Converting vacant office buildings to housing is not an easy fix for our ailing downtowns. Not by a long shot. Over the years experience has shown that they are never straightforward. There is no magic sauce. The unhappy truth is that retrofits are hard, expensive and sometimes make no sense at all. Here’s why … Large floor plate office buildings generally have one … [Read more...] about Retrofits.
Articles
The tallest wood building. So far.
Milwaukee has the tallest wood building in the world. Yes really. Milwaukee! This informational video explains the building and provides a primer for building a skyscraper in wood, or mass timber. Do you have a mass timber building in your city that will top this? … [Read more...] about The tallest wood building. So far.
ESG versus Impact Investing.
Impact investing is not ESG. And ESG is not Impact investing. Is this news to you? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Some of the smartest and most sophisticated people have trouble distinguishing between the two. ESG stands for environmental, social and governance. It was the brainchild of governments wanting to bring these issues into mainstream investment decision-making. … [Read more...] about ESG versus Impact Investing.
The Garden.
by Eve Picker There is not much good to say about the Covid pandemic. But three years later I am richer in two ways. I have plenty of antibodies and I have become obsessed with plants. Gardening is too mild a word for my passion. Books and the internet fill hours of time, as I troll my favorite landscape gurus online and plot complicated planting plans. Hundreds of … [Read more...] about The Garden.
Local Spaces. Crowdfunded.
Crowdfunding can take many forms -- from donation-based to investment-based, supporting small and large businesses or bricks and mortar and even civic projects. We’ve always loved Spacehive, the earliest civic crowdfunding platform to emerge, founded by Chris Gourlay in London. Spacehive helps locals and communities bring their ideas to life through crowdfunding. As the … [Read more...] about Local Spaces. Crowdfunded.