SCDF Event Blog

Housing California: Process, Policy and the Path to Production

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 18:16:27 GMT

At a time when housing demand continues to outpace supply across California, the recent Southern California Development Forum brought together leaders from law, development, andcapital markets to examine what is slowing production and what it will take to move projects from concept to completion.

Moderated by Spencer Kallick, Partner at Allen Matkins, the conversation grounded policy discussions in real-world experience. Joining him on the panel were Armeen Neshat, Real Estate Development Director at Decro Corporation; Nolan Weinberg, SVP of Development at PMB; John Mimms, Vice President of Development at The Michaels Organization; and Alex Valente, Principal at Trammell Crow Company. Together, they represented the perspectives of workforce, senior, affordable, and market-rate housing asset classes to paint a clear picture for 2026.

Entitlements: The Cost of Time

One of the clearest themes of the evening was that time has become one of the most expensive inputs in housing development.

Weinberg shared his example of a senior housing project in San Diego that required a six-year entitlement process before breaking ground. With rising interest rates, the delay compounds financing costs and erodes projected returns. For senior housing in particular (an asset class still stabilizing after COVID-19 disruptions), the extended timeline can deter capital from entering the market altogether.

Mimms reinforced this point, noting that developers can underwrite construction costs with relative certainty, but administrative delays are far harder to model. The lack of consistent timelines across cities creates risk premiums that ultimately translate into higher per-unit costs.

State Reform: Progress and Gaps

The panel turned to state-level reforms and their practical impact on housing production. Valente referenced AB 130 (California legislation aimed at accelerating housing construction by restricting local government authority to impose stricter-than-state building standards and by creating exemptions from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as evidence that thestate recognizes the urgency of housing delivery.

However, the panelists were clear: policy adoption is only the first step. Execution at the local level determines whether reforms meaningfully reduce friction. Incentive programs like Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) have unlocked additional density and feasibility in key corridors, but they require stable funding sources and consistent administrative support to function effectively. Without sufficient capital investment, projects stall regardless of zoning reform.

Kallick agreed and noted that policymakers must better understand how incremental requirements accumulate. Energy mandates, parking minimum adjustments, design overlays, and impact fees may each appear modest in isolation, but collectively they can push projects beyond feasibility thresholds.

Capital and Market Dynamics

Beyond regulation, capital markets continue to shape the housing landscape. Weinberg noted that senior housing faces particular challenges in attracting new equity amid pandemic-era occupancy volatility. Meanwhile, rising interest rates increase the cost of debt and compress margins across asset classes.

Valente framed the issue in fundamental economic terms: housing is subject to supply and demand. When supply is constrained by entitlement delays, code requirements, and uncertain approvals, pricing pressure intensifies. Conversely, predictable pathways to production encourage investment and stabilize markets.

Even large-scale redevelopment efforts must navigate these pressures. Mimms discussed the Jordan Downs redevelopment in Los Angeles, which will deliver more than 800 units of affordable housing as part of a comprehensive community transformation. Projects of this magnitude require sustained coordination between public agencies, developers, and residents. In this case, both the possibility and complexity of delivering housing on this scale have been successful

Design Efficiency and Complete Communities

While policy reform and access to capital are critical, panelists also emphasized internal discipline within development teams. Efficient design, standardized unit layouts, and thoughtful amenity programming can meaningfully reduce costs. Mimms spoke to the importance of creating complete communities —housing that integrates services, open space, and connectivity — while balancing amenity expectations with financial realities. Over-programming common areas or layering unnecessary design features can undermine pro formas. The challenge is delivering environments that attract residents without inflating construction budgets.

Neshat added that updated building codes could help align sustainability goals with cost containment. Clear, modernized standards reduce redesign cycles and inspection conflicts, creating both environmental and economic benefits.

A Call for Education and Alignment

In closing, the panel returned to a unifying theme: education. Kallic emphasized that many policy decision-makers underestimate the cumulative impact of regulatory layering. Greater transparency around real development costs and the consequences of delay could foster more pragmatic solutions.

The conversation was candid but constructive. Panelists agreed that meaningful progress requires coordination across the ecosystem: legislators crafting workable statutes, municipalities resourcing planning departments, capital providers re-entering the market, and developers committing to efficient, community-oriented design.

The panel made one point unequivocally clear: housing production is possible at scale. What remains is aligning policy intent with operational reality to ensure that projects move from approval to occupancy with far greater certainty.

SoCal Economic Outlook 2026: Cautious Optimism, Quality Over Quantity, and AI at the Helm

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 20:52:50 GMT

As we step into 2026, the Southern California development community gathered for a forward-looking panel to parse the data, separate the noise, and provide practical takeaways for the year ahead. Three themes were predicted: cautious optimism driven by selective strength across asset classes, a transforming capital markets backdrop, and the accelerating influence of AI on operations and strategy.

Moderated by Paul Giorgio COO & USC Adjunct Professor Eldridge Acre Partners, panelists included David Bitner, Executive Managing Director of Global Research Newmark; Matt Stewart, Senior Managing Director & Co-Head of Orange County Capital Markets JLL; Eric Willett, Managing Director of RCLCO Real Estate Advisors & USC Adjunct Professor; and Roger Yang, U.S. Industry Leader - Building, Construction & Real Estate of KPMG.

Macro Backdrop

5 Themes in the U.S. Economy

1. Economic activity has been inflated by the AI infrastructure boom;

2. The labor market is stagnant and overly reliant on healthcare for growth;

3. Inflation is still high and likely to remain due to delayed tariff impacts.

However…

4. Consumer spending has recently re-accelerated due to low unemployment, continued wage growth and stock market gains

5. Productivity rising, though it remains to be seen whether this is a durable trend

With little growth, a dash of productivity, and some policy uncertainty in the mix, Bitner painted a nuanced economic picture of the year ahead. After a strong 2024–2025 cycle influenced heavily by AI investment, the core question for 2026 is whether growth can broaden beyond AI-driven pockets. Labor market gains have been concentrated in healthcare, and hiring outside that sector remains muted. Yet consumer spending and wage growth are supportive, and recent signs of improving productivity — a likely byproduct of AI adoption — offer a potentially disinflationary force over time.

The most probable macro scenario the panelists sketched: modest growth (around 1–2%), sticky but gradually easing inflation, and one to two Fed rate cuts over the year. That outcome would likely keep the 10-year Treasury roughly around current levels, absent from a sharp policy-driven or geopolitical shock. Importantly, panelists emphasized the term premium — the market’s compensation for uncertainty — as a wild card that could prevent yields from dropping even if short-term policy eases.

Capital Markets

Transaction activity accelerated significantly in 2025, and the debt markets’ reopening was a central story. Lenders across product types are active, spreads have compressed, and competition is returning. That creates a window for buyers with ready equity to act, particularly on assets where ownership is fragmented or capital structures are stressed. Panelists believe 2026 may offer a compelling “buy” window, but success will vary by geography and asset class.

Office

Driven by flight-to-quality trends, stabilization, and redevelopment activity, the office sector emerged as a core area of differentiated performance. Leasing activity and net absorption finally turned positive in 2025, and high-quality (trophy and Class A) product is seeing real demand.

Supply dynamics amplify that divide: new deliveries in many top markets are constrained, and much of the limited new product is pre-leased. For secondary office, the path to stabilization likely requires redevelopment and repositioning rather than mere expectation of job-driven demand growth. The market could even see rising average transaction cap rates in the near term as previously stranded assets begin to trade.

Industrial

With market-by-market correction, but long-term structural support, the industrial market’s post-COVID boom has since moderated. Some submarkets — especially deeper inland areas — show oversupply and elevated vacancy, but core, well-located industrial remains in demand. The vast outperformance of industrial versus the index in prior years has eased, and returns have normalized. Expect a market-by-market story in Southern California, with development constraints (zoning, environmental, and political) supporting existing product values where barriers to new supply are meaningful.

Retail

Retail is back! Selective resurgence and redevelopment fueled a retail renaissance that surprised many. High-quality retail centers — especially experiential and grocery-anchored formats — are attracting institutional interest and strong rent dynamics. Across the board, owners are opting to retain tenants and stabilize occupancy rather than push aggressive rent growth.

Residential

Demand is expected to moderate in 2026, though supply and demand should remain balanced, supporting a stable outlook. The supply wave from 2024 and 2025 continues to pressure rent growth in high growth markets as new supply works through lease up. Overall, the market is expected to remain relatively stable, but deliveries reduced significantly in 2025 and are forecasted to continue to decline in 2026, creating demand opportunities in 2027 and 2028 potentially supporting increased investment demand in 2026 for new pipeline.

Artificial Intelligence

An operational multiplier, AI was a recurring theme both on and off stage. Right now, artificial intelligence's most immediate value lies in operations: centralizing unstructured data, automating routine tasks, enhancing property management, and accelerating analysis. For brokerage and asset management, AI can synthesize dispersed market signals into actionable insights. However, expectations were tempered around AI as a replacement for investment judgment. AI models are powerful tools, but do not substitute for deep local market knowledge and rigorous human decision-making.

Looking Ahead

For 2026, the consensus is cautiously optimistic. The convergence of stabilizing demand in office and retail, continued institutional interest in quality industrial, dropping residential deliveries will create a landscape of selective opportunities. Capital markets are broadly receptive but vary among asset classes. Several years of declining construction starts and contracting ABI are indicators for structural undersupply and should provide opportunities for increased demand.

From Innovation to Infrastructure: The Future of Manufacturing in Southern California

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 21:57:46 GMT

At this month’s Southern California Development Forum, manufacturing industry leaders came together for an in-depth conversation about the evolving landscape in the region. The message is clear: Southern California remains a national manufacturing powerhouse, but sustaining and strengthening that position will require adaptability, investment, and collaboration across sectors.

Moderated by Annette Allen, Advanced Manufacturing Core Market Leader at DPR Construction, the session opened with a focus on what’s driving manufacturing demand today — construction considerations, workforce readiness, sustainability commitments, and the increasing influence of advanced technology. Panelists included Veronica Pugin, Vice President of Industry, International & Business Promotion at Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC); Brian Stonerock, Construction Project Manager at Anduril Industries; Ryan Gayita, Director of CUMMING GROUP; and Brent Homan, Project Manager at CRB Group. The panelists examined not only what’s fueling this strength, but also what challenges must be addressed to keep the industry competitive.

A Workforce That Sets LA Apart

With more than 320,000 manufacturing employees and average salaries surpassing $100,000, Los Angeles County continues to hold the title of the largest manufacturing hub in the United States. Los Angeles has a diverse and highly skilled workforce. She emphasized that LA’s combination of legacy industrial expertise, advanced manufacturing capabilities, and access to dual-use technology has created a unique environment where innovation thrives.

To sustain this advantage, Pugin underscored the importance of workforce development. LAEDC’s partnerships with community colleges and training institutions are helping to build specialized pipelines that meet the needs of today’s manufacturers. With state investments, such as $100 million in manufacturing tax credits and improvements to the capital permit access portal, California is acknowledging the need to support both employers and future workers.

Designing for Flexibility and a Faster Future

A recurring theme throughout the panel was the growing need for flexible, future-ready facilities. Stonerock, who has led major industrial and manufacturing construction efforts, including work with Tesla, spoke about the shift toward process optimization and throughout-focused design.

Facilities today must accommodate rapid changes in technology, production processes, and market demands. This means incorporating adaptable layouts, modular equipment, and built-in capacity for expansion. As AI and automation transform workflows, designs must support continuous data collection, predictive maintenance, and system-level optimization.

Gayita added that sustainability is now an essential part of facility design, not an afterthought. From energy use to materials selection to waste management, clients are prioritizing environmental responsibility even though doing so often increases project complexity and cost. International partners investing in LA must also adapt to California’s stringent sustainability standards.

Navigating Security, Regulation, and Risk

The panelists also addressed increasing government security requirements, which are becoming a significant factor in facility planning. Stonerock shared firsthand experiences with the challenges of meeting strict compliance mandates, securing specialized resources, and ensuring facilities are built to protect sensitive technologies.

At the same time, shifting economic conditions have influenced project execution. Homan explained that clients are delaying key design decisions to preserve cash flow and gain more certainty before committing. This demands highly flexible project teams and partners capable of adjusting rapidly to evolving scopes. Panelists agreed that risk mitigation starts with building strong talent pipelines and assembling teams with deep expertise. Community engagement also plays a central role; transparent communication, early outreach, and demonstrating community benefits are essential to project success.

The Power Puzzle

Power and energy needs surfaced as another defining issue. With limited infrastructure and rising demand, manufacturers face challenges securing sufficient power for operations, especially when expanding or building new facilities. Homan emphasized the need for more efficient power usage and sustainable design practices that reduce consumption.

“It’s not about how we find more power...It’s about how do we use our power differently and efficiently,” said Homan.

Because of this, California’s energy constraints create both barriers and opportunities. He expects companies to explore innovative solutions, from microgrids to renewable integrations, to ensure reliability while maintaining environmental commitments.

A Path Forward: Collaboration Is Key

The session concluded with a clear call to action: collaboration is key. Gayita emphasized that California must attract more industry, not less, and doing so requires addressing workforce development, housing supply, and infrastructure limitations. Pugin agreed and also encouraged attendees to share resources and information to strengthen the broader manufacturing ecosystem.

Southern California’s manufacturing industry sits at a critical juncture. With its unmatched workforce, global connectivity, and culture of innovation, the region is poised for continued leadership. But realizing that potential will require coordinated efforts from policymakers, educators, developers, and industry partners.

The future of manufacturing in Southern California will be built not just by companies, but by communities working together to support economic growth, technological advancement, and long-term sustainability.

Big Beautiful Boxes – A 2025 Data Center Outlook

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 16:19:22 GMT

At this month’s Southern California Development Forum, the panel of experts came together for a candid discussion on what it truly takes to make data centers feasible in California. Panelists explored how national design and technology trends—AI-driven automation, cloud growth, and advanced cooling systems— translate to the state’s local realities, and what development is happening in Southern California today.

Moderated by Jeffrey H. Gyzen, Principal of Arcadis, the panel featured Ryan Helsdingen, PE, LEED AP, Associate at Syska Hennessy, Erick Dela Pena, Senior Director of CoreSite, and Ryan Oro, Data Center Developer at Trammell Crow. Whether you’re planning, building, or optimizing mission-critical facilities, this session offered a timely insight into the economic, sustainable, and practical pathways shaping the next generation of data centers across California.

From Kilowatts to Megawatts: The New Power Paradigm

One of the most striking takeaways from the panel was the rapid escalation in power density. A decade ago, the standard rack operated around 2.4 kilowatts. Today, racks routinely require 125 kilowatts, with projections reaching as high as 600 kilowatts per rack in the near future. This leap reflects the surge in AI workloads, cloud computing demands, and the ongoing race toward high-performance computing infrastructure.

To meet these growing needs, data centers are rethinking everything from their electrical design to their cooling systems. The industry is shifting from traditional 208-volt distribution to 415-volt systems, enabling higher efficiency and more flexible cooling solutions. As Helsdingen noted, “We’re moving from managing megawatts to managing gigawatts.”

However, this growth also poses a critical question: where will the power come from?

The Power Puzzle: Challenges in Supply and Cost

California’s power landscape is complex. While the state has aggressive renewable energy goals, data centers continue to rely heavily on natural gas and grid electricity to maintain consistent uptime. Power shortages and long interconnection timelines have slowed new development, especially in regions where utilities struggle to meet rising demand.

Southern California has emerged as a bright spot, thanks to lower utility rates — around 14 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to 22 cents per kilowatt-hour in the Bay Area. This cost difference makes cities like Vernon particularly attractive for developers seeking to establish new hubs.

Yet, lower costs don’t necessarily translate into fewer hurdles. Developers must navigate intricate regulations, environmental review requirements, and local ordinances that can delay projects for years. Gyzen included that in California, data centers exceeding 99 megawatts must undergo rigorous environmental studies, which often add significant time and expense.

Legislation and Location: The California Conundrum

Panelists agreed that California lags behind other states in legislation supporting large-scale data center development. States like West Virginia and Nevada, for example, have enacted tax incentives and streamlined permitting processes to attract major players.

