weekend will be the Hotel Valley Ho .
Phoenix Light Rail |
Van Buren and 7th Street, Phoenix |
Thursday evening May 1st, our chapter will host a welcome reception with Scott Lyon, Westroc providing attendees with a historical look at the Valley Ho. This is a great opportunity to welcome our fellow LAI members from around the globe and for you to share ideas and opportunities with each other. Our official weekend experience tours will kick off Friday morning May 2nd with Greg Vogel, CEO, Land Advisors Organization presenting our visitors a virtual tour of the Phoenix metro area and discuss the residential and land markets. We then depart for downtown Tempe to the ASU Decision Theater and a tour of SunCor's Hayden Ferry Lakeside office and residential condominium development. We then move to downtown Phoenix and Copper Square for lunch at PURL and a presentation from Don Keuth and others on downtown mixed use development, the light rail line, convention center complex and ASU Downtown.
Scottsdale Hanger 1 |
Scottsdale Hanger 1 |
Friday evening Grady Gammage will give our guests an overview of the history of real estate development in the Valley from the Valley Ho roof top observation deck and hand out copies of his book "Phoenix in Perspective" followed by a walking tour from the Valley Ho through downtown Scottsdale featuring Fred Unger and the Southbridge project followed by dinner at The Canal restaurant. This will be a great opportunity to share ideas with LAI members from other markets.
Priest Station |
Aerial view of DC Ranch |
On Saturday May 3rd we will take a driving tour of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community development along the Loop 101 corridor for an overview of the office, industrial and retail projects. We then arrive at the rarely seen Scottsdale Hangar One facility at Scottsdale Airpark for a tour and presentation by DMB's Mike Debell followed by a lunch in the facility.
Tempe Towne Lake looking at Hayden Ferry Lakeside
(building in background)
Later on Saturday afternoon, we return to north Scottsdale for a tour of DC Ranch and Market Street . The grand finale for the weekend will be the evening reception and dinner at Taliesin West sponsored by Jordan Rose and the Rose Law Group . The hard work is done, now we need you to help us out by sponsoring an event and registering to attend the Phoenix Land Economics Weekend . Please contact Sheila Hamilton or myself for additional information.
Steven R. Gragg, MAI, MRICS
President, LAI Phoenix Chapter
LAI Foundation President
Managing Director, Regional Partner Valuation Services
Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona, Inc.
2525 E. Camelback Road, Suite 1000 Phoenix, AZ 85016
Tel: (602) 229-5974
Mob: (602) 525-3823
Fax: (623) 433-3870
steven.gragg@cushwake.com
www.cushmanwakefield.com/valuation
Letter from the President
 |
Les Pollock
|
One word we hear quite frequently in these days of election campaigning is "leadership". I looked up the definition of leadership, and learned, not surprisingly, that it means the capacity to lead. But how do you develop this capacity? I suppose one learns to be a leader, from experience, training and from studying the actions of others. We, the members of Lambda Alpha International are, by definition, leaders within our respective disciplines. That is one of the reasons for our election as members of this honorary society. And, as leaders, we each have the responsibility to train and mentor other individuals so that new leaders in real estate, architecture, planning, development finance etc., evolve.
I raise this responsibility here because every time I read an obituary of an LAI member in KeyNotes I am made aware that while we can't replace the person we lost, we need to help replace the skills that person brought to our community. This makes me realize how much LAI needs to reach out to younger professionals to help educate and mentor them so that they gain the experience and insights that will make them leaders in their discipline, and future members of LAI.
One needs only to think about one's own professional growth to understand the type of help and insights to bring to developing professionals. Indeed, this issue was brought home to me as I reflected on the recent death of my good friend and mentor, Rod Engelen, whose obituary appears in this issue of KeyNotes. One aspect of his legacy is to remind me that, in addition to enjoying membership in LAI as a source of intellectual stimulation, learning, contacts and camaraderie, LAI must also be a vehicle for nurturing younger professionals such that they, in time, can meet the conditions of membership as they take their position as leaders within our community.
Many of our chapters have programs designed for this express purpose. Whether they are supporting LAISA chapters, offering scholarships or establishing ways for young professionals to be exposed to the work of experienced professionals and academics, LAI has as part of its mission the advancement of learning about land economics and the transmission of such learning to the newer members of our professions. If your chapter has student and young professional programs make sure you support them. If it doesn't, then please find ways to create them. The staff and officers of Lambda Alpha International and the Land Economics Foundation are always ready to help chapters to do so.
