Yearly Archives: 2017

“Stop Blogging! How To Build A Hyperlocal Content Machine” is the compelling title of the session that DC area real estate industry promoter, marketer and influencer Heather Elias will co-present at Inman Connect at the San Francisco Hilton, August 7-11, the nation’s largest real estate technology conference.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes in June inched up 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 units from a downwardly revised May reading, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The House Committee on Natural Resources passed H.R. 3281 (Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-CO), the “Reclamation Title Transfer and Non-Federal Infrastructure Incentivization Act,” and H.R. 2371 (Rep. Paul Gosar, R-AZ), the “Western Area Power Administration Transparency Act.”

The House Committee on Natural Resources passed H.R. 2199, the “Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform Act of 2017” or the “FLAIR Act.” Introduced by Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), the bipartisan bill requires the Department of the Interior to create a publicly available register of federal real property to increase transparency and improve management of the federal estate.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching the Water Finance Clearinghouse, a web?based portal to help communities make informed financing decisions for their drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure needs. The Clearinghouse provides communities with a searchable database with more than $10 billion in water funding sources and over 550 resources to support local water infrastructure projects.

The Federal Trade Commission announced that a mobile app developed by a New Hampshire software developer was awarded the top prize in the agency’s competition seeking tools to help consumers protect the security of their Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for June 2017.

Michael Bennett, vice president of the Cianbro Cos., Pittsfield, Maine, today told Congress that industry-driven training programs should play a bigger role in government efforts to close the workforce/skills gap that has left 500,000 construction jobs unfilled in the United States today. Bennett testified on behalf of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development to call for support for President Trump’s recent executive order expanding apprenticeships, which would help ensure job seekers get exactly the training required for success in today’s job market

New home sales prices are increasing, and the pace of new home sales are showing signs of slowing in the four largest homebuilding markets in Texas, but total new home sales remain solid, according to the HomesUSA.com® New Homes Sales Index and other new home sales data released today.

LBG Real Estate Companies and Aviva Investors today announced the purchase of Hilltop Mall, a 1,100,000-square-foot regional mall in the East Bay city of Richmond, Calif. The property, located at 2200 Hilltop Mall Road, was originally developed in 1976 and renovated in 2007, and encompasses approximately 77 acres of land prominently located at the Hilltop Mall exit off of Interstate-80.

The office Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that Norton has introduced a bill to extend the District of Columbia’s lease with the National Park Service to use the land under Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium (RFK) by 50 years, for a total period of 100 years. Norton said the lease extension will provide the long-term stability required to redevelop the RFK site to include more green space for public use, sports fields, pedestrian bridges to connect the area to Wards 7 and 8, and a memorial more fitting to the legacy of Robert F. Kennedy.

NeighborWorks America today announced that $31.58 million in financial capability grants have been awarded to 66 nonprofit organizations to assist individuals to stabilize their finances, rebuild their credit and establish savings. The one-time grants, awarded after a competitive process conducted by third party reviewers, are part of Project Reinvest, a limited and targeted program from NeighborWorks America, not related to its core grant operations.

Mortgage applications increased 0.4 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 21, 2017.

America’s Top 35 real estate firms based on service excellence are being honored for exceptional customer service satisfaction with an industry first – a QE Award (pronounced “Quie”) – “that measures and independently verifies excellence in the delivery of the highest levels of customer satisfaction and service quality in real estate in North America,” according to Quality Service Certification, Inc. (QSC), creators of the award.

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is again receiving national recognition for its 40th Anniversary with a prestigious public service award.

The National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) will host the sixth webinar in its 2017 series sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The free webinar, “Seismic Design of Masonry with the 2015 NEHRP Provisions,” will be held Friday, August 25, 2017, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET (11:00 am to 12:00 pm PT).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $3,884,000 to the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDH) to help protect human health and the environment through a Nonpoint Source Program Clean Water Act Section 319 cooperative agreement. This grant is given to states to implement environmental programs that address nonpoint source pollution in surface and groundwater in order to meet and maintain water quality standards.

Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, a nationally-recognized real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in retail property sales, arranged the sale of a single-tenant absolute net-leased Taco Bell property located at 627 N. Wilson Way in Stockton, Calif. The tenant has a 48-year operating history at this location. The purchase price was $1.45 million or $882 per square foot.

“Real Leads Are Back: How Social Lead Gen Change Will Change The Way You Look At Lead Gen Forever” is the hot topic that Eric Stegemann, CEO & Director of Strategy of Chicago-based TRIBUS, will address at Inman Connect at the San Francisco Hilton, August 7-11, the nation’s largest real estate technology conference.

DCHFA will launch the Housing Investment Platform (HIP) and Single Family Investment Pilot at the site of HIP’s first project Elvans Road Townhomes. DCHFA established HIP as a platform for innovative investments that will increase the Agency’s support of the D.C. housing market outside of traditional bond and tax credit financing. As a part of the Single Family Investment Pilot, DCHFA has partnered with H2DesignBuild and City First Bank of DC to construct Elvans Road Townhomes in Ward 8’s Barry Farm neighborhood in Washington, D.C.