By contrast, California’s strict environmental laws (like California SB 58 (2025-2026)), coupled with high land and construction costs, make the state a challenging environment for new facilities. Despite these barriers, the speakers were optimistic about the potential for policy innovation. They emphasized the need for legislation that supports on-site power generation and balances environmental protection with economic growth.

Dela Pena noted, “California is still the epicenter of innovation. If we can solve these regulatory challenges here, we can create a model for sustainable data center development worldwide.”

Vernon: A New Hub for Data Infrastructure

Amid these challenges, the panel highlighted Vernon, a small industrial city in Southern California, as a rising star for data center investment. With access to subsea cables, competitive energy rates, and a municipality eager to diversify its economy, Vernon offers an appealing alternative to traditional tech hubs.

The city is actively repositioning itself from a manufacturing-based economy to a digital infrastructure hub, working closely with developers to accommodate the unique needs of hyperscale and colocation operators.

Still, developers face physical challenges when retrofitting existing offices or industrial spaces for data center use. Floor loading capacities, ceiling clearances, and electrical infrastructure must all be accounted for and often upgraded, adding to the final project costs.

Looking Ahead: Powering Progress through Partnership

As the discussion concluded, the panelists agreed that the future of California’s data center industry will hinge on collaboration between developers, legislators, utilities, and local communities.

In the next one to three years, the industry is likely to see an expansion of on-site power generation, public-private partnerships, and sustainable design practices that make data centers more integrated with their surrounding environments. Panelists agreed that if future data centers are not connected at all, than there is no point in developing them at this scale. The challenges ahead are significant but by embracing creative solutions, developers can build smarter, cleaner, and more connected data centers.

The Future of Education: Where is it headed?

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 21:48:57 GMT

There’s plenty of talk about the future of higher education — and much of it focuses on finances, facilities, and finding new ways forward. But California remains at the center of that story, home to nearly 20% of the nation’s full-time college students and a higher education system that’s both a testing ground and a trendsetter for the country.

At a recent SCDF panel, leaders from California universities gathered to tackle one big question: how can public institutions adapt to an increasingly uncertain environment while continuing to deliver on their academic missions?

Panelists included Lauren Friedman, Executive Director of Capital Programs at the University of California Office of the President; Patrick Lenz, Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and CFO for the University of California; and Sam Jung, Vice President of Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions. Together, with moderator Matt Do, Managing Director of JLL’s National Advisory and Transactions practice, they explored the realities of funding, innovation, collaboration, and inclusion, shaping the next generation of campus development.

Friedman opened by highlighting the University of California’s progress despite fiscal headwinds. In recent years, the UC system has delivered 15,000 new student beds, advanced major decarbonization goals, and launched transformative projects, such as the 21-acre UC Riverside Medical Center, which will serve over 4 million Inland Empire residents.

Yet, Friedman acknowledged that the outlook remains challenging. Federal research cuts and shifting priorities are forcing the UC system to rethink how it allocates resources.

“We’re continuing to shape spaces that support our mission,” Friedman said. “But the challenges are real. Federal cuts to research funding have shifted priorities, and we’re constantly reassessing how best to allocate resources.”

The Funding Equation

Lenz brought decades of perspective from both UC and CSU systems, offering a candid look at how economic cycles directly impact higher education.

“Funding compacts between the governor and university systems are always fragile,” he explained. “Economic downturns can easily derail long-term commitments. That uncertainty makes capital planning and enrollment management extremely challenging.”

He noted that deferred maintenance, limited housing, and shrinking capital budgets are hampering universities’ ability to meet the growing demand for students, even as they expand access to increasingly diverse student populations.

To counter these pressures, UC has begun testing new approaches to funding and delivering projects. Friedman described the system’s “development model” pilot, which allows UC to internally finance select projects — cutting borrowing costs and improving long-term financial sustainability.

From a private-sector perspective, Jung shared that public-private partnerships (P3s) are unlocking solutions for campuses facing financial strain. His firm, Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, has helped institutions like the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Florida deliver projects faster and more efficiently through creative collaboration.

“The most successful partnerships start with a shared vision,” Jung noted. “Flexibility and transparency are critical. The private sector can bring speed and risk management, but we must empower universities to make decisions that align with their goals.”

Collaboration and Shared Resources

A central theme of the panel was collaboration across California’s higher education systems, including UC, CSU, and community colleges. Lenz pointed to shared facilities and housing as key opportunities to reduce costs while expanding access.

Friedman added that new state housing grants are helping to fund intersegmental projects that serve students across systems, strengthening regional ties and maximizing public resources.

Friedman also addressed a critical value that runs through both education and construction: inclusion.

Since Proposition 209 limited affirmative action in public contracting, UC has found new ways to advance supplier diversity. Initiatives like Industry Days and dedicated contract allocations for small businesses and disabled veteran enterprises (DVBEs) are helping to build a more representative network of contractors.

“Building diversity into our contractor base isn’t just about compliance,” Friedman said. “It’s about creating equitable opportunities that reflect the communities we serve.”

To improve efficiency, the panel explored the potential of strategic mergers, such as integrating the California Maritime Academy with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a move designed to streamline operations and expand academic offerings.

Lenz noted that such mergers can offer smaller institutions a path to sustainability in a strained fiscal climate.

Looking Ahead

As the discussion wrapped up, both Lenz and Friedman underscored a shared vision: higher education’s future depends on renewed public investment, creative project delivery, and an enduring commitment to inclusion.

Lenz summed it up succinctly:

“We need a future where higher education receives more funding than corrections. That’s when we’ll truly be investing in California’s future.”

Despite financial and political uncertainty, California’s universities are not standing still. Through collaboration, innovation, and equity, they’re redefining what’s possible; developing valuable infrastructure where the next generation of ideas will take shape.

Spotlighting a Cultural Renaissance: Los Angeles Arts and Science Institutions Look Toward 2028

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 18:48:30 GMT

At last month’s Southern California Development Forum, panelists from three of Los Angeles’ leading cultural institutions gathered for a forward-looking discussion on how arts and culture shape the built environment. The conversation explored the city’s cultural renaissance, its recovery from recent challenges, and the opportunities ahead as Los Angeles prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Moderated by Daniel Tarica, General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the panel featured Rachel Moore, President and CEO of The Music Center, Elyse Mallouk, Chief Strategy Officer of the Broad Museum, and Jeff Rudolph, President and CEO of the California Science Center.

A Cultural Renaissance

Despite recent fires, budget challenges, and federal scrutiny, Los Angeles continues to thrive as a creative capital, supporting more than 350 nonprofit organizations through its grants program and the City of Los Angeles Percent for Public Art Program, which commits one percent of both public and private development project costs to public art.

“We as a city and as a region find ourselves in a truly extraordinary moment; one defined by rapid cultural growth, a flourishing creative economy, and an ever-expanding landscape of galleries, museums, theaters, and cultural spaces,” said Tarica.

Tarica also noted that Los Angeles now has more museums per capita than any other city in the United States. This creative pride and the City’s deep-rooted arts and cultural sector serve as inspiration for a new cultural framework that will integrate art and culture into the experience of international visitors arriving for upcoming events such as the World Cup, the Super Bowl, and ultimately the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Music Center

Moore highlighted The Music Center’s unique scale and responsibility as one of the nation's largest performing arts centers. With 1,400 employees, an annual budget of $80 million, and programs that reach more than 150,000 students and teachers each year, The Music Center serves not only as a hub for world-class performances but also as a civic institution dedicated to public service.

To increase inclusion and strengthen communities, The Music Center is in the process of launching the Grand Avenue Cultural District program. Backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies and guided by Boston Consulting Group, the plan includes everything from safety and wayfinding improvements to a digital platform, making it easier for residents and visitors alike to navigate events.

“We’re really hoping that by the time we get to the Olympics, this will be up and running and humming, and it will be an easy place for somebody to come and enjoy what we do. But foremost, this cultural district is about the people who live here, because there’s so much incredible art in Los Angeles that people who are Angelenos don’t know about, and we want to make the friction less and have them come and join us," said Moore.

The Broad

Mallouk shared details of The Broad’s expansion project that will increase gallery space by 70% and introduce top-floor, open-air courtyards, unique galleries that invite visitors into art storage, and flexible areas for concerts, family programs, and workshops. the expansion will be complete in time for the Olympic Games, with the goal of making more of the Broad collection accessible to the museum's growing audience.

Accessibility is not just about free admission, but also about how people move through and experience The Broad’s spaces. The expansion was designed to create open, welcoming, and novel spaces, while ensuring that every visitor feels invited into dialogue with contemporary art. She stressed that The Broad’s staff are all trained to engage with audiences, reinforcing the museum’s commitment to inclusivity at every touchpoint

California Science Center

Jeff Rudolph began by declaring the California Science Center’s mission – to create fundamental experiences that inspire scientific learning for all ages. Rudolph provided a preview of their new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, a 200,000-square-foot addition currently under construction. The $450 million project will double the exhibit space and feature the Space Shuttle Endeavour in full vertical launch position. The new wing will also include an aviation and space gallery and numerous hands-on exhibits that focus on science and engineering.

While acknowledging that the upcoming Olympic Games will present logistical challenges, Rudolph made clear that the Science Center’s focus is not on a single event, but on the next 50-year horizon.

“I would say that in today’s environment, where there’s a national defunding of science and health research… the need for critical thinking of our understanding of science becomes increasingly important. So, we’re continuing to expand our facilities so that we can serve more young people.”

Looking Ahead: A Strong Future for Los Angeles Culture

Looking ahead, Los Angeles’ cultural leaders are focused not just on the immediate challenges of the Olympic Games, but on building a legacy that will last generations. Rudolph emphasized that with the growing need for critical thinking in society, the California Science Center will continue to expand its facilities to inspire and educate younger audiences.

At The Music Center, Moore underscored Los Angeles’ unique diversity and the institution’s responsibility to reflect that culture. She noted progress in diversifying leadership across board and staff, positioning The Music Center as a model for how the arts can serve as civic infrastructure.

For Mallouk, the upcoming games in LA present an opportunity for The Broad to create stronger civic connections, linking the city’s artistic and cultural destinations into a cohesive whole.

The panelists agreed on the importance of designing spaces that prioritize visitors, where inclusivity, accessibility, and functionality take precedence over extravagance. They also reminded Angelenos that sustaining these institutions doesn’t always require grand gestures. Simply attending a performance, visiting a museum, or bringing friends along helps strengthen the city’s cultural fabric and ensures the arts remain central to Los Angeles’ civic life.

Interested in visiting a museum, dance performance, or concert soon? Visit:

The Music Center – https://www.musiccenter.org/

The Broad – https://www.thebroad.org/

California Science Center – https://californiasciencecenter.org/

Charting the Course: Future Development at California’s Leading Airports

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 21:16:31 GMT

At the June meeting of the Southern California Development Forum Panel, industry experts came together for a forward-looking discussion on airport transformations, post-covid recovery, funding strategies, and how airports are working to increase inclusivity and community engagement. From terminal upgrades to preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games, this dynamic panel explored how airports are planning for the next decade of growth.

Moderated by Patti Harburg-Petrich, Design Executive at Swinerton, the panel featured TJ Chen, Deputy Director of Sacramento International Airport, Emery Molnar, Deputy Executive Director of Los Angeles World Airports, and AJ Rastegar of PM Technologies, a management consultant that specializes in aviation.

Long Term Visions: LAX and SMF

Los Angeles International Airport is currently in the middle of a $30 billion modernization program. Molnar described how LAWA is focused on improving the passenger experience through terminals, clearer wayfinding, and new road systems. A major priority is reducing congestion and confusion in the Central Terminal Area in preparation for the 2028 Olympic Games. Other upcoming projects include renovations at Tom Bradley International Terminal, new arrival and departure areas, and the redesign of Terminal 5.

“It's challenging. This has to be finished significantly before the Olympics, but it's a great opportunity for us to actually tear down a terminal and do it right. So, we're really excited about this opportunity,” he explained.

At Sacramento International Airport, a $1.4 billion capital program, SMForward, focuses on meeting future demand and improving campus walkability. Chen explained that SMF is transitioning away from automated people movers and instead investing in pedestrian bridges, terminal expansions, and a consolidated transportation center. Other major projects include a 5,500-space parking garage and the Concourse B terminal expansion with six new gates.

Covid-19 Recovery and Its Impact on Development

Rastegar shared insights from the airline perspective, emphasizing that while airlines have largely recovered from the drop in travel during COVID-19, many capital projects that were paused are now being revisited.

“I think everyone in the industry would agree that COVID was probably the most impactful event in our industry, probably since 9/11,” he explained. “I still think that the airlines are in recovery mode. Granted, there's a lot of work being done right now on the right side of that rebound.”

Projects that were already funded or under construction during the pandemic, such as Delta’s SkyWay terminal at LAX, were able to be accelerated because of the then-lower passenger volume.

Public and private airport clients are now catching up on delayed work, with renewed focus on passenger-facing upgrades like lounges and ticketing areas, as well as operational improvements in technology and infrastructure.

Funding Approaches

Funding strategies were also a key part of the discussion. SMF uses a combination of bonds, short-term financing, and federal assistance. Notably, Sacramento was the first U.S. airport to secure a TIFIA loan under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This low-interest loan helped finance pedestrian improvements and may also support future projects like the Concourse B expansion.

LAWA primarily uses bond financing, leveraging its revenue to support long-term capital plans. Molnar noted that while federal grants still play a role, especially for airfield and roadway projects, new grant conditions have introduced uncertainty.

Molnar also highlighted how LAWA’s MATOC has significantly expedited their procurement process. For example, bringing on the Terminal 5 team took less than four months, compared to the year or more it would’ve taken through traditional city council approvals. With roughly $4.2 billion allocated across the $5 billion MATOC bench, LAWA is able to use alternate delivery methods like CMAR, design-build, and progressive design-build, allowing multiple projects to move forward in time for the 2028 Olympics.

For firms not currently on the MATOC bench, Molnar encouraged outreach to existing bench contractors to explore opportunities as subcontractors or subconsultants. LAWA recently launched a public-facing MATOC webpage listing upcoming task orders, shortlisted firms, and apparent awardees to help non-bench firms stay informed and involved.

Community Inclusion and Procurement Strategies

All panelists emphasized the importance of inclusive hiring and business practices. LAWA requires 30% local hiring through its Project Labor Agreement and scores proposals based on small business participation and workforce development. Sacramento uses a modular procurement model to allow more firms to participate in smaller, targeted contracts. Chen also noted how SMF reflects its community.

“Sacramento County is a very diverse community,” he said. “we're try hard to create diversity in our workforce, not just a campus workforce, but also contracting consultant workforce.”

Looking Forward

Both airports plan to continue investing in digital tools such as biometric screening, parking guidance systems, and AI-powered traffic management. These improvements are aimed at creating more efficient, user-friendly airport experiences.

The panel closed by encouraging industry partners to monitor procurement opportunities, stay informed on upcoming solicitations, and engage with community-focused development initiatives.

Building Resilient Healthcare Plans in Southern California

Wed, 28 May 2025 18:54:15 GMT

At this month’s Southern California Development Forum Panel, panelists came together with industry leaders to explore the evolving definition of resilience in healthcare design and delivery. With a dynamic mix of perspectives from the public and private sectors, panelists discussed the challenges and strategies shaping the future of healthcare facilities in a time of shifting models, rising costs, and increasing demand for adaptability.

Moderated by Long Duong, Senior Director at Kaiser Permanente, the panel featured Beth Goodman, Executive Director of Rady Children’s Health; Alicia Ramos, Capital Projects Program Manager of LA County Public Works; and Nanci Timmins, Chief Fire Life Safety Officer of the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI).

Key topics included:

Redefining Resilience for 2025 and Beyond

The panel kicked off with a candid conversation on what resilience means today. Ramos emphasized that resilience is no longer a reactionary mindset—it's a foundational value. “Healthcare facilities are our communities’ safe havens,” she noted, calling for proactive planning to manage future crises.

