Yearly Archives: 2017

Bob Goldberg has been named CEO of the National Association of Realtors®. Goldberg currently serves as NAR senior vice president of Sales & Marketing, Business Development & Strategic Investments, Professional Development and Conventions for NAR.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published the official amounts of national Housing Trust Fund (HTF) funding to states for 2017 in the Federal Register today, June 23. This year, HUD will allocate over $219 million to provide housing for extremely low income (ELI) households, those with incomes at or below 30% of the area median income, or at or less than the federal poverty guideline.

The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International elected its 2017-2018 officers at the 2017 BOMA International Conference & Expo in Nashville.

On Friday, June 23, Mayor Muriel Bowser will break ground on a newly renovated 19-unit affordable housing apartment building at 4000 Kansas Avenue, NW, in Ward 4. The Mayor will also celebrate the renovation of the historic Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Ward 6, a modernized facility with 84 units of affordable housing for households at or below 30 percent of the area median income (AMI).

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released letters from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), which represents water utilities across the country, and DC Water expressing their strong opposition to efforts to block the District of Columbia’s new law regulating the labeling of personal hygiene products, particularly wet wipes, as safe to flush.

Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Senate Colleagues sent a letter to President Trump urging the Department of Energy to conduct an analysis of Russian capabilities with respect to cyber attacks on U.S. energy infrastructure.

The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International conferred the BOMA 360 Performance Program® designation upon properties across the U.S. in the second quarter, with a particularly strong showing in the Atlanta and Boston markets.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) projects commercial and multifamily mortgage originations will be down slightly in 2017, ending the year at $478 billion, a decrease of 3 percent from the 2016 volumes. Mortgage banker originations of just multifamily mortgages are forecast at $206 billion in 2017, with total multifamily lending at $245 billion

he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed an expansion in a cleanup plan to continue removing lead-contaminated soil from a residential development previously owned and built by the Tempo Development Group in West Deptford, (Thorofare), N.J. EPA added the Tempo development to the Matteo & Sons, Inc. Superfund site in October of 2016 after finding that residential properties on nearby Birchly Court, Woodlane Drive, Oakmont Court and Crown Point Road were impacted by lead contamination from the disposal of crushed battery casings.

The International Code Council (ICC) has renewed its commitment to serve as the Conference Sponsor for Building Innovation 2018: The National Institute of Building Sciences Sixth Annual Conference and Expo. To be held January 8-11, 2018, at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C., Building Innovation 2018 will unite representatives from across the industry to discuss strategies and seek solutions to Sustain, Strengthen, Secure.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation a Performance Partnership grant of $5.7 million to administer water quality programs.

Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) introduced H.R. 2937, the “Community Reclamation Partnerships Act.” This bill authorizes partnerships between states and non-governmental entities for the purposes of expanding abandoned mine reclamation projects.

The House passed H.R. 1873, the “Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act,” by a bipartisan vote of 300-118. Introduced by Reps. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR), the bipartisan bill provides streamlined processes for the removal of hazardous vegetative overgrowth within or adjacent to electricity infrastructure on federal lands.

The House passed H.R. 1654, the “Water Supply Permitting Coordination Act,” by a bipartisan vote of 233-180. Introduced by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), the bill creates a “one-stop-shop” permitting process through the Bureau of Reclamation for new or expanded surface storage facilities. It streamlines agency permit requirements that sometimes impose unnecessary costs and burdens on entities seeking to construct new water storage infrastructure.

Property Services, an Atlanta-based real estate firm with a focus on healthcare and professional office development, has acquired Johns Creek Medical and The Swan Building for a combined $11.9 million. The two properties, located at 6918 McGinnis Ferry Road in Johns Creek and 4165 Old Milton Parkway in Alpharetta, total 55,664 square feet.

Chris O’Keefe, who has been New Hanover County’s Planning Director for 11 years and a valuable county employee for 27 years, will be retiring at the end of July. “This is a big loss for the county,” said County Manager Chris Coudriet. “Chris O’Keefe has been an effective voice in our community for responsible development, planning for connectivity, and environmental stewardship. His knowledge and expertise will be missed, but this is an excellent opportunity for Chris and his career.”

Mortgage applications increased 0.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 16, 2017

A majority of Americans and Canadians have made it clear: we are not paying enough attention to affordable housing needs and solutions, according to Habitat for Humanity’s Affordable Housing Survey. With critical housing shortages across both countries, cost remains a top barrier preventing families from accessing decent homes with an affordable mortgage

Today, the Department of Labor announced the award of $43.3 million in Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program grants. The grants will help an estimated 21,000 veterans successfully reintegrate into the competitive workforce. The grants will fund a variety of services to assist homeless veterans in their return to the labor force including occupational, classroom, and on-the-job training, as well as job search and placement assistance.

President Donald J. Trump met with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, General Keith Alexander, Thomas P. Bossert, and energy sector leaders today to address energy sector resilience and cybersecurity. President Trump thanked the participants in the meeting for their efforts and underscored the importance of a continuing public and private partnership to effectively combat threats against the energy sector, particularly the power grid. In the meeting, the leaders discussed unique challenges the sector faces and strategic initiatives, both underway and proposed, to address the evolution of malicious cyber activity.