Larry Lund

The South Beach Spring Weekend (May 14-16) is fast approaching and there is still time to register for this outstanding International event. We have only about 20 spaces left, so do it now! South Beach and Miami are two of the most interesting areas in the country both experiencing a flourish of development in the residential, commercial, and public sectors. LAI members will have the opportunity to see these developments and meet with the people responsible. It’s a great opportunity to hear both the private and public sides to learn how these projects work.

One question I frequently receive in regards to these Weekends is should I bring my spouse or a guest? Absolutely! We design these Weekends for everyone; they are not a series of lectures. It's fun to see these projects and meet with other LAI members from around the world to develop lasting relationships.

I hope to see many of you in South Beach this May.

LAI is also looking for sponsorships for the South Beach Weekend, so if you or your company are interested, we are asking for $500 contributions. The Weekend provides a wonderful opportunity to help support LAI and associate your firm with a great event! Please give International a call now to let them know that you are interested. Thanks.

Lambda Alpha International wants to continue expanding our network of chapters and we are looking to regenerate our South Florida Chapter. We will be holding a cocktail reception before the South Beach Weekend on Thursday evening May 13 at 7 pm in the National Hotel. This meeting is for current at-large members in Florida and for potential new members to meet and see if we can generate sufficient interest to reactivate the local chapter. Please contact International if you can attend.

We also want to start a new Chapter in Atlanta. Joe Nathanson, our Eastern Regional Vice President will be in Atlanta several times this year on other matters and would like to talk to potential members during some of his free time during these visits to see if we can start a chapter in Atlanta.

Don’t forget the Baltimore Chapter Symposium, April 29. This is an outstanding program on how technology is shaping our landscapes. More information and registration are in an article below.

On other issues, we have cleaned up the “Chapter Meetings” area at 209.224.198.102 and we encourage chapters to post their upcoming monthly meetings on the site.

Also, keep sending us information on upcoming events regarding your Chapter and information on activities by Chapter members for the monthly Online KeyNotes. This month we feature a new book that two LAI members, Jon DeVries and Margery Al-Chalabi made significant contributions, titled Just in Time Real Estate.

We would like to promote other activities of LAI members through our website, so e-mail us information on your activities.

Best regards,

Los Angeles Chapter Presents its 2004 Skyline Award

Stuart M. Ketchum, a member of the Los Angeles Chapter and President of the Walt Disney Hall discusses how the Disney Concert Hall functions.

The Founders Room of the new Walt Disney Concert Hall was the festive venue for almost 100 members and guests who joined together on March 1st for the presentation of the 2004 Skyline Award of the Los Angeles Chapter to the newly opened Walt Disney Concert Hall. Accepting the award for Los Angeles County were two of the principals of this long-term project: Los Angeles Music Center President, Steven D. Roundtree and Stuart M. Ketchum, President of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. In his presentation Los Angeles Chapter President, Ronald Buss, noted that, “Walt Disney Concert Hall is located in the core of downtown Los Angeles and has contributed greatly to its revitalization.”

Conceived by Los Angeles Chapter member, Bill Goodglick, the Skyline Award is the premier public award given by the Chapter. Since 1990, the award has been given every two years for a project in the Los Angeles area that contributes to the vitality of the urban fabric. The chapter emphasizes that this is not an architectural award but, rather, an award for projects that bring energy and a sense of community to the city.

Mr. Steven D. Roundtree, President of the Music Center (on the left) receives the 2004 Skyline Award from LA Chapter President Ronald Buss.

In the past, the award has been given to Paramount Studios for its long-term commitment to its Hollywood neighborhood. Paramount rerouted old streets to facilitate traffic movement, redesigned parking structures to appear like the adjacent apartment buildings and, generally, has been a good neighbor in Hollywood.

Similarly, the award has been given to former Community Development Director, and Los Angeles Chapter member, Marsha Rood and the City of Pasadena for the revitalization of the historic part of that city known now as “Old Pasadena.” That project has brought new business and legions of the public back to a portion of the city that had deteriorated.

Other recipients have been Maguire Thomas Partners who remodeled and reconceived the Los Angeles Central Library as a part of their Library Square airspace project and The Anschutz Group for the recently built Staples Center, a sparkplug for redevelopment of the South Park section of downtown Los Angeles.

The Frank Gehry -designed Disney Hall was chosen as this year’s recipient by a committee of distinguished architects, urbanists and real estate professionals who noted that it is now a destination for people from around the world who have come just to see the building, in addition to experiencing the rich acoustics of its interior. As the home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the hall is the first exclusive residence for the orchestra in its almost 100-year history. As such, Disney Hall stands as not only a cultural jewel for the Southern California region, but an architectural wonder as well as a lynchpin for future adjacent mixed-use development.

The Los Angeles Chapter is rightfully proud of its 2004 Skyline Awardee.