Goodman underscored the need for flexibility in pediatric care environments, especially considering post-pandemic census surges. Ramos echoed this sentiment, highlighting how resilience must include new care models tailored to community safety and evolving local needs. Timmins emphasized the importance of face-to-face communication and collaboration, noting that preparedness is something you train for.

Flexibility, Cost Control, and Shifting Care Models

The discussion quickly turned to the pressures of rising construction and operational costs. Panelists agreed that adaptability—both in staffing and infrastructure—has become essential. Goodman shared how Rady Children’s Health has leveraged flex waivers and strategically placed urgent care centers in the community to reduce pressure on their emergency department.

Timmins shared that the Office of Healthcare Affordability under HCAI has been tasked with bringing the cost of healthcare down, underscoring the panelists’ sentiment that the dollar has to stretch much further in today’s climate.

Goodman emphasized a strategic shift toward tenant improvements and ambulatory care centers rather than ground-up builds, noting it offers cost efficiency while supporting patient access. Ramos added that modernizing contracting methods with AEC partners —especially with risk-sharing models—can protect against volatility like tariff spikes.

Collaboration and Communication: Keys to Execution

Throughout the conversation, the theme of collaboration rang clear. From cross-agency partnerships to on-site project coordination, panelists stressed that clear communication and trust-building are critical. Panelists also recommended that companies investigate hiring interns in the architectural, construction, and engineering industries. “We need to foster mentoring programs and support early-career professionals,” said Ramos, calling attention to the workforce development gap left by remote work trends. This will not only benefit a company’s ROI but also ensure that the next generation is equipped with the skills and experience needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving industry. “HCAI is constantly problem-solving and wants to help and train,” said Timmins. When it comes to seismic deadlines, she advised to keep working towards them.

Technology, Sustainability, and the Future of Care

The role of technology and sustainability was a major focus. Panelists discussed AI tools that streamline code enforcement and emergency preparedness, while also pointing to telehealth and remote monitoring as transformative in extending care outside hospital walls.

Duong shared that Kaiser Permanente tracks energy usage across all of their facilities, stating “In times of emergency, it becomes more critical to not rely on an external source.” Timmins shared that microgrid systems are becoming more prominent and are one example of a dual-purpose innovation that will enhance resilience and support decarbonization efforts. “This is a five-year journey,” said Goodman, referencing Rady Children’s Health’s push toward a sustainable operating model.

Policy and Preparedness

Navigating shifting political and administrative landscapes remains an ongoing challenge. From changes to gender-affirming care regulations to the broader focus on equity, the panel urged organizations to stay agile. “Resilience includes being policy-responsive,” Long reminded attendees, reinforcing the need for healthcare systems to align care models with regulatory and societal expectations.

Looking Ahead

Health Systems today are expected to play a vital role in providing high-quality and sustainable care to their communities while facing unprecedented challenges: from rising costs and evolving care models to the increasing frequency of unforeseen events. Panelists proved that Southern California’s healthcare leaders are not just reacting to change—they’re actively redefining the standards for resilient, sustainable, and community-focused care.

The panel also relied on the audience to implement the following action items in the workplace to build future resiliency: modernize contracting models to incorporate flexibility and mitigate risks such as global tariffs; leverage AI and data analytics for smarter emergency planning and compliance; and expand industry collaboration to train and mentor the next generation of healthcare professionals. These actions will further build resiliency in healthcare planning for the future.

Meeting the Moment for LA’s Global Showcase

Mon, 05 May 2025 22:20:34 GMT

How will LA’s Infrastructure Support the 2028 Olympics and More?

At this month’s Southern California Development Forum panel, industry leaders joined together to discuss hurdles facing LA Infrastructure Investments. With the World Cup and Olympics on the horizon — and pressing challenges like wildfire recovery and long-term resilience planning — the urgency for regional coordination has never been greater.

Moderated by William Gorham, Vice President of Plenary Americas, the panel featured Heather Repenning, Executive Officer at Metro; Matthew Horton, Vice President of Research and Policy at the LA Economic Development Corporation; and David Jacot, P.E., the Director of Distributed Energy Solution at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

A Call for Regional Collaboration

With the 2028 Olympics and 2026 World Cup on the horizon, Los Angeles is positioned to showcase its capabilities on a global stage. But as exciting as these events are, they also come with high expectations for infrastructure, transportation, housing, and environmental sustainability. The key to meeting these expectations lies in regional collaboration.

Los Angeles doesn’t exist in a vacuum—it's part of a larger Southern California ecosystem that includes neighboring cities and counties. If we’re going to meet the needs of the millions of visitors expected during these events, we need to approach these challenges as a region, not just as a single city. This means coordinating efforts across municipal boundaries, creating a unified strategy for transportation, housing, and environmental protections.

For instance, improving regional transit infrastructure will not only benefit the Games but will also leave a lasting legacy for residents by providing better options for commuting, reducing congestion, and lowering emissions. Similarly, investing in sustainable housing solutions that meet the needs of both visitors and residents will help us ensure that the city’s growth benefits all Angelenos.

Value Creation through Smart Investments: Balancing Sustainability & Resiliency

One of the major hurdles in large-scale infrastructure projects is ensuring that investments are not only impactful but also sustainable in the long run. To achieve this, Los Angeles must take a holistic approach to development, blending resilience and sustainability into every decision.

“Resiliency is clearly a key topic at the moment,” William stated. “Dealing with the aftereffects of the fires as well as addressing the need, and value, of investing back in the communities - all while preventing the replication of the same situation so that we won’t suffer from the same problem – is a challenge to balance.” He continued, “How do you balance this need to reinvest in our communities, with the need to make sure that they're resilient, and then make sure that our investments are equitable across the community?”

To ensure that value is created from these investments, we must focus on projects that are not just "green" in name but have measurable, long-term impacts. For example, investing in green building technologies, such as energy-efficient HVAC systems, recycled building materials, and low-carbon concrete, can provide long-term cost savings and environmental benefits. Similarly, incorporating resilient designs that can withstand future natural disasters will ultimately protect both the physical and financial health of the city.

When referencing these investments, Heather added, “we're not just investing in capital. We're investing in safety. We have a very robust ambassador program. We're investing in cleanliness. We’re even rebuilding our ridership from the time prior to COVID.” She continued, “I see us (Metro) as a great place for people to come with ideas and collaboration.”

As part of these efforts, we should focus on integrating green spaces and urban cooling solutions into our infrastructure projects. This not only helps reduce the urban heat island effect but also contributes to the well-being of the community. The future of Los Angeles depends on smart investments that create both economic growth and a healthier, more sustainable environment.

Addressing Staffing Shortfalls and Local Needs

As we embark on these ambitious projects, we also need to address one of the most pressing challenges Los Angeles faces—staffing shortfalls. The city is experiencing a talent gap, particularly in fields like construction, engineering, and sustainability, which are crucial for the successful implementation of long-term infrastructure projects. Southern California is home to some of the country’s top engineering programs, yet many of these graduates leave the region for work elsewhere.

“The greatest needs we see within our own organization and also regionally is skilled workforce development,” said David. “Where we see these positions going unfilled is in construction trades, public, private positions, contractors.”

The solution? Fostering industries that align with the region's strengths in technology, sustainability, and infrastructure. Encouraging talent retention and creating new sectors within the circular economy will be crucial to ensuring that Los Angeles can stay at the forefront of innovation. Local partnerships between universities, trade schools, and industry leaders can create a talent pipeline that will power future infrastructure developments. By offering competitive wages, benefits, and career development opportunities, Los Angeles can position itself as a leader in sustainable infrastructure and resilience, creating a local talent pipeline that will serve the city for years to come.

Long-Term Sustainability and Community Benefits

Ultimately, the investments we make in infrastructure, sustainability, and resilience must benefit the entire community. As Los Angeles prepares for the Olympics and World Cup, it’s vital that the city’s investments address the needs of vulnerable communities, particularly those most affected by climate change and urban development pressures.

This means prioritizing affordable housing, equitable access to green spaces, and ensuring that economic growth translates into job opportunities for all residents. Additionally, public-private partnerships can play a vital role in leveraging additional resources to drive large-scale projects that benefit the entire region, ensuring that both environmental and social sustainability are central to the planning process.

Matt mentioned that in meeting this moment, “we have an opportunity as a region, as a state, to really usher in a whole new sustainable building materials economy - from a prefab housing to cone innovation to using other kinds of sustainable building materials – this requires us to ask: what could that look like from a production standpoint? From a manufacturing standpoint? From an innovation and ultimately, from an implementation standpoint?”

The Olympics as a Catalyst for Change

With the 2028 Summer Olympics on the horizon, LA has a unique opportunity to showcase its resilience on the global stage. As the world prepares to come to Los Angeles in just three years, the focus will be on not only the city’s infrastructure but also its commitment to sustainability and climate action. Hosting the Games will provide a platform to push forward ideas that could transform the city—ideas that prioritize green building, public health, and climate adaptation.

The Olympic Games will be a key moment for Los Angeles to prove that it can lead by example, not just in sports, but in how cities prepare for the challenges of the future. “No one wants to be embarrassed—we want to be proud of LA," said Heather.

The next few years present an exciting opportunity for Los Angeles to make meaningful investments that address current challenges while positioning the city for long-term success. By focusing on sustainability, resilience, regional collaboration, and workforce development, we can ensure that Los Angeles not only survives future challenges but thrives in the face of them.

After the Fires: What’s Next for Southern California Housing?

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 16:10:38 GMT

At this month’s Southern California Development Forum Panel, industry leaders came together to discuss the pressing issues facing the region’s real estate market. Moderator Gilbert Rocca, Managing Principal of AC Martin, led an insightful conversation on the impact of recent crises—ranging from COVID-19 and legislative changes like Measure ULA to the devastating 2025 wildfires. The discussion underscored the urgent need for streamlined regulations, government support, and industry collaboration to accelerate housing development and recovery efforts.

To provide expert perspectives, panelists Bryson Reaume, Founder and CEO of The Cooperative LA, Kamran Paydar, First Vice President of CBRE Capital Markets, Chris Marsh, Founder of Cherry Tree Capital Partners, and Gabe Hungerford, Principal of Trammell Crow Company shared how these challenges are shaping the future of Los Angeles housing. The panel explored key topics such as post-pandemic market uncertainty, the role of state policies in development, and opportunities to drive investment and innovation in fire-impacted areas.

Key takeaways included:

The Impact of COVID-19 on Housing

The pandemic introduced unprecedented disruptions to the housing market. Supply chain issues and fluctuating costs created uncertainty for developers, while favorable interest rates initially spurred investment. However, as market conditions shifted post-COVID, rent growth cooled, and urban centers faced unique challenges in attracting residents. Panelists noted that mixed-income housing developments struggled under these conditions, and developers faced new hurdles in securing financing and maintaining existing zoning standards.

Legislative and Policy Hurdles

Policy changes, including Measure ULA ("mansion tax," a special real property transfer tax on sales exceeding $5 million), SB 330 (a California law aimed at addressing the state's housing shortage by expediting housing development and limiting local government's ability to restrict housing projects), and SB 91 (COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act, extends eviction protections to COVID-19 impacted tenants), have significantly shaped the real estate market. Marsh and Rocca detailed the challenges of securing stable zoning standards under SB 330, while Hungerford highlighted the benefits of state density bonus laws. The panelists collectively emphasized the need for legislative certainty, as political risk remains a major deterrent to development in LA.

Wildfires and the Housing Market

The devastating 2025 wildfires placed additionalstrain on the region’s housing supply. Demand for larger floor plans increased as people soughtsafer, more resilient housing options. However, rebuilding in fire-impacted areas remainsa challenge due to regulatory hurdles and the need for better coordination between state and local governments. Panelists stressed the importance of state leadership in expediting housing approvals and streamlining environmental review processes to support faster recovery.

Government Support and Industry Collaboration

State and local government intervention is crucial in addressing LA’s housing crisis. Industry leaders called for more consistent regulations, third-party consultants to facilitate development, and better collaboration between the public and private sectors. The importance of engaging elected officials to ensure they stay informed on evolving housing laws was also underscored.

Paydar also mentioned the challenges of rebuilding in single-family neighborhoods and the need for comprehensive community support, especially the implementation of a “community plan”;i.e.,how to treat the sidewalks, public benefits, and so forth.

Future Outlook: Challenges and Opportunities

Despite the challenges, the panelists expressed cautious optimism about the future. The recent crises—COVID-19 and wildfires—have created an opportunity to push for much-needed regulatory reform. Marsh noted that Los Angeles has been slower returning to pre-COVID-19 rents, as most of the country has returned to normalcy five years later. Cities like Thousand Oaks and Culver City, which have proactively updated zoning laws, offer models for more effective housing development.

Investment opportunities still exist, particularly for developers who can navigate political uncertainties and find strategic locations. The discussion concluded with a reminder that with the right policies, collaboration, and support, LA’s housing market can evolve to begin to meet the region’s needs.

Action Steps Moving Forward

Audience members questioned the panelists on how they as a collective can help the city move forward after this devastating time. This is what the panelists advised:

Engage with policy leaders: Reach out to Supervisor Kathy Barger's office to advocate for developers' inclusion in wildfire advisory panels.

Support fire-affected communities: Coordinate with private industry groups to create and distribute resources for homeowners and property owners impacted by wildfires.

Leverage crisis for reform: Explore how recent disasters can be used to push for regulatory changes that facilitate housing development.

Educate and advocate: Continue engaging with elected officials and city staff to streamline approval processes and remove barriers to housing construction.

Pursue strategic development:Identify opportunities in proactive cities like Thousand Oaks and Culver City, which have updated their general plans and zoning laws to support housing.

The conversation surrounding LA’s housing market is far from over. Reaume sees the recent fires as a catalyst for real change and the opportunity to create a better path forward.The solutions discussed in this panel provide a foundation for meaningful change, but action from developers, policymakers, and community stakeholders is essential. As the city grapples with these pressing issues, continued dialogue and collaboration will be key to shaping a more resilient and accessible housing market for the future.

2025 Economic Forecast: What’s Coming Next for the Real Estate Sector?

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 18:46:08 GMT

More than 300 industry leaders gathered for the January SCDF 2025 Economic Forecast, engaging in discussions on the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the real estate landscape this year. The event served as a platform for sharing insights into market shifts and economic forces expected to influence the industry.

Moderated by Sam Pepper, vice president of development for Lincoln Property Company, the expert panel featured Eric Sussman, professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management; David Fan, senior research director with JLL; and Shlomi Ronen, managing principal and founder of Dekel Capital.

Philanthropy and Community Commitment

Before diving into market forecasts, SCDF took a moment to address the devastation caused by recent wildfires. This year, SCDF selected Architecture and Advocacy as its primary philanthropic organization, dedicating a significant portion of event proceeds to the nonprofit’s mission of redesigning neighborhoods for the better. Additionally, SCDF reinforced its commitment to wildfire relief efforts, partnering with organizations like Harvest Home and Flint Ridge Center. A representative of Architecture and Advocacy shared the nonprofit’s goals of addressing neighborhood inequality and providing students with greater access to STEM programs.

Key Discussion Points

· Economic Forecast and Wildfire Impact

The discussion opened with a sobering acknowledgment of the destruction caused by the Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires, which decimated homes, businesses, schools, and public facilities. Panelists underscored the long road to recovery and the pressing need to streamline rebuilding processes to help affected communities move forward swiftly.

David Fan outlined the immediate and long-term impacts on the residential sector, emphasizing that rebuilding efforts will likely take longer than anticipated due to rising construction costs and labor shortages. He also pointed to a significant housing challenge: many displaced residents want to remain in their original neighborhoods, but limited rental availability may force them to relocate permanently.

Shlomi Ronen highlighted the growing concern around insurance costs. “Before these fires, developers often saw insurance as an overlooked line item. Now, with the rising impact of natural disasters, many are re-evaluating these costs and reconsidering where to build.”

Eric Sussman, a Pacific Palisades resident himself, shared his gratitude for not being directly affected but emphasized the need for a more efficient permitting process. He pointed to regulatory hurdles from

agencies like the Coastal Commission and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which often delay development.

