The residential and commercial building industry has changed radically in the last few decades, following the pattern of many other vital sectors of the US economy. Two of the developments that the industry has been focused on, which happen to be interlinked, are prefabrication and offsite construction. Coupled with this, vertical integration is a focus of many companies as … [Read more...] about The rise of prefab.
Development
The contrarian developer.
Scott Choppin is the founder of the Urban Pacific Group of Companies, a Long Beach, CA based real estate development company. Founded in 2000, Urban Pacific focuses exclusively on urban infill and affordable housing communities throughout California and the western US. Over the last 18 years, the company has developed nearly 1,700 units of unique to market urban housing … [Read more...] about The contrarian developer.
Making allies, not opponents.
Impact investing is a relatively new phenomenon. Community-minded entrepreneurs who strive to be socially responsible are independently coming up with innovative solutions to solve or alleviate problems across the country. They are tackling issues like housing insecurity, the deleterious effects of suburban sprawl and environmental concerns related to housing. While every … [Read more...] about Making allies, not opponents.
Investors as educators.
Most people have some familiarity with the process of buying real estate, either through popular media or their own experiences purchasing a home. But when you enter the world of commercial property development and investment, there is a "lingua franca" that is unique to the real estate business. While there may be a justifiable need for this "secret language" between real … [Read more...] about Investors as educators.
Advancing community development.
Joshua Lavrinc is a multi-disciplinary real estate professional with a breadth of experience in development and finance consulting, lending and investment, and fund management. He's also a colleague and friend of mine in Pittsburgh, What sets Josh apart is the type of funds and projects he is involved in. He’s carved out a little niche for himself in Pittsburgh, helping … [Read more...] about Advancing community development.