Editors’ Weekly News Roundup October 14 – October 18
Development was in the news this past week, with four of the five most-read Connect CRE stories for the week ending Oct. 17 reporting on projects in various stages. Two of those projects are in South Florida, including the one reported in Massive Boca Raton Development Revises Plans, the week’s most-read story.
The long-delayed University Village project in Boca Raton has been on the drawing board since at least 2013, when Penn-Florida Cos. acquired 77 acres near Florida Atlantic University. In the latest iteration of the development, there will be fewer market-rate apartments, 100 senior housing units and a slight reduction of the office and retail/restaurant space. Shovels have yet to go into the ground on the project, although approvals have been in place for nine years.
Moving from the Southeast to the Southwest, Buckeye Advances Master-Planned Community reported that a planning board in Buckeye, AZ, the westernmost suburb of Phoenix, had granted homebuilder Lennar approval to build a mixed-use venture at the corner of West Southern Avenue and South Watson Boulevard.
The Ventana Ranch South project would support single-family homes and various commercial uses. Connect CRE readers made it the second most-read story of the past week.
Another residential development will eventually rise on a plot in Prince George’s County, Maryland. There, as Connect CRE reported in the week’s third most-read story, Walton Global Acquires 40 Acres in Upper Marlboro,the investment and land management company added Marshalls Landing.
The acreage is now allocated for Walton Global’s Builder Land Financing program, which represents a solution for long-term inventory needs through acquiring strategically located land identified by builders and developers. It’s part of a land portfolio assembled by the company in high-growth metro areas across North America and Asia.
Within the same metro area as Marshalls Landing (Washington, DC) is the headquarters of the Federal Reserve. The central bank made the news last week not for its most recent policy decision but for decisions it is likely to make in the near future.
Fed Approaches 2% Target for Inflation Ratecited some of the most recent indicators, such as encouraging readings for the consumer price index and the producer price index. It then quoted Goldman Sachs, which predicted that the latest personal consumption expenditures price index would also show a decline—to a level that theoretically could be rounded down to 2%—when it’s released later this month. This national story ranked fourth for the past week.
Returning to South Florida, Miami Airport Hotel Owner Adding 600 Apartment Unitsdetailed the proposal by hotel investor London + Regional Properties to build a pair of multifamily buildings in the parking lot of thePullman Miami Airport, a lodging property the company acquired in 2019. To compensate for the loss of surface parking, the company would construct a trio of parking garages. The story rounded out the top five for the past week.
Speaking of rental housing, the lead article in the latest Weekender mailing delved into the findings of a survey conducted among single-family renters that pinpointed their top priorities. If you’re not currently receiving Weekender, you can sign up for it here.