· Macro Trends and Market Indicators for 2025

Shifting to broader economic trends, panelists expressed optimism about the retail and industrial sectors, citing strong inventory replenishment and consumer resilience. According to Fan, JLL’s Q4 2024 reports showed the strongest market performance in recent years.

“Earnings are outpacing inflation, which gives retailers a confidence boost. We expect consumer spending to continue supporting the market into 2025,” he noted.

Ronen discussed the evolving capital landscape, explaining that developers who once relied on traditional bank financing have increasingly turned to private debt funds. While Federal Reserve rate cuts may provide some relief, he tempered expectations: “It’s unlikely we’ll see 3% interest rates again in our lifetime.”

· Multifamily and Office Sectors Outlook

Fan pointed to strong demand for multifamily housing but acknowledged affordability concerns. “The median cost of homeownership in LA is nearly double the cost of renting an apartment. With LA ranked as the third most expensive market for single-family home affordability, multifamily rentals remain a viable option for many.”

Ronen highlighted regulatory and financial hurdles, including rent control and the city’s mansion tax, which have deterred investment. He also criticized the prolonged approval timelines: “In LA, it takes at least 24 months from land purchase to breaking ground. That’s far too long given our housing shortage.”

Sussman elaborated on the challenges facing office space, citing interest rates, inflation, and the increasing need for fire resilience. “In my class, I call it the ‘I’ of the storm—interest rates, inflation, insufficient rent growth, illiquidity, insurance, and intense regulation.”

· The Future of the Office Sector

Despite historically low office valuations, opportunities remain. Ronen noted that while institutional capital has pulled back, private capital investors are still active. “We haven’t seen the distress wave many expected. With return-to-office initiatives gaining momentum, the office sector may stabilize faster than anticipated,” he said.

· Opportunities in Industrial, Life Sciences, and Retail

New growth areas emerged in the discussion, with panelists highlighting data centers and student housing as strong investment opportunities for 2025. While Sussman urged caution regarding the bullish

sentiment around data centers, there was broad agreement on a retail resurgence, particularly in high-quality centers.

Looking Ahead: Rebuilding and Adaptation

The conversation concluded with a focus on rebuilding efforts and the need to streamline processes to help residents return home more quickly. Adaptive reuse of office buildings for multifamily housing was discussed, though panelists acknowledged the financial and logistical hurdles that make conversions challenging.

Despite these complexities, Los Angeles remains an attractive place to live, buoyed by strong universities, a thriving tech and entrepreneurial ecosystem, and an unparalleled quality of life.

“As challenging as it is to build here, the fundamentals remain strong,” said one panelist. “You can ski and surf in the same day, and the weather is unbeatable.”

In the end, Los Angeles continues to be an extraordinary place to live, work, and invest.

From Venues to Activations: Navigating the LA 28 Olympics Landscape

Sat, 07 Dec 2024 01:09:08 GMT

At this month’s Southern California Development Forum Discussion Panel, Gerald McCallum, Senior Project Manager of Wilson Meany, led an engaging discussion on the future development and planning in preparation for the LA 2028 Summer Olympics. The conversation highlighted the benefits and challenges of what’s to come in the future.

To share insights, panelists Chris Torres, President of Agency Artifact; KevinRieger, Senior VP at AEG; Andrea Ambriz, General Manager of Exposition Park;Doane Liu, Executive Director of the Los Angeles City Tourism Department; Christopher E. Jackson, Sr, lead of the Development Services Department of the City of Inglewood, discussed how their establishments are planning for the upcoming LA Olympics. All panelists emphasized that the development is not just for the Olympics, but also the future of LA tourism.

Key takeaways included:

History of the LA Olympics

Liu provided a historical overview of the 1984 Olympics, emphasizing its profitability and the legacy of the LA 84 Foundation. Fortunately, the 2028 Olympics were plannedas a no-build event, leveraging existing venues and infrastructure. The City of Los Angeles and its department specifically acknowledged that it is a shame how past Olympic venues are currently underutilized, which reflects a waste of resources and unsustainable development.He, as well as the other panelists, stressed the importance of using the Olympics as a starting point for long-term development and investment in the city.

AEG’s role in Sports and Entertainment

Reiger explained that AEG entertains over 100 million guests annually and owns sports teams like the LA Galaxy and LA Kings. AEG manages over 30 music festivals and has venues on four continents, including those used for the London Olympics and the World Cup in Brazil. Though theLA Olympics is honoring a “no-build” policy, Reiger explained that Angelinos should still expect some development. Rather than constructing new arenas, he explained that AEG is focusing on renovating existing venues such as the Crypto.com Arena, and expanding others including the LA Convention Center. These renovations will enhance the venues' competitive edge and make them more profitable for Los Angeles in the future.

Exposition Park and its Development

Ambriz discussed the history of Exposition Park (Expo Park)and its current developments for the LA 2028 Olympics.The park is undergoing significant improvements, including the construction of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. She emphasized the importance of green infrastructure and community engagement in the Park’s development. Expo Park has plans to rip out asphalt-covered parking lots and replace them with a new green terrace, a minimum of six acres. In fact, Governor Newsom and the legislature offered an incredible investment of $366 million into this project, markingthe single, largest investment in the history of South LA’s infrastructure.

“I can only imagine the opportunity that we’re going to have when cameras are facing Exposition Park, and we have aerial footage [of LA] from above, they’re not only going to see the stadiums holding the events, but they’re going to see green space. That’svery differentfrom what Exposition Park is, and frankly, what Los Angeles is.”

These investments reflect Los Angeles’ values in sustainability and future tourism.She concludes these projects are not just for the Olympics but for the future of LA.

Agency Artifacts Festival Trail Project

Torres introduced Agency Artifact's Festival Trail project, a 28-mile zero-emissions corridor connecting Olympic Venues. The project aims to create a community-driven, coalitional effort to shape Los Angeles’ future. The Festival Trail will connect venues from LAX to the Rose Bowl, emphasizing public transportation and pedestrian-friendly design. Similarly to the other panelists, Torres agrees that this initiative createsa legacy that reflects the values and aspirations of the city.

Inglewood’s Role in the Olympics

The City of Inglewood is also making developments in preparation for the Olympics. Inglewood is home to significant venues like SoFi Stadium, the Intuit Dome, and Hollywood Park. Jackson explained the city is committed to creating a walkable, sustainable entertainment district that can accommodate a large number of visitors.

Engaging the Community and Addressing Equity

One audience member asked how the LA Olympics will engage the community and address equity, a duality that most Olympic cities fail to touch upon.Many understand the city’s housing and homelessness issues, and the audience member asked how the city will address them.

Torres recommends the need for ADA-accessible infrastructure and the potential for housing along the Festival Trail. The panelists all agreed on the importance of creating opportunities for local businesses and residents to benefit from the Olympics. They also agreed on the need for public advocacy to ensure the success of the Olympic projects. Fostering inclusivity, supporting local communities, and prioritizing long-term benefits for residents will be key to ensuring the success and lasting impact of the LA Olympics.

While the event will showcase Los Angeles on the world stage, the real legacy lies in the long-term investments being made in the city’s venues, neighborhoods, and public spaces. From green parks at Expo Park to zero-emission corridors along the Festival Trail, the focus is not just on preparing for the Olympics, but on creating lasting benefits for residents and businesses. By prioritizing community engagement, equity, and sustainability, Los Angeles aims to set a new standard for how Olympic cities can leave a positive and enduring impact long after the games have concluded.

A Positive Outlook Following Highs and Lows in the Industrial Market

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 16:17:30 GMT

At this month’s Southern California Discussion Panel, John Dang, Business Development Manager of Oltman’s Construction Co., led an engaging discussion on future forecasts of the industrial market in Los Angeles County. Panelists Paul Giorgio, COO of Eldridge Acre Partners; Philip Tsui, Senior Vice President at Trammell Crow Company; and Cameron Merrill, Senior Vice President of CBRE, discussed their insights and trends they are seeing within their perspective fields. All four emphasized how easing costs and strategic planning will improve the market for industrial space.

Key takeaways included:

Challenges in the industrial sector

Challenges in the industrial sector over the past four years have been due to the pandemic. When COVID-19 took the nation by storm, there was a great increase in demand for industrial space in Los Angeles. However, the county lacked the available inventory, which led to a rise in leasing rates. Since 2022, the industrial sector has seen a surge in inventory, which has improved the leasing rates. Tsui added that lease rates are hard to predict in the next two to three years. However, he suggested that if the market follows the cyclic trends, then land value will probably decrease, leading to a decline in property value.

Merrill concluded that companies have become more interested in leasing buildings that have attractive amenities and facilities (loading docks, high ceiling clearance, truck port spacing, etc.). He also mentioned increased interest in locations near desirable residential neighborhoods.

Signs of growth ahead

The panelists are optimistic about the future, noting significant improvements across the industry. Merrill highlighted that we have returned to pre-COVID leasing rates, and inventory levels are seeing a rise in occupancy. Tsui expressed confidence in his projections, noting that land value has decreased from 75% to 50% of his projects’ budgets. This shift indicates a more balanced relationship between land value and property value.Giorgio concurred that positive trends are emerging but emphasized that "those who react quickly are the ones who succeed." He indicates that just like with COVID-19, things can change quickly, so it is important to make key strategic developments and always plan accordingly.

Construction’s effect on the industrial sector

Giorgio compared the industrial market to the retail market, where consumers have always been attracted to prime locations, like the Westfield Century City Mall. In the same way, companies want their industrial buildings to be high-quality and equipped with good amenities, planning their construction accordingly. The best industrial buildings will ultimately stand out and dominate the market.

Dang and Tsui noted that construction costs have decreased by 8%-10% since January 2024, which enhances project viability. They emphasized the importance of planning construction in advance, as companies can save significantly by aligning their projects with market trends.

Predictions for the industrial sector in the next year

All the panelists expressed optimism about the industrial market's future. Giorgio explained that the decrease in construction costs, land values, and interest rates are promising signs. However, to see positive changes, we must be strategic with our planning. Many assume that development is straightforward, but circumstances can change quickly. Developers need to ensure they are creating the "right" project, as what benefits a company today may not be as effective a year from now. Clear communication and proactive planning are crucial.

Tsui agreed and shared that Trammell Crow is moving forward with new development plans for the next six months. "It’s been quiet, but when the time comes, the industrial market will thrive," said Tsui.

Merrill added that many larger properties, currently unused, will be redeveloped into industrial operating sites (IOS), cold storage facilities, and e-commerce buildings. He noted that these are the properties companies are looking to lease.

Legislation’s impact on the industrial sector

An audience member asked how California Assembly Bill 98 (AB 98), a law regulating the development of logistics facilities and warehouses, will impact the industrial market. Giorgio and Tsui agreed that AB 98 will inevitably increase costs due to stricter regulations on construction and will significantly affect the real estate, design, and construction industries.

John expressed concerns about the bill's clarity. “If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s to remain composed. We need to understand this bill fully, and a lot of work is needed to achieve that understanding.” He noted that while AB 98 has pros and cons, and while it opens doors for innovative designs and products, it also risks delaying construction plans if they don’t comply with updated regulations. It’s crucial to consider the benefits and challenges of this new legislation carefully.

While the industrial sector has faced significant disruptions over the past few years, the overall outlook remains positive, with decreased construction costs, increasing inventory, and a focus on high-quality developments that meet the changing needs of businesses. As the market continues to evolve, those who are agile and forward-thinking in their planning will be best positioned for success in the years ahead.

Emerging Technologies and AI in the Design and Construction Industry: What’s Coming Next?

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 20:07:00 GMT

At this month’s Southern California Development Forum’s Discussion Panel, Emily Olman, CEO & Chief Media Officer of Hopscotch Interactive, led an engaging discussion on the impact of artificial intelligence, known as AI, in design and construction. The conversation highlighted AI's ability to streamline workflows, increase accuracy, and support better decision-making, and clearly it will impact the entire industry.

To share insights, panelists Sophie Pennetier, Founding Director of Digne; Ed Krafcik, Senior Director at Metropolis Technologies; Matt Ducharme, Principal at Woods Bagot; and Sam Omans, Senior Manager of Architecture Industry & Business Strategy at Autodesk, discussed how AI was being used in their companies. All four emphasized how AI can empower human creativity and play a critical role in addressing environmental sustainability.

Key takeaways included:

AI in Operational Efficiency and Real-World Applications

All the panelists agreed that AI is seen more frequently in our offices as well as our lifestyles more than anyone actually realizes. Omans chimed in on this topic by noting that ChatGPT is the most used platform, reigning in with 20.03% of the searches per month. He explained that using ChatGPT becomes more intuitive with practice, as refining your questions on the platform improves the results.

Krafcik agreed and explained that ChatGPT is also useful in communicating difficult messages with clients. If he just submits his ideas and asks the platform to format the message into an email, ChatGPT will save him time creating his responses.

Pennetier concluded that AI helps her to “do more and think less” in a pinch. The panelists concluded that ChatGPT is a great tool for all industries and should be seen as a timesaver, not as a crutch.

AI’s Impact on Sustainability and the Environment

Pennetier’s consulting firm, Digne, leverages AI to address climate change and implement sustainable practices in their construction efforts.

“AI allows us to run permutations much faster than humans. For instance, by increasing the amount of recycled content in metals, steel, aluminum, and glass, we reduce the energy required to produce them, which in turn lowers greenhouse gas emissions. By thoughtfully considering how we compose these materials, we can significantly reduce the embodied carbon in the built environment,”Pennetier explained. This approach not only promotes sustainability but also contributes to a more efficient and eco-friendly construction industry.

AI’s Role in Education and Skill Development

When most people start their careers, they learn soft skills by accomplishing mundane tasks. An audience member shared his concerns that AI will be a detriment in learning these soft skills. The panelists all disagreed with this statement. To alleviate the audience member’s doubts, Omans compared the expansion of AI to other historical discoveries.

“If we think about European art, many canonical architects that were doing great work had dabbled in painting, sculpture, and other forms of media. Some of these new tools we are talking about are somewhat the same thing. This is like an expansion of our palette. These new tools can expand our knowledge and creativity, ultimately leading us to new discoveries,” said Omans.

However, he advises that we must have agency in our experimentation, or else we will lose discipline. If we continue to use AI when it is not needed, we will lose those skills. Ducharme agreed with Omans and included that our curiosity and hunger for knowledge will never go away, but the way we learn will change as technology grows.

Krafcik reflects this issue of discipline back on the companies. He suggested that the real issue might not be AI itself, but rather the work environment that young employees find themselves in.

“Soft skills do not go away, but they do go away if you are not in the office. How do you get people back into the office?” he said.

It is easy for employees to work from home, but are young workers gaining valuable learning experiences like they would in an interactive office? This reasoning is why Krafcik suggests that companies should examine the architectural design of their offices. There may be opportunities for improvement that could satisfy the professional and social needs of these employees.

AI’s Role in Enhancing Human Potential

As AI advances into our workplace, many people feel that AI will impact job security. An audience member proposed the question: “How do we [as design professionals] not diminish our value by using AI?”

Suggestions included staying up to date on new design tools and bringing an entrepreneurial spirit back into the workplace. A discussion was held on "What value do you add to your work with your own human intelligence?”

Ducharme agreed and also added that AI would never replace human intelligence. As humans, we have to adapt to the changes and use the tools we have to our advantage. This involves spending the extra time gained from using AI technologies to produce outstanding design projects.

There is no question that AI is here to stay. The overall consensus was learning to use it as a great tool to enhance what we as designers bring to the table, not replace it. No doubt this will be a hot discussion topic moving forward.

Health System Mergers, Acquisitions, and Affiliations

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 20:55:55 GMT

In recent years, health systems nationwide have been undergoing significant transformations. Faced with the rising costs of care and the unfortunate reality of local hospital closures, these systems are not only adapting to these challenges but also seizing new business and partnership opportunities to enhance their services. Despite these changes, their commitment to providing the best possible care to their communities remains unwavering.