Les Pollock
LAI President
lpollock@camiros.com
 |
Helen Sause
|
What's it Worth? Home values Show market volatility!
The Bay Area is known for its microclimates. That's as true for the real estate market as for weather patterns. While home values have tumbled across the country, the San Francisco region has pockets of strength where prices continue to rise, albeit modestly compared with the double-digit appreciation of recent years. Not surprisingly those strongholds are uniformly in affluent areas. The zillow.com analysis of home-price changes in Bay Area Zip codes released February 12 shows a map of the region as a virtual checkerboard of good and bad news.
Zillow's median home-value estimates from the fourth quarter show home values falling 10 percent or more in parts of eastern Contra Costa, southern Alameda, Solano and Sonoma counties. There better news for residents in parts of Santa Clara, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties where the median value was still on the increase. What is happening in your region? Is this a national trend? Or simply peculiar to this area?
Another odd trend is that foreclosures are a significant part of the sales in the states hardest hit by the housing market. The growing proportion of foreclosure sales is both a symptom and cause of worsening conditions in the weakest housing markets, real estate experts say. Homeowners who aren't on a deadline to sell are pulling their properties off the market. Again do you believe these are part of the national trends or peculiar to specific areas?
Please be sure to read the forecasts made by Alan Billingsly in his presentation (see Golden Gate Chapter report link to his report). REEEF tends to be cautious but overall despite these daily forecasts of doom and gloom from the media I take heart in the more reasoned consideration that the REEEF presentation provides.
In our Chapters we need to try and seek solutions and ways that our membership can use their considerable wisdom/experience to think about solutions and ways for your regions to keep your markets on an even keel and look for ways to have positive outcome in today's market challenges.
Speaking of working together to maximize our talents...do plan on attending the informational session conducted for Presidents, Administrators and Scribes to be held during the Land Economics Weekend in Phoenix. There is an amazing accumulation of information to help us solve problems when we pool our questions and find out how others deal with common issues. Think same terms of service for example—how would that impact your lives? How's about appointing a scribe? Remember KeyNotes articles are due by the 15th of the month! And they are different from the bi-annual reports requested by Terry Stevenson. Find your chapters' VOICE— appoint a scribe!
Till next time!
Helen Sause
International LAI Editor
helensause@alamedanet.net
In Memoriam
George Washington Chapter
RODNEY E. ENGELEN
Rodney E. Engelen, member of LAI Ely and Phoenix Chapters, died on February 8, 2008 at 80 years of age, after suffering a stroke. Born in Parkston, South Dakota, Rod studied architecture at the University of Minnesota and urban and regional planning at Harvard University, graduating in 1953. His professional life was dedicated to the policies and issues of urban function, processes and the conceptual and physical aspects of planning and redevelopment. Over a period of 40 years, he worked for numerous public agencies in both staff and consulting roles. He worked extensively in the upper Midwest, preparing City of St Paul downtown redevelopment plans, the first central area plan for the City of Minneapolis, major work for the City of Chicago, proposals and studies for various Federal Agencies and plans for more than 75 cities throughout the US and Canada. Rod also worked as an advisor to the City of Phoenix, with responsibility for downtown and urban corridors. He was active in many civic and professional organizations including the American Institute of Certified Planners and Lambda Alpha International. He served as the President of LAI's Land Economics Foundation in the early 1990's setting it on its present course as a resource to support research and public awareness of land economics issues. Rod was also an active supporter of Boy Scouting, the American Civil Liberty Union, the Unitarian Church and numerous liberal political campaigns and causes.
|
Featured Stories
Phoenix Land Economics Weekend
Letter from the
President
Editor's Column
In Memoriam
Chapter Corner
Baltimore Chapter
Ely Chapter
Golden Gate Chapter
Orange County Chapter
Simcoe Chapter
Vancouver Chapter
Announcements
Administration Matters!
Save the Date!
New Members
Production Manager: Michele Meng
Send your announcements for next edition of KeyNotes to LAI@LAI.org |
Webmaster / Designer: Kathy Keler
For more information about LAI activities, visit the website or contact the International Office: Terry Stevenson, Executive Director
214 N. Hale Street
Wheaton, IL 60187
p: 630/510-4584
f: 630/510-4501 lai@lai.org
www.lai.org |
|
Chapter Corner
Baltimore Chapter:
Bob Tennenbaum—Columbia : Speaks on "Creation and Re-Creation" at the Chapter's February luncheon. Bob was employed by the Rouse Company in the original planning of Columbia. He is also involved in the current efforts to re-create the Columbia Town Center. For many years Bob has directed the campus building program at the downtown campus of the University of Maryland and has also taught planning in the graduate school at the University of Maryland. He is one of the most distinguished land use professionals in the State and we are very fortunate to have him.
