Monthly Archives: June 2016

As the start of summer brings high temperatures across Michigan, Consumers Energy is letting residents and business owners know they can take many simple steps to lower energy costs and still stay cool.

The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that she and her congressional allies will offer amendments to remove the anti-home-rule riders from the fiscal year 2017 District of Columbia appropriations bill when it comes before the House this week. Norton will testify on her amendments at a Rules Committee hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, June 21, 2016, at 5:00 p.m.

Nationwide housing starts were virtually unchanged in May, inching down 0.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department. Overall permit issuance edged up 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.14 million

To help celebrate Father's Day,the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is encouraging communities to support dads living in HUD assisted housing to stay connected with their children by participating in HUD's National Father's Day Initiative and hosting events to celebrate fatherhood and family.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for May 2016

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has proposed rules to modernize the disclosure requirements for mining properties by aligning them with current industry and global regulatory practices and standards. The proposed revisions would update disclosure requirements for mining registrants in Item 102 of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and related guidance in Industry Guide 7

The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee-approved fiscal year 2017 District of Columbia Appropriations bill does not contain any anti-home-rule riders, exempts D.C. from a shutdown in fiscal year 2018, and provides funds for many of her legislative priorities. Norton said that the bill blocks the Local Budget Autonomy Act of 2012 (BAA), the referendum overwhelmingly passed in 2013 by D.C. voters that granted the District budget autonomy, for fiscal year 2017 only by appropriating D.C.’s funds for fiscal year 2017.

A new NAREE Board of Directors has been sworn-in for 2016. Steve Brown, who covers real estate for the Dallas Morning News, is NAREE's new president. A deeply experienced NAREE volunteer, Steve has served three different stints on the board over the years. Steve and the other members of the board were officially affirmed at the NAREE officer installation dinner on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 at the Harbor House in San Diego

The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) Executive Director Anthony L. Marchetta joined local officials and community leaders to celebrate the grand opening of The Meadows, an affordable rental community for workforce families in Atlantic County. Developers on the project are Atlantic City Housing Authority, Urban Redevelopment Agency and Conifer Realty, LLC. The community is located just blocks from the beach and boardwalk, at 900 Mediterranean Avenue, on the corners of North Maryland Avenue and Mediterranean Avenue.

President Obama believes in the need to transition to a cleaner, more reliable, and affordable 21st century power grid. Under his leadership, transformations in how we produce and consume electricity are decreasing carbon pollution, scaling up renewable energy, and generating savings on consumers’ energy bills. Since 2009, renewable energy generation has increased at a record pace, while costs have decreased dramatically.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz released the following statement regarding the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) moving their secretariat to the International Energy Agency (IEA) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

In less than two weeks, the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) will host a free webinar. The “2015 NEHRP Design Examples” webinar with take place Tuesday, June 28, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET.

Mary Cameron, former president and CEO of Alberta’s Workers Compensation Board, and Jim Stanard, chairman and co-founder of TigerRisk Partners, have been elected to Habitat for Humanity International’s board of directors.

The Justice Department announced today that Dean Windham and Milton Studer, a real estate developer and an architect in Ohio, as well as several companies that they owned and controlled, have agreed to pay a total of $160,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the Fair Housing Act by designing and constructing two neighboring condominium complexes in Hartville, Ohio, with a variety of features that made them inaccessible to persons with disabilities.

After holding steady for the past four months, builder confidence in the market for newly constructed single-family homes rose two points in June to a level of 60 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the highest reading since January 2016.

LBG REAL ESTATE COMPANIES, LLC (LBG), a Southern California-based investor in retail real estate, in partnership with Aviva Investors Real Estate Capital Partners I-A, LP, announce that they have completed the sale of a prime, single-tenant net-lease property in Henderson NV to an undisclosed buyer at a sale price of $23,162,717. The sale of the property was brokered by Chris Kostanecki and Dave Lucas of Capital Pacific in Las Vegas, NV

The median price of Orlando homes sold during the month of May increased more than 12 percent compared to May 2015 and crossed the $200,000 mark for the first time since August 2008. In addition, sales showed a year-over-year increase of nearly 7 percent despite a continuing slide in inventory.

In celebration of National Building Safety Month, traditionally recognized throughout the month of May, AGC participated in an exclusive, invitation-only White House Conference on Resilient Building Codes. Speakers shared insights on what adaptations buildings require in order to enhance resiliency, how to support local communities in protecting their building stock from natural and other disasters, and suggestions on incorporating resilience attributes into codes and standards. Click here (link is external) for the White House fact sheet on the event

This webinar, presented by The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Office of Regional Operations (ORO), Region 10 (AK, ID, WA, OR), will take place July 27, 2016, from 10:00 am – 11:15 pm PST (1:00 pm – 2:15 EST). The webinar will be an open community of sharing with subject matter experts from Federal, State, and local agencies and community partners who provide care and service to homeless persons.