The recent Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) panel discussion, moderated by Angie Weber of CBRE, was a lively discussion of this topic. Panelists included Gizelle Paz of Providence St. Joseph Health, Paul Da Veiga of UC Irvine Health, Tim Hatch of Intermountain Healthcare, and Sophia Lee of Keck Medicine of USC. The panel discussed how the four major health systems in the Southwest are transforming their portfolios and growth strategies, including how they are responding to increasing costs of care, the impact of hospital closures, and how they are developing innovative business opportunities for healthcare delivery – all while continuing to provide the best care to their communities.

Key takeaways included:

· Rising Costs of Delivering Care

The panelists shared their insights and perspectives on recent mergers and acquisitions. Hatch emphasized that hospitals must care for their patients and workers yet contribute to reducing the nation’s healthcare costs. He also emphasized that healthcare is “19% of the gross domestic product, meaning one in every five dollars is spent on healthcare” today. Furthermore, Intermountain has faced challenges with expanding in rural areas, including shortages of qualified construction labor, forcing them to think of other methods of care and building delivery.

The panelists in California addressed the challenges related to meeting the 2030 seismic compliance deadline. In addition to being extremely cost prohibitive, there are concerns statewide of pending shortages of labor in all sectors, including plan review, inspections, design, and construction. The panelists all agreed on the importance of maintaining a constant line of communication with governmental entities to advocate for necessary changes.

· Healthcare Growth Strategies and Facility Development

Weber presented the issue of determining the right time and place to open new healthcare facilities. Paz discussed the challenges of opening new ambulatory care facilities and emphasized that their decision-making process is largely data-driven. She explained that Providence uses data analytics and collaboration with government affairs to identify where facilities are needed and where they can best serve the community. "We build health reports for a specific set of markets to understand the needs of the market, and then we see if there are opportunities for joint ventures or partnerships." This approach allows Providence to make informed decisions that benefit the people in these communities.

Da Veiga added to the conversation, noting that, before their recent acquisition of 4 Tenet Hospitals, UC Irvine had been investigating available land in north Orange County to align with their strategic growth plans. Before proceeding with development, they make sure to conduct surveys and assessments to understand scope and risks.

· Strategic Partnerships in Healthcare

To keep up with strategic growth, strategic partnerships are being formed with other healthcare entities. Da Veiga highlighted this by discussing UC Irvine’s partnership with Lifepoint Rehabilitation.

"The benefit is partnering with somebody who specializes in a particular service. They do rehab well… And so, when you partner with somebody who's an expert, I think that it just enhances your brand and stability,” he said. “Leveraging Lifepoint’s expertise improved their overall quality of services while maintaining the UC Irvine brand.” Likewise, Keck Medicine of USC recently partnered with Henry Mayo to bring much needed care to the Santa Clarita Valley area.

Lee agreed with Da Veiga and further added that building in California is prohibitively expensive. She noted that USC is working with healthcare developers to rebuild old offices, which is a cost-effective way of providing healthcare directly in their actual communities. While competition is beneficial for the economy, partnering with other companies can enhance facility management capabilities.

Lee and Weber further highlighted that healthcare has become institutionalized, which means maintaining facilities is increasingly costly but necessary.

“For tenants and landlords, the level of sophistication on both sides is great but we need to do a better job managing, and one of the things we’ve discovered now is that we're adding more to our basis of design as we’re building these smaller clinics throughout the community. In fact, two years after you build a brand-new building, something goes wrong with the air conditioning or water. Building it, in a way, is a lot easier than maintaining it. But today, we must oversee both of them." Despite the higher initial costs, she argued that this approach is more cost-effective in the long term.

Hatch noted Intermountain’s recent partnership with Providence and other leading U.S. health systems to start Civica RX, a nonprofit generic drug company aimed at keeping the costs of medication down and available for those who need it.

· Branding and Real Estate Strategies for Healthcare

When asked the question “How do you handle your facilities from a design and branding standpoint?” Hatch emphasized the need to focus on branding design rather than architectural design.

Lee agreed that most of USC’s branding is based on the culture of their clientele. The level of changes done to a building is based on USC’s branding, and the vernacular of the patients, all of which is enhanced by the value-add strategy.

Weber wrapped up the panel by including how branding has changed over the past ten years. What once seemed insignificant ten years ago is now hugely important and can affect the presence and visibility of health systems.

Office Conversions: What's Actually Getting Built and How Do They Pencil

Tue, 28 May 2024 22:04:52 GMT

The recent Southern California Development Fund (SCDF) panel discussion with Garrett Lee of Jamison Properties, Anthony Muhlstein of Newmark, and Harold Wang of Palisades Investment Management, moderated by Michael Bohn, AIA, of Studio One Eleven, shed light on the current landscape of office conversions and adaptive reuse projects. Held at the Biltmore Hotel in DTLA, the May event provided valuable insights into the complexities and promises of this niche in real estate development.

Here’s a closer look at what’s being built and how these projects pencil out financially.

· The Adaptive Reuse Landscape

President of Jamison Properties, Garrett Lee highlighted his firm's focus on adaptive reuse projects in Koreatown, Los Angeles. "We transitioned from a commercial real estate office to multifamily development about ten years ago," Lee said. "Post-COVID, we are fully engaged in adaptive reuse projects." Jamison is converting old office buildings into residential units to revitalize neighborhoods and address housing shortages.

· Financial Viability and Market Trends

Anthony Muhlstein, from Newmark's West Coast Capital Market multifamily team, provided a financial perspective, noting, "We're definitely seeing a lot of interest in office-to-housing conversions because we've been selling a lot of them. However, developers face challenges with execution and the cost of capital." Muhlstein explained that office vacancies are high in areas like Playa Vista and Hollywood, making conversions attractive despite financing difficulties. He added, "The pricing seems to top out between $100 and $150 per square foot, with construction costs around $350 per square foot, leading to financing needs of 8-9%."

Lee also discussed the mandatory retrofits required for Jamison's pre-1978 buildings due to local ordinances. Since these updates are necessary, it makes financial sense to change the use of the buildings simultaneously, enhancing the economic viability of the projects.

· Characteristics of Convertible Buildings

The panelists agreed that certain features make office buildings more suitable for conversion. Harold Wang, one of Palisades' founding partners, emphasized the importance of the building's structure: "You need a rectangle floor plate, smaller plates are better, and the floor-to-ceiling height is crucial." Wang also noted that cities with existing adaptive reuse ordinances make the process smoother. "If the city has an ordinance already, that makes things much easier," he said.

Lee echoed these sentiments, adding, "We look for urban core markets with a lot of amenities and walkability. Our aim is to create a mixed-use balance of work, play, and residence to foster 24/7 communities."

Benefits and Challenges

Adaptive reuse projects often offer financial benefits over new constructions. Lee pointed out, "Construction costs have increased 20-30% in recent years, and interest rates have doubled, making ground-up projects hard to pencil out. Adaptive reuse can offer savings in hard costs, making financing more attainable." Muhlstein added, "If you're converting a building at $325 to $375 per square foot, compared to $700 to $800 for new high-rise constructions, you're looking at significant savings."

However, the process is not without its challenges. Wang shared his experience, "City approvals have taken longer than anticipated. Recent policy changes have added to these delays." Lee also mentioned unexpected hurdles, such as mandatory retrofitting for older buildings, which can complicate projects but also offer opportunities to improve safety and sustainability.

Case Studies and Success Stories

The panelists shared examples of successful projects to illustrate their points. Wang highlighted a project in Long Beach, where an old GTE building was converted into 106 housing units with additional townhouse penthouses. "We removed the original rooftop equipment and utilized the space to add value," he explained.

Lee discussed a project in Koreatown, where converting 50% of an office portfolio to residential units created a vibrant mixed-use community. "This strategy also helps fill vacancies in remaining office buildings, creating a more occupied and lively environment," he noted.

The Future Outlook

As adaptive reuse ordinances evolve, the potential for these projects grows. "The upcoming adaptive reuse 2.0 ordinance in Los Angeles is exciting," said Lee. "It will expand opportunities citywide, allowing for more flexibility and creativity in converting buildings."

In conclusion, office-to-residential conversions present a viable and increasingly popular solution to the dual challenges of office vacancies and housing shortages. With careful planning and execution, these projects can offer financial benefits and contribute to urban revitalization. As Muhlstein summed up, "People need products, they have to develop. So we're busy."

This panel discussion highlighted that while the road to adaptive reuse can be complex and filled with challenges, the rewards make it a path worth pursuing.

Navigating the Road to Success: Planning for Transportation During the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 20:03:39 GMT

As the anticipation builds for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, there's a flurry of activity behind the scenes to ensure seamless transportation for athletes, spectators, and stakeholders. Recently, the April event for the Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), held at the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, delved into the intricacies of this topic. The event panel was moderated by Tony Fermelia of HNTB and featured experts Jake Adams, Deputy Executive Director at LAWA; Aaron Galinis, Senior Airport Planner at Hollywood Burbank Airport; and Ernesto Chaves from LA Metro.

Change is Coming at LAX

Jake Adams opened the discussion by highlighting the monumental task of preparing Los Angeles for the 2028 games. He emphasized the urgency to complete crucial projects, such as the people mover and metro connections, at LAX before the Olympics kick off.

“We see this as a transformative opportunity for transportation in LA,” Adams shared. “Several exciting changes are underway at LAX that will make our transport systems better and more sustainable including the landscaping program we were just awarded—it’ll help us look less like a construction site!”

The LAWA team is also focused on increasing the number of off-ramps and hold points to segregate airport traffic from street traffic. Adams shared that his team is enhancing signage and wayfinding programs to accommodate the influx of international visitors as well.

Streamlining Air Travel into Burbank

With hundreds of thousands of tourists expected to make their way to the city of angels, the replacement of Hollywood Burbank Airport’s aging 94-year-old terminal is critical.

"There are many reasons to replace this terminal, but safety is paramount. Doing all of this before 2028 will be tough but I'm happy to say we're on schedule and plan to open in 2026," Galinis said.

He cited the Superbowl LVI as a learning moment for the airport and outlined plans for the new terminal, located in the airport’s northeast quadrant, which is set to open in 2026.Through temporary emergency operations centers, the Hollywood Burbank Airport team will manage corporate aviation and facilitate smooth ground transport operations for tourists and locals alike.

Ground Transportation's Pivotal Role

Ernesto Chaves from LA Metro underscored the pivotal role of surface transportation during the Olympics, with a staggering 1.2 million anticipated daily transit trips.

“Spectators won’t be able to stay in LA proper because hotels will be booked up by the Olympic Games ‘family’—the athletes, referees, media, and other people involved in the games,” Chaves noted. “So, we intend to bring spectators from Orange County, Pomona, Carson, and elsewhere into the Los Angeles area so they can enjoy games and have reliable ground transportation that gets them there.”

At Sofi Stadium, for example, the stadium’s thousands of parking spaces will not be used for spectator parking. Instead, the spaces will house security for the games. LA Metro plans to double the bus fleet, coordinating with transit agencies across the state and country in order to do so. As the Paris 2024 Olympics approach, Chaves’s team is in close communication with their Paris partner IDFM, discussing what they’re seeing and what will translate to the 2028 Los Angeles games.

Preparing for the Paralympics

After the Olympic Games comes the Paralympic Games. LAWA, the Hollywood Burbank Airport, and LA Metro are preparing to further make their facilities accessible. For instance, Adams shared that LAWA is building temporary spaces tailored to the needs of Paralympic athletes. In Burbank, Galinis’s team is prioritizing universal access in the build of their new terminal and LA Metro is focused on addressing much needed accessibility upgrades at stations across all lines.

Building a Legacy

As the countdown to 2028 continues, collaboration, innovation, and adaptability will be paramount in ensuring a transportation system that not only meets the demands of the Olympics but leaves a lasting legacy for the city of Los Angeles. With a clear roadmap and unwavering determination, Adams, Galinis, and Chaves believe that LA is poised to deliver a transportation experience worthy of Olympic excellence.

ESG is Transforming Urban Landscapes

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 22:12:39 GMT

What is the impact of the ESG movement? ESG -- or environmental, social and governance – more often simply called sustainability – was the topic of the March meeting of the Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), held at the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. The conversation was led by moderator Abbey Ehman of Creative Artists Agency and featured panelists Lynn Simon, Principal and Sustainability Leader at Arup, Lauren Eckhart Smith, Senior Vice President at Cain Development, and Jim Andersen, Chief Development Officer for Chelsea Investment Corporation.

The ESG Domino Effect

In bustling cities, where concrete meets the sky, a silent revolution is underway—one that places sustainability at the forefront of urban development. Recent environmental reports and shifts in legislation and building codes have supported the development of transformative projects that promise to reshape cityscapes and urban living while minimizing environmental impact and supporting biodiversity. In the greater southern California region, several projects are leading the way.

1950 Avenue of the Stars in Century City

At the forefront of sustainable development stands 1950 Avenue of the Stars. Designed by Johnson Fain with engineering by ARUP, the soon-to-be new headquarters of Creative Artists Agency has made a commitment to attaining a platinum LEED certification. Why is the entertainment industry powerhouse spending millions to move their offices just across the street? Ehman says the future move to what will become the vertical CAA campus is driven by the company’s commitment to providing beautiful spaces for team collaboration and reducing their environmental impact.

“We continue to hear about the recession or economic downtown we are experiencing, yet some of the most sustainable projects are also happening right now. We would be remiss if we didn’t celebrate that,” Ehman shared.

The project exemplifies a harmonious blend of innovation and environmental consciousness with its high-performance features such as facade glazing, EV charging stations, and reclaimed water systems. By meticulously designing each facade to reduce solar heat gain and incorporating a botanical garden atop the parking garage, the space will enhance local biodiversity and provide a peaceful space for those on foot.

“One of the sustainability strategies of note is that the façades are designed differently in order to reduce solar heat gain, optimize thermal performance, maximize views, and most importantly to improve occupant’s comfort and well-being," Simon noted.

One Beverly Hills

Nestled at the border of Century City and Beverly Hills, One Beverly Hills emerges as a testament to luxury living with a green conscience. The 17-acre property will include two residential towers, one 30 stories tall and the other 28 stories tall, making them the two tallest buildings in Beverly Hills. The community will also have a 78-key Aman Hotel, 100,000-square-feet of available commercial space, and an eight-acre botanical garden. To top it all off, the iconic Beverly Hilton will be renovated during the ground-up construction process of the development. The One Beverly Hills project seeks to redefine urban landscapes.

“Sustainability is critical in our line of work, and we all should be doing it,” Smith said. “It's part of our responsibility."

The integration of features like gray water systems, 350 geothermal wells, and an ice cooling system underscores a holistic approach to sustainability. As the project unfolds, it represents an opportunity to create a better tomorrow for Beverly Hills—a future where opulence and eco-consciousness coexist seamlessly.

Midway Rising in San Diego

In San Diego, the Midway Rising development heralds a new era of urban development, breathing new life into an underdeveloped area.

“The whole concept is set up as an equitable place for people to live," explained Andersen. “Our income over income spent on housing ratio is the worst of any city in the U.S. so a community like Midway Rising is desperately needed.”

With a focus on affordable housing, community empowerment, and environmental consciousness, this initiative aims to address pressing social, economic, and sustainability challenges. The 4,250-unit community will include 2,000 affordable units, giving many of the region’s hospitality workers accessible and financially achievable housing options so they no longer commute 50 or miles to work each day. In turn, the community is helping to reduce the region’s carbon footprint while also improving the lives of those who maintain its largest industry: hospitality.

Furthering Midway Rising’s commitment to sustainability is that of the 12.5 acres of parks that will be spread throughout the community. Through sustainable practices such as gray water usage and minimizing on-site parking, the project paves the way for a greener, more resilient future in San Diego. Commerce and tourism haven’t been neglected in the plans for this community either. It’s all seamlessly integrated, Andersen noted.

“The Taylor Swift’s of the world go from Phoenix to LA to Orange County and bypass San Diego because they do not have the facilities. With Midway Rising that’ll change, and all of the major acts will have a place to play,” he emphasized.

Midway Rising will include a 16,000-seat arena majority owned by Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke. Outside of the arena developers will be building out a space for a larger-than-life jumbotron that will broadcast the arena’s performances, giving everyone a chance to watch and enjoy.