It is an appropriate topic to consider now as the real estate profession is working to redefine many of our communities in terms of current living preferences, sustainability of our environment and transportation challenges.
Ackneil Muldrow, Past President
Ely Chapter:
Cassandra Francis, former President of Ely Chapter, has accepted a new position as Director of Olympic Village Development for Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympics Games. Chicago is honored to be competing for this privilege alongside such world-class cities as Baku, Azerbaijan; Doha, Qatar; Madrid, Spain; Prague, Czech Republic; Rio de Janerio, Brazil; and Tokyo, Japan. Please visit www.chicago2016.org to register your support of the bid to bring the Olympic Games to Chicago in 2016!
Barbara Morris
Ely Chapter Administrator
Golden Gate Chapter:
LAI member Alan Billingsley, along with associate Hope Nadji, from RREEF Research gave their annual presentation to the Golden Gate Chapter of their outlook for the economy, capital and the real estate markets for 2008. Their forecasts moved from cautionary in 2007 to defensive in 2008, with expectations of a mild recession. Unlike previous recessions, however, the property markets are not expected to suffer severely, with continued demand growth anticipated in 2009 onward and with muted new supply activity. Capital markets are forcing a significant repricing of real estate, bringing to an end a historic 7-year run-up in real estate pricing. Pricing and financing are returning to levels of a few years ago, which is removing significant high-octane sources of debt and equity from the market. In short, for the year ahead, transaction should slow dramatically as sources of capital shift to equity players, properties reprice, and the market becomes comfortable with a recovering economy, hopefully during the second half of the year. For the San Francisco Bay Area, the real estate market will substantially outperform the national market, but is not immune to some of its impacts. The link for the full presentation is: http://www.laigoldengate.org/, then click on the "Documents" page for the presentation.
Alan Billingsley, Past President
Orange County Chapter:
The Orange County LAI Chapter has, with the help of a very strong programs chair and Board of Directors, planned our entire year of exciting speakers for 2008. We are also looking this year to embrace our professional "brethren" in the Inland Empire, by hosting two of our meetings in that area to add new members from that thriving business community. We are seeing, like may folks, continued fallout from the sub-prime mortgage debacle and we have had some very enlightening speakers peel back the onion, so to speak as to what caused this and hope long we might continue to see effects from this.
We are continuing to add members and installed our new Board of Directors last month, and will add the final pieces to our officer corps at the February meeting.
Steve Figgins, President
Simcoe Chapter:
The chapter has chosen to kill two birds with one stone. For chapter doings please:
Download the initial issue of the Simcoe newsletter. The January 2008 issue is in PDF format, and may be viewed by visiting their web site at www.lai-simcoe.org Articles in this edition include:
1. Annual General Meeting
2. President's Column by Frank Clayton
3. President's Award of Recognition: Stan Heidman
4. Program Committee Chair?s Column: Event Horizon by Susan Schiller
5. Lambda Alpha International by Ian James Lord
6. Toronto Land Economics Weekend by Jim Ayres
7. Member News
8. Members' Forum: "Oshawa Project Confirms Suspicions that Current Brownfield Incentives Inadequate in Certain Markets" by Kim Beckman
Please forward your comments, letters to the editor and ideas for future issues to Scott Burns, the Simcoe Chapter's Director of Communications, at scott@burnsplanning.ca. In particular, let us know if you have a subject for the Members' Forum: we will work with you on the article.
Special thanks to Robert Glover, John Marshall and Maher Rahim for their assistance in the production of this newsletter.
ED.Note: a very good idea both to have a web site and to publish a newsletter and suggest that Simcoe link to the KeyNotes for their readership.
Vancouver Chapter:
Gordon Price, LAI and James Kunstler visiting before LAI Dinner James Kunstler was the guest speaker at the January 23, LAI, dinner. He is known for his open and frank comments on cities and the environment. He discussed the global oil predicament and its implications for industrial economies. He emphasized his concern for the continuation of the development into the unsustainable suburbs where the cost and availability of energy will begin to unravel the interdependent systems reliant on transportation and heating/cooking.
He boldly stated that North America along with most other parts of the world will begin to experience the impact of these crises within the next five years.