Boston Chapter

Rob Nahigian, SIOR, CRE of Auburndale Realty Co., Newton, Mass. has been invited to speak on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 at the upcoming Fiabci International Real Estate Conference in Houston, TX. His lecture will be on Investing in the United States and Creating Wealth for the Commercial Real Estate Practitioner. Fiabci is one of the premier international real estate organizations and has over 800 attendees at its world real estate convention. Mr. Nahigian will be speaking to international real estate investors on the current United States real estate investment market, its past history with rates of returns, how real estate has faired vs. other asset commodities and how the rules for investing in the U.S. has changed dramatically in the last 72 months. The Fiabci World Congress Convention will be held at the Hilton Americas-Houston from May 24-29, 2004 and the theme is “The Exploration of Real Property”.

South Florida Chapter

Lambda Alpha needs your help to identify prospective members to regenerate the South Florida Chapter. The Board of Governors will host a cocktail reception for prospective members just before the Spring Weekend Experience on Thursday evening, May 13 at Latitude 26 at the National Hotel in South Beach. We are asking our membership to forward names of prospective candidates that we may invite to this event. Please e-mail or call International at 630-579-3284 or LAI@LAI.org with names and addresses of invitees. International will handle the rest.

Baltimore Chapter

"Technology, Smart Growth, and the Future Form of the Baltimore Region" is the theme of Baltimore Chapter's all day symposium, Thursday, April 29th from 9:30 am until 4: 30 pm at Johns Hopkins University Downtown Center at 10 Charles Street.

The symposium’s goals are twofold: first, to improve the understanding of these trends, technology’s influence, and the implications for the Baltimore region and, second, to consider how judicious investments in advancing the region’s technology base and managed development policies together may achieve desirable and sustainable patterns for our future metropolitan development.

While these themes are particular relevant to Baltimore, all Lambda Alpha Chapters are facing similar issues and all members are encouraged to attend.

Speakers of international prominence, such as Michael Joroff of MIT will talk on “Technology and the From of Business, Cities and Regions.” Robert Stacy, Executive Director 1000 Friends of Oregon will discuss “Creating a Smart Region in a Technological Society,” and David Goldbert, Communications Director Smart Growth America will speak on “Technology and Smart Growth: Tension and Resolution.” Table discussions will follow these presentations and will be lead by other outstanding resource people, such as Armando Carbonell, Gerrit Knapp, Andrew Lemer, Douglas McCoach, Marsha Schachtel, and Bill Struever.

Participation will be open to all Lambda Alpha International members and the public, but limited to approximately 150 people. A fee of $95.00 will be charged to cover the costs of lunch and refreshments, and documents to be provided to participants. The organizers plan to produce a proceedings or other documentation following the symposium.

Registration and payment ($95) must be received by April 23, 2004, and will be confirmed by email or telephone. Checks payable to LAI-Baltimore, attendee’s name, affiliation, postal address, and email address should be sent to

T&SG Symposium
c/o AIA Baltimore
11 1/2 West Chase Street
Baltimore, MD  21201

Complete program details can be found by clicking here, or calling Baltimore Chapter President, Dr. Andrew Lemer at 410-235-3307 or e-mailing him atalemer@ecostructure.com

LAI to Establish an Atlanta Chapter

Lambda Alpha wants to establish an Atlanta Chapter and we need your help to identify prospective members. Joe Nathanson our Eastern Regional Vice President will be making several visits to Atlanta this year and his first visit will be the week of May 3. Please forward contact information on potential candidates to International and we will extend an invitation to meet with Joe during one of his visits. You may reach Joe Nathanson through International at 630-579-3284 or e-mail LAI@LAI.org

Information You Can Use

Looking for a great e-mail news briefing for commercial real estate professionals? Los Angeles chapter member David Lachoff of Grubb & Ellis and LAI’s Treasurer, suggests SmartBrief. It’s emailed to you three times a week, it contains news from hundreds of top industry sources, it’s what you need to know, and it’s Free! To see a sample page and signup online go to http://www.smartbrief.com/cre/cre_sample_f.htm

An Important new book with two chapters authored by Lambda Alpha members is now available through the LAI website -- Just-in-Time Real Estate: How Trends in Logistics are Driving Industrial Development. Jon DeVries and Margery Al-Chalabi both of the Ely-Chicago Chapter contributed separate chapters to this newly published ULI book.

This book discusses how changes in logistics and distribution are affecting commercial property development. Just-in-Time Real Estate covers the latest trends and their effect on the demand, design, and site selection process for commercial space near transportation terminals in the U.S. and overseas. Experts describe the opportunities and challenges of developing near airports, rail terminals, ports, and distribution centers, and how the public and private sectors are working together on best practices and solutions.

In addition two Lambda Alpha members, Alan Artibise, Dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs at University of New Orleans and Gary H. London, President of the London Group Realty Advisors, Inc. San Diego served as reviewers of this ULI book.

Jon DeVries is with Roosevelt University and URS Corp, and Margery Al-Chalabi is with ACG: The Al-Chalabi Group.

You can order this book online through the Lambda Alpha International Bookstore at 209.224.198.102

Ronald Berger of the Ely-Chicago Chapter died April 1, 2004 of complications from a lung infection after treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He was 70. Ron served as chairman and president of the Berger Co. and as executive vice president of Heitman Financial. In 1982, he became a member of Lambda Alpha and was sponsored for membership by Eugene Ross and Leonard Worsek. His two brothers, Miles and Robert, also Lambda Alpha members, survive him.