By blending affordable and market-rate housing seamlessly and integrating amenities like job training academies and onsite healthcare facilities, Midway Rising embodies a vision of inclusivity and sustainability.

Celebrating a Sustainable Future

As these projects unfold, they serve as pillars of hope in an uncertain world. By embracing sustainability on a grand scale, they offer a glimpse into a future where environmental consciousness is not just a goal but a way of life. And as we navigate the challenges ahead, let us bear in mind the clear sentiment echoed throughout these developments: sustainability is not just a choice—it's our collective responsibility.

Satellite Campuses: Why They Matter and How They're Changing the Game

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 00:14:38 GMT

Members of the Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) convened on February 13^th, 2024, at the California Club in Los Angeles to unpack the rapidly evolving world of higher education satellite campuses with moderator Deborah Wylie and featured panelists Robert Schulz, Associate Vice President of Real Estate Planning and Development for SDSU and Peter Hendrickson, AIA; Associate Vice Chancellor of Design and Construction at UCLA, for the February 2024 event.

Satellite campuses have emerged as pivotal instruments for extending the influence and efficacy of universities. From mitigating existing infrastructure impediments at an educational institution’s primary campus to nurturing innovation and promoting equity and sustainability, these campuses are fundamentally reshaping the trajectory and accessibility of education.

Overcoming Infrastructure Hurdles

UCLA boasts a distinguished legacy spanning over a century, standing tall as a beacon of perpetual academic excellence and innovation. However, even with its illustrious history and esteemed reputation, UCLA contends with significant infrastructure challenges, including deferred maintenance for seismic mitigation, all stemming from funding constraints. The university grapples with a daunting $2 billion (about $6 per person in the US) backlog, necessitating novel and strategic approaches to sustain its growth and expansion, and to ensure the university continues to provide a quality education to students across the board.

In contrast lies San Diego State University (SDSU), a venerable educational institution with a 126-year heritage, firmly rooted in the southernmost reaches of California. Operating on a budget merely a fraction of that of UC institutions, state schools like SDSU face an uphill battle when it comes to growth and renovations.

Meanwhile, in the bustling city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) plays a pivotal role in democratizing access to higher education and fostering socioeconomic progress across Los Angeles County. Like UCLA and SDSU, LACCD encounters funding hurdles and the uphill challenge of swiftly erecting facilities to meet the growing demands of students and communities.

Expanding Reach and Accessibility: The Ascendance of Satellite Campuses

One of the country’s earliest satellite campuses dates back to the University of Wisconsin-Madison's establishment of an experimental "Junior College Center" in 1935; making it the precursor to the modern satellite campus paradigm. Conceived to afford access to higher education for students unable to traverse to the main campus, this initiative laid the groundwork for a global proliferation of satellite campuses, empowering universities to broaden their educational footprint and democratize access.

In Southern California, the likes of UCLA, SDSU, and LACCD have embraced the incorporation of satellite campuses into their frameworks. These campuses play an instrumental role in enhancing student body diversity, dismantling barriers to access and opportunity, and amplifying institutional brands.

“How do we become more of a global university and get it all taken care of so that there's more opportunity? We have a long road to go, but that's going to be key in developing these accounts,” said panelist Peter Hendrickson, AIA; Associate Vice Chancellor of Design and Construction at UCLA.

The transition of Marymount University to the 24.5-acre UCLA South Bay campus heralds a significant milestone, ushering in broader access to UCLA education in previously untapped communities. Furthermore, their acquisition of the nearby 11-acre navy site in San Pedro, poised to accommodate 500 dorms for students, stands as the largest land acquisition in UCLA's history. The two satellite campuses will allow for instruction for nearly 1,000 students in an otherwise untapped market.

Concurrently, in Calexico, San Diego State University has expanded its reach with the SDSU Imperial Valley Campus as well as its Brawley satellite campus. The Imperial Valley satellite campus offers a gamut of undergraduate and graduate programs spanning education, business administration, criminal justice, and social work, among others. SDSU Imperial Valley engages with the local community through outreach programs, partnerships, and initiatives aimed at addressing regional needs and catalyzing economic and social development. Similarly, SDSU's Brawley campus tailors its educational offerings to the specific needs of the region, spotlighting sectors such as education, healthcare, and agriculture; thus, aligning with the geographic and vocational interests of its Brawley student base.

Though their architectural motifs may vary, these campuses exude a captivating allure, meticulously designed to optimize the student experience.

“I tell people, you don't know how important architecture is to us. It's on our logo. So, we'll take it super serious,” shared panelist Robert Schulz, Associate Vice President of Real Estate Planning and Development for SDSU.

Pioneering Change in Los Angeles

For many, community college serves as the cradle of their higher education odyssey. There to fulfill that need is the Los Angeles Community College District. The LACCD has expanded to include a set of satellite campuses across Los Angeles County, democratizing access to education for a heterogeneous populace. These satellite campuses include unique course sections, specialized programs, and cater to distinctive communities within the district. Thanks to a bond passed by voters in November 2022, $5.3 billion was allocated to support the LACCD’s expansion with $500 million of that going to student housing.

Between the East Los Angeles College South Gate Campus, the Los Angeles Mission College East Campus, LACCD's Los Angeles Valley College Van Nuys Extension and West Los Angeles College extension, satellite campuses have given LACCD the opportunity to support students who otherwise would’ve been overlooked. Just because they’re satellite campuses doesn’t mean they are any less architecturally marvelous. They each include design elements reflective of their service area and environmentally sustainable features. Each campus emerges as a vital conduit for delivering educational opportunities that resonate with local communities and their career priorities, producing socioeconomic ascension throughout LA County.

Innovation and Sustainability at the Helm

With an audacious pledge to attain carbon neutrality by 2025, the UC system is spearheading satellite campus sustainability endeavors. An unswerving dedication to environmental stewardship is of paramount importance for universities as they chart the course and expand their satellite campus networks, all while garnering community endorsement and ensuring campus vitality along the way.

Both UCs and Cal State colleges continue to redouble their efforts toward decarbonization, per both Schulz and Hendrickson, underscoring the pivotal role of sustainability in forthcoming campuses. Schulz and Hendrickson went on to share that the communities surrounding their newest satellite locations have expressed a profound vested interest in the environmental ramifications of the new campuses; emphasizing a collective commitment to sustainability.

The realization of a greener future hinges on collaborative endeavors, the panelists avowed. From trustees to architects to developers, the construction of satellite campuses necessitates concerted collaborative efforts, diverse leadership and community engagement expertise, and an unwavering focus on the local community ethos.

A Resolute Future for Education

Satellite campuses embody more than mere physical expansions—they epitomize the essence of progress, innovation, and inclusivity; virtues that every educational institution holds dear. As universities continue to invest in these transformative campuses, they chart a trailblazing trajectory toward a future where education transcends spatial confines. By confronting existing infrastructure challenges, expanding reach and accessibility, embracing innovation and sustainability, and fostering collaboration, satellite campuses are leading the shift in higher education dynamics.

Up, Down or Out: Deciphering Post-Pandemic Trends in California's Economy

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 23:45:53 GMT

Members of the Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) convened on January 30 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles to explore the ever-evolving dynamics of the real estate economy with Larry Kosmont, CEO of Kosmont Companies and the featured speaker for this month’s event. Kosmont provided valuable insights into deciphering post-pandemic trends in California's economy. The event shed light on strategies for navigating economic forecasts amidst shifting government policies, changing public financing dynamics, and evolving private investments.

Life in an Ever-Changing World

The aftermath of the pandemic has ushered in a new era where individuals are less inclined to venture outside unnecessarily. Kosmont highlighted the critical challenges and opportunities presented by this "new world," emphasizing the need for attractive spaces in suburban communities, shopping centers and urban areas. The upheaval caused by the pandemic has underscored the importance of adaptability in addressing the digital economy's challenges.

Hot and Noteworthy Economic Trends

The U.S. economy has displayed stronger-than-expected GDP growth, dispelling recession fears. Additionally, low employment and real wage increases have bolstered consumer purchasing power, contributing to a positive employment landscape. Despite a seemingly "boring" economy, positive consumer sentiments- particularly regarding inflation- and GDP growth have marked a return to a more stable economic landscape.

Conversely, the economy faces ongoing challenges marked by shifts in the employment landscape that bring about labor cost challenges, and uncertainties introduced by artificial intelligence (AI). Key areas of concern include:

Inflation concerns persist despite a cooling trend, influencing economic decisions.
Capital markets are on a slower recovery path, leading to challenges in project financing, particularly for office and retail properties.
Geopolitical risks loom large with ongoing international conflicts posing potential disruptions.
Housing affordability remains a persistent and critical issue, particularly in Southern California.

Experiential and Essential Services: Adaptation in Retail Spaces

In the realm of retail, adaptive strategies are becoming increasingly important, according to Kosmont. The concept of "retail-attainment," or blending shopping with entertainment, dining, outdoor amenities, and other experiences, has gained traction to attract and engage customers. Essential services, particularly grocery stores and pharmacies, have demonstrated resilience, retaining steady traffic and demand. The ability to adapt to new consumer demands through enhanced shopping experiences and the exploration of new blended uses is crucial. Even parking lots are being viewed as fields of opportunity, showcasing the need for innovative thinking in retail space utilization.

Underperforming Retail Spaces: A Shifting Landscape

Conversely, underperforming retail spaces face challenges such as rightsizing needs, with dated malls shifting to a blend of other uses due to the rise of online shopping. The tenant mix in brick-and-mortar retail centers and downtown districts is shifting, with diminishing influence from big-box stores. Pop-ups and co-branded marketing events are becoming more prominent, signaling a changing taste in consumer preferences. Vibrant retail spaces anchored by essentials, experiences/lifestyle, and health/wellness are gaining importance, meanwhile low-end centers face vacancies and impaired valuations slashed, making them ripe for redevelopment.

Adaptive Workplaces & Technology: Redefining Work Environments

The landscape of workplaces and technology integration is undergoing a profound shift. The traditional office model is not expected to return as the adoption of telework/hybrid work models leads to a demand for smaller, reconfigurable spaces and a reduced need for centralized office locations. Technology-enabled workspaces, marked by investments in tech to facilitate both in-person and remote work, are poised to reshape businesses. Post-pandemic, there is an increased focus on health, safety, comfort, collaboration, and well-being in the workplace. Office conversions are becoming key in urban markets, with suburban areas potentially witnessing office park demolitions and redevelopment into new uses, though this would necessitate significant investment and capital.

E-Commerce and Fulfillment: Reshaping Retail Dynamics

The rise of e-commerce and fulfillment is reforming retail dynamics as we know them. Sustained growth in online retail is shifting physical stores towards showrooms, necessitating efficient distribution and logistics for delivery with an increased focus on reducing delivery times. Stricter regulations, prompted by community advocacy and increased scrutiny over pollution, traffic, and ecological impacts, are shaping the future of the retail landscape. Residential demands for diverse housing options, particularly affordable and mid-tier options near job centers, are on the rise. The concept of live/work/shop has gained prominence post-pandemic, entirely reshaping housing needs and demands.

California's Vision for the Future

California stands at a critical juncture, steering through a dynamic, innovation-driven economy. The state's impetus for policy change revolves around three pivotal themes: housing, sustainability, and the regulatory environment. Efforts to foster more density in high-demand areas, reduce parking requirements, and transfer control from local governments to property owners are underway in the housing sector. Sustainability initiatives focus on promoting electric vehicles, developing charging infrastructure, supporting renewable energy generation, cutting emissions, and enhancing climate resiliency. Addressing the regulatory landscape involves tackling the high-tax environment and resolving regulatory hurdles for businesses and consumers. California's challenge lies in finding a balance between costs and benefits, and between requirements and flexibility, to chart a course towards a more prosperous and sustainable future.

What’s the future for Los Angeles?

Los Angeles faces substantial challenges, including office vacancies, robust industrial demand, and complexities in the housing market. Despite being a top concern, homelessness and affordable housing face resource constraints, with the city potentially facing a budget shortfall of $400 million.

Drawing inspiration from San Francisco's center city proposed legislation to form a specialized Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD), Los Angeles has the potential to leverage tax increments for office-to-residential conversions. This innovative approach could address challenges related to homelessness and affordable housing while streamlining the development process across the city. According to Kosmont, the ongoing development of a Downtown LA EIFD could further contribute to the solution by funding infrastructure, housing, and homelessness initiatives. Simply put, establishing a reliable income stream is imperative for expediting transformative measures necessary to maintain downtown Los Angeles’s vibrancy.

All in all, the insights offered in Kosmont’s presentation underscore the need for adaptability and innovation in navigating the complex real estate economy in the greater Southern California region. Strategic approaches that consider emerging trends and address challenges head-on are essential for success in today’s ever-changing landscape.

A New Future is on Its Way for the LA Waterfront thanks to a Public-Private Partnership

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:27:41 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum's November 14th,2023 meeting brought together key players invested in the revitalization of the Los Angeles Waterfront, a 400-acre parcel located in the harbor communities of San Pedro and Wilmington. The speakers, representing the diverse perspectives and parties involved in the development of waterfront joined forces at the Biltmore Hotel to discuss the ongoing transformation of the waterfront as it evolves into a thriving, multi-use community hotspot.

A Transformational Vision for the Port of Los Angeles

Michael Galvin, Director of Waterfront and Commercial Real Estate for the Port of Los Angeles, kicked off the discussion by highlighting the significant investment—nearly $1 billion—in the waterfront over the past year. The overarching vision for the next five to 10 years is to redefine the waterfront, moving beyond its historical role in cargo transportation to become a vibrant community space.

Historically, the port has faced serious challenges including air pollution, water issues, and traffic congestion. To address these concerns, Galvin’s team has focused closely on various means to improve air quality in addition to the development of a promenade stretching from the bridge to the breakwater to help support an increase in foot traffic and reduction of vehicular traffic. Their focus though is not only on creating a visually appealing waterfront but also fostering connectivity, hence their plans for water taxis that will link Wilmington and San Pedro.

Emphasizing the importance of community involvement, Galvin stressed the need for residential development and the creation of new industries. He envisions the waterfront as a hub supporting thousands of jobs.

“This space will become a job location that can support thousands of jobs,” Galvin said. “It's about putting all of these different pieces together and keeping people there."

The key, according to Galvin, lies in the public-private partnerships his team has worked to build and the trust they’ve fostered within the community—a trust earned over the past decade by investing in local groups, hearing what their pain points have been, and acknowledging what they hope to see the port become in the future, while strategically dividing real estate focuses among his team.

Public-Private Partnership Driving the Development Forward

Elise Swanson, President and CEO of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, spoke as part of the panel and expressed her gratitude for the long-standing public-private partnership between the local San Pedro community, LA-area government entities, and businesses that have helped to continually drive this collaboration forward toward completion.

“We're so fortunate to have a community, government, and business partnership that's been 20 years in the making,” Swanson happily shared. “It’s been a long time coming but it’s like a diamond in the rough- all good things take time.”

The synergistic approach of connecting San Pedro's rich history with a plan for a resident and local business-driven commercial future is a key driver of the development of the waterfront. As Swanson shared, the potential future collaboration with UCLA, given their recent acquisition of the old Marymount campus in the South Bay, will further enhance the educational and cultural aspects of the waterfront that will be available to the community, in tandem with AltaSea’s stake in the port’s renaissance.

AltaSea is Creating a Blue Economy and a Redevelopment Renaissance

Terry Taminen, President and CEO of AltaSea, shared insights into the ecological impact of the waterfront's development. A 90% reduction in air particulate matter: it’s simply incredible. But more than that, it’s critically important for the native species in the water. And those species are at the forefront of Taminen’s mind.

As part of the port’s expansion and redevelopment, there will be a 35-acre property dedicated to AltaSea serving as a multi-use facility focused on the blue economy. Taminen described his vision for aqua culture to permeate through the facility and into the heartbeat of the local culture.

"We want to get kids excited about the ocean, so they'll protect it regardless of whatever field they go into in the future,” Taminen said.