The American Southwest will be affected further due to the limited availability of fresh water. He was not optimistic with North Americans' willingness to respond to the crises until they were confronted by an inability to continue as they had become accustomed. He stressed the need for density and the need for improvement in passenger train transportation and less reliance on airplanes. He criticized the suburbs for being primarily focused on the car rather than neighborhoods reliant on walking and cycling. He questioned the logic of the efforts being spent on alternative energy sources like Ethanol, wind power and solar power, when they will provide a small percentage of the energy needed when improving efficiency. Conservation would make a bigger difference that these alternatives could ever supply. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, he said, "Americans can always be counted on to make the intelligent decision ... after they have exhausted all other possibilities."
For the 65 LAI members and guests attending at the Vancouver Club, enjoying a glass of wine with dinner, it was hard to accept the reality of what Jim Kunstler was saying, but from the questions which followed, it was evident that although many members fully supported James' concerns, others, while accepting that there may be inconveniences, were skeptical as to whether Vancouver's economy and real estate would be affected significantly over the next five years.
James announced that his recent book "World Made By Hand", is now available and is published by The Atlantic Monthly Press. It is a novel of the Long Emergency set in Our upstate New York in the not distant future.
 |
United States
Consul General
Lewis Lukens
|
Our guest speaker for the March 19 dinner at the Vancouver Club will be the United States Consul General, Lewis Lukens.
The United States, our closest neighbor, our biggest customer and our most important ally, is struggling through a weakening real estate market, a slowing economy and a challenging role in international affairs. What does it mean for Canada and Canadians? Come listen to the US Consul General in Vancouver and take part in the discussion about this most important relationship.
Mr. Lukens has served with the US diplomatic corps since 1989 and is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. His prior postings include southern China, the Ivory Coast, Australia, Ireland, and Iraq, as well as in the State Department and the White House in Washington, DC.
 |
Don Vaughan,
Secretary and Scribe
of the LAI Vancouver Chapter
|
Member wins a prestigious award: This past November, Don Vaughan, the Secretary and Scribe of the LAI,Vancouver Chapter, received a Honorary Doctor of Law from the University of Victoria for his contribution to the planning and landscape architecture in British Columbia. His work has included; Whistler Village, Granville Island, Expo '86, Concord Pacific Place, the University of Victoria and others. Don started his practice in Vancouver, B.C. in 1974 and has now turned over the firm to his two sons, Jeff and Mark.
Announcements
Administration Matters!
Attention all Chapter Administrators: Please send in your new officers and contact information as soon as possible to Michele Meng.
Save the Date ! ! !
Phoenix, AZ, Spring Land Economics Weekend
April 30 - May 4, 2008
Hotel Valley Ho
6850 East Main Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
www.HotelValleyHo.com
Reservations
Rates: *$199.00 + taxes Single/Double
480-248-2000
Registration Form and Agenda coming soon!
Toronto, CA Fall Land Economics Weekend
October 24 - 26, 2008
More details coming soon!
New Members
San Diego Chapter
Laurie Black, San Diego Unified Port District
Paul Borden, Home Federal Corporation
Gina Champion-Cain, American National Investments
William Dumka, Black Mountain Ranch, LLC
Gary Halbert, City of Santee
Ted Kimball, Esq., Kimball Tirey & St. John LLP
Molly Lipsher, Economic Research Associates
Theresa McAteer, Esq., McAteer & McAteer, APLC
Norm Miller, University of San Diego
Robert Moser, FAIA, Moser Drew Watson Ferguson
James F. Reynolds, Oliver McMillan
James Schmid, Chelsea Investment Corporation
Barry Schultz, Esq., San Diego Capital Collaborative
Richard A. Snyder, RA Snyder Management
Tom Sudberry, Sudberry Properties, Inc.
James Tanner, Tanner Hecht Architecture
The John Marshall Law School, LAISA Student Chapter
Thomas Antoine
Bradford Bennett
Timnetra Burruss
Christopher Czernik
Dana Decapite
Andrew Diconza
Travis Eckley
Peter Graham
Max Green
Douglas Grom
Robert Hamilton
Katherine Hunter
Christine M. Italia
Jason Knuckey
Mark Lara
Katie Lemon
Robert Loncar
John Summer Majer
Thomas Mintjal
Philip Murante
Michael Niemiec
Karoline Ossowski
Giuseppe Papavero
Michael Pieczonka
Merima Redzic
Sean Ryan
Ruth Siegel
John Slocum
|