The AltaSea facilities will showcase sea creatures, the power of renewable technologies like wave power, and the incredible capabilities of underwater drones. To round things out, AltaSea will also provide job training for blue economy-focused roles, in addition to hands on educational opportunities for children ages 12 and up to inspire the next generation to be passionate about protecting the planet's oceans.

Construction: The Final Lap to the Finish Line

Thanks to Alan Johnson—Chief Executive of Jerico Development—and his team, construction on the reimagined Port of Los Angeles is rapidly underway. Johnson shared a few of the highlights of the future of the port's commercial spaces including a 20,000 square foot beer garden and an amphitheater—a few of the many amenities that Johnson feels are desperately needed in the South Bay.

“There's a donut hole for entertainment in Los Angeles and it's in the South Bay," Johnson noted when sharing the need for more commercial entertainment, food, and beverage retailers in the South LA area.

Despite facing ups and downs, years of pandemic-related setbacks, and nearly 11 years of preparation and planning before breaking ground, the port is now experiencing a surge in leasing momentum. 5,000 residential units will be a part of the dynamic redeveloped port community and much to the panel’s excitement, the pre-engineering steel buildings are anticipated to be completed in May and June of 2024 with tenant soft openings in mid 2025 and, finally, a grand opening at the end of the 2025 calendar year.

The Los Angeles waterfront has been on a transformational journey to reach this point for over two decades now and the many, many hours of commitment are coming to fruition. From ecological sustainability and blue economy initiatives to community partnerships and vibrant entertainment spaces, the vision for the waterfront extends beyond commerce to create a dynamic space that showcases just how ready and resilient the South Bay is. The Los Angeles Waterfront redevelopment is not just another construction project; it's a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation, and a community's hunger for growth and success.

The Future of Data Centers

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 19:36:06 GMT

In today’s corporate landscape, data centers are essential to our everyday work life. A data center can be a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a complex of buildings with the purpose of sharing and storing data. As reported by moderator of the panel, Jason Shepard, Managing Principal for Cresa MCS, there are three (3) types of data center operators:

Enterprise data centers (EDCs) are typically constructed and used by a single organization for their own internal purposes. EDCs are typically designed to higher levels of reliability & redundancy to mitigate against downtime.
Internet data centers (IDCs): Also referred to as “Hyper Scale”, these are large-scale (power & size) facilities for internet &/or cloud-centric users.
Third Party Operators (3POs): These are purpose-built data centers to accommodate a variety of end-user types. Multi-user data centers, similar to multi-tenant buildings, are referred to as “Colocation”. Larger scale “Carrier-Hotels”, “Powered Shell” & “Wholesale Colocation” facilities may have “Retail Colocation” providers as customers. These colocation facility types may then have sub-users in "Retail Colocation” providers as well as both EDCs & IDCs as customers.

Many will recognize current software services that depend on data centers such as Microsoft Office and Amazon Web Services, that most of corporate America use every day. While it’s true that the industry has been able to condense the amount of space needed for data storage overall, virtual networks still depend on large-scale physical infrastructure – and having the space for such infrastructure can prove to be a challenge for a condensed market like Southern California.

Because of this, most businesses within Southern California depend on data centers located in Phoenix, Salt Lake City or even further away. However, this creates a problem of data speed latency. As reported by Shepard, “LA to Salt Lake City takes about 18 milliseconds (ms) round-trip, and LA to Denver takes about 27ms round-trip.” He continued, according to AFCOM’s 2023 State of the Data Center Study, “60% of users of survey respondents said that their requirements need to be under 20ms.” According to Amatis, a cloud-based services firm, a latency of 100ms can cause a 1% loss in sales and 40% of online users abandon a website if it is difficult to load within that timeframe.

How Much Power is Needed?

Shepard addressed another problem under consideration, that being the level of power needed to supply data centers. Data centers require a large amount of power, currently acquired through mostly non-renewable resources. However most states in the US are moving towards renewable resource requirements, with California specifically requiring “60% of electricity generation [to] come from renewable sources by 2030, and 100% green by 2045,” (DSIRE).” Arizona on the other hand only has a 15% renewable resource requirement by 2025 (DSIRE), resulting in a extensive data center development in Arizona over California.

From there, Shepard introduced panelists Yigit Bulut, technical leader and electrical designer EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Part of Ramboll, Chris Sumter, partner and EVP of Prime Data Centers, Rhea Williams, CCO of E3 Platforms, and Eric Dela Pena, director of sales engineering for Coresite. Each panelist brought unique perspectives from all around the industry, all working toward figuring out solutions for data centers long term.

Data Center Development, Site Selection and Opportunities

When deciding the right type of data center for a business, Bulut noted three things to keep in mind, “if you have goals of sustainability and energy efficiency while being conscious of capital price, you have to be cognizant of how much you are spending and how efficient the facilities will be.” He continued, “You want to maximize reliability and redundancy. Efficiency, capital cost, longevity - that hasn’t changed – it has just gotten more important.”

Williams, who was recently a Site Selection Principal for Oracle in EMEA focused on European Markets, brought forth her perspective on data center processes overseas. She added, “The large cloud public regions are dictated by customers and sales. They're going to go where customers are based.” Regions, she clarified, are single markets that refer to a specific city or geographical area. In Europe, the main concentration for data centers is tier-1 markets, which were identified as major European cities such as London, Frankfurt, Ashburn, etc. In contrast, Williams noted the highlight of the West Coast American market, “I think we do that better on the West Coast than most the other regions globally.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Dela Pena gave a local perspective, as Coresite has recently entered the Southern California market. When asked what fueled Coresite’s decision to recently look at local open and leasable space, he replied with the following:

“For us, it was an economic decision because of the low cost of power. In the state of California, you don’t get many incentives to come into the market, but from a customer perspective, we were able to serve the needs within a short period at an incredibly low cost.” He later summarized, “this is an underserviced market and developers should probably pay more attention.”

On that same topic, LA vacancy can provide some unique opportunities for data center-purposed acquisitions. Sumter shared one of the latest unique acquisitions of Prime Data Centers,

“Luckily, we have been granted a beautiful property, that being an old post office building that was built in 1993 by the federal government. It came with high posts that enabled mail trucks to drive on the roof to sort out mail throughout the entire building. What does that mean? It means we can build a 3000-pound cabinet in this building that you can light up to about 15 kilowatts.”

Challenges of Price, Energy Procurement and Public Use

One aspect of the panel highlighted the historic movement to cloud data storage, what it did to the price of data centers and the growing need for more data storage. Dela Pena summarized that “when cloud adoption first came about, everyone wanted to rush to it because it required less capital and equipment.” But this came with one caveat, “It’s free to put all your data into the cloud, but it costs a ton of money to pull it back out.” This led to hybrid models, where companies would upload certain workloads to the cloud and a certain amount onsite. But this model mitigates a challenge that is still present, the current cost of data storage without many alternative options due to current limitations of energy resources and state legislation.

Later in the panel, the conversation on the challenge of energy procurement sparked up again. Sumter noted, “In this industry, energy procurement is becoming a much greater challenge.” He continued, “I don’t know what the answer is going to be, but optimistically, places like Tennesse, Oklahoma, Wyoming – tier 2 markets that two years ago I never would of invested in – now suddenly we’re looking to go out and buy property there because power is more accessible.”

One such solution that was discussed was the possibility of nuclear power. “Government approval is a question, but there is so much negative connotation that we need to change. With how far technology has come, there are ways we can use [nuclear power] safely without creating any waste,” Williams added. She believes that the growing need, even outside of data centers, for power on a greater scale will likely drive innovation in this direction. This was echoed by attendants of the panel, with one attendant stating, “Of course, I encourage energy users of solar and wind, but they’re not reliable resources for us.” Although Williams still reiterated the initiative to move in the direction of using renewable resources.

“We do think we can eventually utilize solar as a primary resource. We’re even looking in the middle of nowhere to buy tens of thousands of acres to utilize solar power. Shepard chimed in, “There’s a social piece to this, and it aligns with a greater political conversation.”

Another question for the panel addressed the issue of accessibility to data storage overall, “Do you see the combination of data and power becoming a public utility as one?” Williams quickly responded, “It already has in Europe, and power is fed back into the overall grid. 100% - that is the direction we are headed in.” Shepard concluded the panel response by adding that with each new data center built, they are becoming far more energy efficient.

In sharing final thoughts, Bulut sent attendants home with a concluding optimistic statement, “These issues and others are ahead, and they are always changing, but what makes [data centers] exciting for us is taking on those challenges.” It’s clear that the dependency on data centers will only grow more, as with each passing day there is an increased reliance on virtual data storage. However, with all the solutions mentioned on the panel, it’s clear that a greater conversation needs to be had on making data center development and accessibility available and affordable in the state of California.

Innovation Districts: Offering a New Dynamic to City Planning

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 22:03:37 GMT

Innovation Districts – a new way of looking at creating an environment – are becoming a hot topic in our world. At the recent SCDF panel, this concept was explored in depth. The panel, moderated by Josh Boren of RCLCO Real Estate Consulting, included Mitra Memari from ZGF, Rosalio Arellanes Jr. from Wexford Science and Technology, and Sam Pepper from Lincoln Property Company as expert panelists to share their experience. The three panelists discussed how innovation districts are being designed and cultivated to foster innovation, collaboration within a community, and economic growth.

Defining Innovation Districts

“How do you define innovation districts?”

Innovation districts are carefully designed to bring together a diverse range of stakeholders, such as research institutions, startups, established companies, and cultural amenities. A fundamental goal of innovation districts is to create an environment that fosters idea exchange, sparks creativity, and accelerates technological advancement. Innovation districts have become catalysts for economic revitalization and resilience in the face of global challenges by concentrating expertise, resources, and talent.

Universities: The Common Denominator

The common denominator in creating a successful innovation district that all three panelists agreed on was the need to connect and collaborate with a nearby university.

Mitra Memari, from ZGF, shared, “You need an anchor institution to help support the growth of innovation. Universities make great anchors for these types of developments. In addition, you need a lot of up-and-coming ideas from smaller organizations that are trying to build an idea. So having the support of the institution and putting those incubator spaces next to the institution helps. But most importantly you need a community.”

By developing innovation districts around universities, fostering economic development promotes collaboration between academia and industry, with the end goal of creating knowledge-based ecosystems.

Designing innovation districts

How can a company create spaces to be fully maximized when we live in a world that changes daily? When going into any project, the panelists all agreed on understanding the needs of the market and,most importantly, understanding the tenant's requirements in that particular market. When starting the design process, including the basics of design, it is critical to have market information that reflects themarket needs. Rosalio Arellanes Jr., from Wexford Science and Technology, stated, “The last thing you want to do is build a project and be able to accommodate half of the prospective tenants in the market.

When programming and designing these districts, Arellanes also said, “When we get into a project, we start talking to our partners on the ground. Whether that is the university, non-profit, community colleges, city and countyjurisdictions and broker teams. We have a team that exclusively focuses on having those conversations and creating the value proposition for that innovation district.”

Community Outreach

Community engagement is a vital aspect of the development of innovation districts for them to be successful, sustainable, and beneficial to the innovation district.

Sam Pepper, from Lincoln Property Company, emphasized how their client Google is opening their doors to the local community. “Google sees huge value in bringing the public into their spaces. Google users want to share what they are working on and be a helpful neighbor to the local community. Googlers recognize the responsibility they have to the community, and are investing in shared amenities, arts and public programming.It isabout more than just being a good neighbor - it is about really providing the publicwithopportunities, amenities and exposureto what happens at Google.”

Meari also stated how “we have been ideating new ways to involve communities in innovation districts and reflect the work they are doing within their spaces. One of ZGF’s projects is having farmer markets on the weekends. This helps with community engagement and bringing people in.”

Innovation districts can positively impact communities by driving economic growth, creating jobs, enhancing the quality of life, and addressing pressing societal challenges. They serve as dynamic hubs of innovation, collaboration, and cultural exchange that benefit not only the individuals and businesses within the district but also the broader community and region.

No doubt, they will continue to contribute to making our developments more vibrant, exciting and collaborative for years to come.

How AI and Technology Will Transform the Healthcare Landscape

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 17:00:27 GMT

In recent years, technology and artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various industries, and healthcare is no exception. From enhancing clinical practice to reshaping the design of healthcare facilities, these advancements have ushered in a new era of patient care. How can facilities in this market prepare for this evolution of technology? How will it impact the built environment?

At a recent panel discussion, moderated by Kenneth T. Bellian of Jensen Partners, key speakers including George R. Tingwald from Stanford Health Care Planning, Design + Construction, Kimberlee Roberts from Scripps Health, Long Duong from Kaiser Permanente, and Wesley Ramirez from UC Davis Health addressed the transformative potential of AI and technology in healthcare facilities design and construction.

Connecting the Dots

A common challenge faced by the healthcare design and construction industry is limited space and outdated infrastructure. Tingwald and Roberts highlighted the challenges in having their new hospital towers communicate with existing buildings that were designed and built 10+ years ago. The panelists agreed that in the healthcare world, it takes a long time to change. However, Tingwald remained optimistic, emphasizing that technology allows engagement of global talent and innovation to address these gaps. Ramirez added that UC Davis has been looking outside California for innovation, noting successful integration of technology at institutions like Penn Medicine and Houston Methodist. However, institutions face challenges such as cyber security and data protection. In navigating these barriers, we should embrace AI to connect the dots.

“We can no longer care only about our own universe,” concluded Tingwald, “We are now all part of the same care ecosystem.”

Futureproofing Our Facilities

AI can offer support across various areas within medical facilities, including communication speeds, compliance planning, and medication workflows. Duong stressed the importance of creating a “high-tech, high-touch environment,” viewing AI as an opportunity. Tingwald explained that AI can improve department communication and enhance patient care, citing an example that “AI has a much better success rate at reading ultrasounds than techs do.” It is evident that AI's potential impact on the medical field cannot be ignored, emphasizing the need to prepare for its integration from a design perspective and as Roberts noted “create a seamless environment of care”.

Medical institutions recognize the need for long-term planning to integrate technology effectively. Ramirez highlighted the ever-increasing needs of fiber runs and the importance of “infrastructure planning for the next 20-30 years.” Stanford has already upsized their electrical and data rooms by 20% to accommodate future technologies.

Enhance the Human Experience and Population Health

Duong noted that Kaiser Permanente is exploring innovative ways to integrate AI and leveraging data to assess population health, aiming to break down socio-economic barriers and bring care to the underserved. Citing their new medical office building in Watts, “The goal is to hopefully use AI to serve as a lifelong tutor to the underserved to improve health outcomes,” he emphasized.

However, integrating new technology requires navigating regulations and overcoming hurdles, particularly for landlocked facilities operating in outdated buildings. Roberts questioned if current regulations can be changed to accelerate the approval process for building much needed healthcare facilities.

“We need to get people out of the ER and bring care into more communities,” she emphasized.

She urged the group to leverage AI to develop creative design solutions in the built environment and operational planning. The collective effort to embrace AI reflects the understanding that all stakeholders are part of the same care ecosystem.

In conclusion, the integration of AI and technology in healthcare facilities design and construction promises to revolutionize patient care, address staffing and space challenges, and improve overall healthcare outcomes. By embracing AI, medical institutions can create a high-tech, high-touch environment that optimizes patient care and experiences while planning for long-term integration.

How Adaptive Reuse Can Shape LA’s Future

Wed, 31 May 2023 19:52:42 GMT

Just a few blocks away from the Biltmore Hotel, where SCDF hosted its panel on "Adaptive Reuse – Vacant Retail, Vacant Office and the Housing Crisis: LA at an Adaptive Reuse Crossroads,” stands over 100 vacant floors, many of which have remained empty for more than five years. The title was aptly descriptive of the next chapter of our city’s growth path.

"LA currently has nine million square feet of subleased office space sitting on the market, and this number continues to grow daily," revealed panel moderator Carl Muhlstein, executive managing director at JLL Los Angeles. It's no surprise that vacant office space has been a persistent issue in the city, with LA's office space utilization currently at a mere 55%.

Muhlstein instilled confidence in attendees by emphasizing the crucial role of housing in solving this problem. "We've survived the '.com' bubble, the great recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, but now we're ready for the great reset, and housing is a key part of that," he added.

The need to address the challenges impeding adaptive reuse development was evident to everyone at the panel.

The speakers consisted of notable individuals such as Nella McOsker from the Central City Association of Los Angeles (CCA), Simon Muir from NBP Capital, Jackson Brissette from BARDAS Investment Group, Vince Bertoni from the City of Los Angeles, Kyle Burnham from Swinerton, and Bea Hsu from Brookfield Properties Development. These experts delved into various aspects of adaptive reuse, including city and state-wide legislation, and provided insights into the challenges faced by different sectors of the industry.

Adaptive Reuse: The Old Ordinance vs. The New

Office-to-residential conversions are not a novel concept in LA. So why are we revisiting adaptive reuse as a solution to LA's office vacancy issue now? McOsker highlighted the transformative impact of the late 90s adaptive reuse ordinance:

“Twelve thousand units came online, about one third of all new housing, within that 20-year period. I think trends that we are aware of, in the last few years, are part of the reason that there’s a pause, but I think it's precisely the right moment to be asking this question. When the pandemic hit, CCA looked at this and authored a report because we saw changes in the office market once again creating an opportunity to help downtown recover.”

She further emphasized that even a small fraction of converted space can create remarkable opportunities, as approximately 5% of office space can be converted into around 8,000 rooms.

Hsu acknowledged the progress made by the 1999 adaptive reuse ordinance in unlocking development possibilities through office conversions but stated, "We're not there yet."

Vince Bertoni, the Director of Planning for the City of Los Angeles, shed light on the proposals of the new ordinance, saying, "The new ordinance aims to remove all zoning barriers... and it includes a few key components." He explained that the downtown adaptive reuse ordinance has already paved the way for the complete elimination of design barriers. Here are some of the eligibility requirements outlined in the new proposal:

At least 15 years must have elapsed since the building permit was issued.
Any parking structure or parking area within an existing building may be converted if at least five years have elapsed since the building permit was issued.
At least five years must have elapsed since the building permit was issued, and the project must be approved by a Zoning Administrator.

In simple terms, if the proposal is confirmed today, adaptive reuse can be initiated for buildings constructed in 2008 or earlier. Additionally, buildings that are at least five years old can undergo a discretionary approval process for potential early conversion. "We believe that this will hopefully ignite housing development throughout the city," added Bertoni.

Adaptive Reuse: Incentives and Hurdles

The panel also discussed the future of LA's workforce and its impact on the need for both office and residential space in downtown LA. McOsker shared survey results indicating that 81% of employees are expected to spend at least half of their time in the office, with half of them likely to be in the office almost full-time. She stressed the importance of considering the employees who commute downtown, as the area has already become a thriving residential community with over 90,000 residents. Moreover, McOsker emphasized that accessible public transit, a wide range of housing options, vibrant restaurants, childcare facilities, and more all contribute to incentivizing a return to downtown. Creating a safe and exciting environment for employees, residents, and visitors is pivotal for driving development in LA's downtown.

Muir and Brissette highlighted the significance of design in attracting people back to the office and enticing tenants to sign leases. Muir stated that investment firms with substantial funds have limited equity for new projects, which necessitates careful selection. Brissette expanded on the factors investment groups consider, emphasizing the value of design. He said, "We prioritize design first and amenities second... People don't go to work because they want to use a bocce ball court. They wake up and feel that where they're going inspires them to do what they do, more so than working from home."

Collaboratively Planning for Future Development

The panelists emphasized the importance of collaboration throughout the adaptive reuse process. "It all starts with the right team," stated Burnham, who leads preconstruction efforts at Swinerton. He stressed the need to address significant questions up front and emphasized the importance of developing both a preconstruction and a holistic program budget, which requires lowering acquisition prices.

"Acquisition costs are starting to drop to the point where we're finding that sweet spot," Burnham concluded.

Hsu chimed in, clarifying that the problem is not that the office market is dead but rather that LA has an oversupply of office space. She stressed the need for Los Angeles to learn from other cities and address its unique challenges, such as increasingly restrictive building codes on the West Coast due to earthquake and seismic hazards.

During the Q&A session, attendees raised questions about the possibility of government subsidies to stimulate more development and the relaxation of developmental restrictions to expedite adaptive reuse conversions. Bartoni responded, "We're trying to be as flexible as possible... we don't actually know what's going to happen, and that's okay. Sometimes in planning, you think that you need to control the outcome, but you actually just need to spark creativity." Bartoni reiterated the importance of approaching adaptive reuse with a focus on sustainability and safety, as this will ultimately encourage more rebuilding in the city.

Muhlstein issued a call to action to attendees, stating, "Adaptive reuse could be the saving grace to help us overcome these problems... the silent majority needs to wake up." It is evident that collaboration among city planning, investment, preconstruction, and development is crucial to addressing the underutilization of vacant office space in Los Angeles. The new wave of adaptive reuse is approaching the City of Los Angeles, and the question that remains is how close that future really is.

For those interested in more information, the Los Angeles City Planning will host webinars on June 6, 7, and 8 to provide an overview of the proposed changes to the adaptive reuse ordinance and is encouraging community input. For more information, visit the website https://planning.lacity.org/.

Aviation in California: What the Bipartisan Infrastructure Means

Wed, 10 May 2023 16:54:19 GMT

When it comes to design and construction, the aviation industry pumps billions of dollars into projects that feed into the architectural, design and construction industries. And now, with the passing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – which passed in August of 2021 – with more than $25 billion earmarked for aviation needs. More than 160 people attended this month’s April meeting held at The California Club, to hear from aviation experts about what was planned.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure law has $25 billion earmarked for aviation. The budget will be allocated to three different project types: airport terminals, air pollutants and other related infrastructure investments, and air traffic facilities.

While there have already been two rounds of grants awarded, there is quite a bit more in the pipeline. What are the projects that are coming up? How is the procurement handled? What will they cost?

At the forum, representatives from five of California’s airports shared insights on how procurement processes work, how the budgets are divided and what projects were on the drawing board. Each member shared their insight on how the procurement process is handled and what RFP/RFQs were in the pipeline.

Jennifer Crawford, Syska Hennessey Group, served as the moderator. The following representatives and airports were represented:

-Long Beach Airport, Claudia Lewis, Manager if Finance and Administration

-Los Angeles World Airport, Emery Molnar, Deputy Executive Director

-Port of Oakland, Joan Zatopek, Aviation Planning & Development Manager

-Ontario International Airport, Michelle Brantley, Chief Capital Program Development Officer

-San Francisco International Airport, Nupur Sinha, Director of Planning and Environmental Affairs

A short summary of the various projects that are on the runway for each of the airport facilities follows:

Long Beach Airport

More than $120 million of funding for various projects has been underway for The Long Beach Airport Phase II Terminal Area improvements since July of 2018; several other projects are slated for completion by February 2024. These include:

-A $10 million taxiway B that was completed as of November 2021

-A $26 million taxiway improvement project that was completed as of December 2022

-A $9.5 million runway rehabilitation project that is currently under construction, with completion slated for September of 2023

-A $10 million taxilane reconstruction project that is currently in the bidding phase, with completion slated for September 2024

“All of this will have a huge impact on our customer experience as well as drastically improve inbound and outbound passenger flow, so we were awarded $10.5 million in the first round. We did not apply for the second round simply because we are a small airport, small staff and don’t have the bandwidth,” said Claudia Lewis, the Manager of Finance and Administration for the Long Beach Airport. “We do have plans for applying for projects in the upcoming rounds.”

Los Angeles World Airport

As the second largest (and busiest) airport in the US – ranking behind the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport – LAX sees more than 88+ million passengers a year. Its current $30 billion capital improvement program will transform LAX into an enjoyable experience, even though until then passengers will need to navigate masses amount of construction pathways.

The new LAX will include a wide variety of multiple task order contracts including all access road renovation, a North and South airfield program, concourse work in addition to:

-T9: A new 1.4 million Sq. Ft. building that will be separate from the rest of the airport but connected with a pedestrian bridge to connect to the opposite side of Sepulveda Blvd from the airport. This will be accessible with the Automated People Mover and the new roadway access.

-Concourse 0: An extension of Terminal 1 in the space where LAX-it is currently located, the new terminal will be home to a variety of airlines and include an outdoor lounge space. LAX-it will be moved to a location with access to the Automated People Mover. It is currently in the design phase with the goal of having some portions of it open prior to the 2028 Olympics.

-A new roadway network that will separate airport traffic from local traffic, allowing less congestion in neighborhoods and smooth flow of traffic on Sepulveda.

-Airfield improvements that are designed to help increase safety and efficiency of the north airfield.

-Cargo modernization program

-Signage and Wayfinding enhancement program

Landscape beautification will take place on 13 potential acres that could be transformed into pedestrian plazas between the central terminal area parking lots and the arrival level using the existing crosswalks. This is currently in the design phase with completion expected in 2026.

“We received approximately $58 million in the first round and $30 million in the second round which have been designated for our ATMP roads,” said Emery Molnar, who has worked with LAX on projects such as the North Terminal Inline Baggage Screening, Delta T5, Delta T5 Landside Improvements and Westfield Concessions as well as T1, T2 and T3 airside developments.

Port of Oakland

The Port of Oakland currently has several RFPs coming up over the next few years. These include:

For 2023 (some of these are advertised now):

-Taxiway Whiskey (W) Rehab Phase I construction, $14.4 million

-Prime builder for restroom rehab construction, $25 million

-On call planning consulting service, $5-$8 million

-On call sanitary sewer design: $3 million

-Sustainability Management Plan consultant services, $2-$3 million

-Energy audit, $1 million

-Airport perimeter Dike Phase 2, Seismic construction, $30 - $40 million

-Substation construction, $35 - $40 million

Upcoming projects for 2024 – 2025 include more than $77 million projects all of which are expected to move forward with procurement efforts with the release of the first RFP in first quarter, 2024.

“We have a growing capital program focusing on upgrading aging infrastructure and improving customer amenities” emphasizes Joan Zatopek, Aviation Planning and Development Manager who currently oversees the eight-member team in planning, funding and managing the Aviation Capital Program which averages $100 million annually. “We’ll be using some of our BIL funding for the Airport Perimeter Dike seismic upgrades retrofit, which is scheduled to bid later this year.”

Ontario International Airport

Ontario has divided their projects down as follows:

2023

-$8 million Airport Drive Reconstruction project

-$19 million Avion Realignment & Reconstruction project

-$40 million runway program

-$6 million terminal roof replacement

2024

-$21 million parking lot improvement

-$7 million baggage system controls

-$7 million chillers & cooling tower replacements

-$2.7 million preconditioned air units

One question from the audience centered on breaking into the industry, starting with some of the smaller jobs as an entry point.

“We’re about to run an advertisement for a job order contract that would be an opportunity for some smaller projects, but multiple times over,” said Michelle Brantley, who oversees the capital improvement projects and improvements at Ontario International Airport. “Keep an eye out for this list for smaller jobs that may serve as an entry point.”

San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

As SFO wraps up its $7.3B capital program, it is preparing to launch several new projects which are being funded from various sources from airport bonds, AIP grants, and BIL (competitive and formula-based) funds. These short-term projects will be followed by a new major capital program in 2024 to address SFO’s replacement and growth in the next 10 years. SFO leadership is currently considering project priorities that range from gate requirements, support facility replacements, parking and roadway improvement, infrastructure improvements, and sustainability/resiliency efforts. The short-term construction project announcements include:

-BIL airport terminal grant (competitive) – Using the 2023 $31M funds received for International Terminal re-roofing, water-proofing, and new solar panels (CM/GC method of delivery complaint with the FAA requirements)

-BIL formula-based allocation (guaranteed) – SFO received $50M per year for the first 3 years based on 2019 enplanement number. In 2023 $150M funds will be used for Advanced Waste Treatment and Recycled Water Distribution project (Progressive Design-Build method of delivery to be used, that FAA will follow closely and learn from)

The West Field Redevelopment Program three progressive design-build RFPs slated for 2023 include:

-Q2 2023 - Eight-story, 1,100 staff parking garage, AirTrain connectivity, utility upgrades and demolition of existing structures for contractor staging, employee parking and aircraft RON parking.

-Q2 2023 - Phase 1 includes over 350,000 sq ft cargo/warehouse in two facilities and under 20,000 sq. ft. (about four times the area of a basketball court) for GSE (ground services equipment repair/maintenance) facility along with adjacent aircraft RON parking and taxiway improvements.

-Q4 2023 – Eleven-story multi-tenant tower, utility upgrades, AirTrain connectivity, roadway improvements, and employee amenities program.

“At SFO, we believe delivering a project on time and on budget isn’t the only measure of success,” emphasized Nupur Sinha, Director of Planning and Environmental Affairs for the airport. “Because most aviation projects require a long planning, funding, design, and construction timeline, we realize it is key to remain flexible and adaptable. Therefore, we focus on learning from our stakeholder, design, and construction partners during the Progressive Design-Build delivery process, to co-create projects goals and objections, that meaningfully serve our guests, employees and the planet.”

How Diversity Informs Procurement

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 21:25:52 GMT

Ensuring diverse partners are incorporated into the procurement process was the key theme for those who attended The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) panel discussion on March 14, 2023. Aptly named “How Diversity Informs Procurement,” attendees got a first-hand perspective of how some of the leading companies -- from gaming to entertainment properties -- are incorporating key diversity initiatives into their process.

Abbey Ehman, Lincoln Property Company, served as the moderator of the event and curated the panel of top experts. Panelists included Alex Kim, Riot Games; Dink Jason Toller, Shadowbox Studios; Jason Witt, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park; and Jennifer Trotter, Plenary Americas.

The importance of diverse vendors

One of the key themes all panelists cited in how they have incorporated diversity into their procurement process has been related to their various personal backgrounds. Trotter cited her heritage and growing up where the built environment was changing rapidly around her.

“I was navigating the world as a bi-racial kid growing up in San Diego along the border. A key moment in my childhood was this freeway being built near my high school. As a teenager, all I could do was think about the people who were losing their homes there. So that really drove me to pursue a career in planning, community development and economic development,” Trotter noted. “I fell into supplier diversity at the same time and really have been able to help meld those ideas together about the forms of community engagement and supplier diversity workforce development, so that there are equal opportunities for contracts, for jobs, and for knowledge.”

Kim cited his own background as an Asian-American starting out as a superintendent. He noted that his respect came from being in the field as he built his career. He now serves as the principal of global real estate, design and construction at Riot Games.

“The way I got respect in the industry was by doing manual labor, picking up the shovel. Through that camaraderie, I gained so much respect for the folks in our field every day. Now, I love creating and fostering culture where even the quiet voices in the room are amplified, hearing all the opinions, voices and representation – these are all crucial to any product success.”

Diversity in procurement efforts

Jason Witt, Director of Community Engagement for Hollywood Park Management Company, discussed how his company has built their programs to ensure diversity in all the company’s procurement processes. He cited being intentional as a cultural aspect including how the company recruits, actively diversifying their procurement streams, and intentionally focusing on local business.

“People need to see you’re a part of the community,” he noted.

Since the SoFi Stadium build, and the creation of the retail district in the area which now includes the American Airlines Plaza, the projects have been able to draw in more than $850 million in diversity spend. Witt noted that they’ve been able to provide $120 million in wages to the community of South Los Angeles and another $40 million in wages to Inglewood residents working in construction right now in their own backyard.

Toller cited a similar theme: intentionality. Toller has worked with Netflix and Amazon Studios and noted that one of the prominent developments for Netflix near Burbank was key in increasing the company’s diversity of suppliers.

“First, you have to know if this is something you genuinely believe in or if it’s checking off a box as an edict from your corporate office,” Toller said.

It was important to him that they approach their procurement process for this project with a diverse lens in mind from the beginning, starting with their construction personnel interview process.

“50% of the project ended up being diverse. But that wasn't enough for me. I'm a pretty competitive person. So I said, ‘What else can we do?’ We have an industry that's getting older and grayer and not necessarily feeling as well as we could.”

The team partnered with LA Trade Tech, coordinated trade interns, and had them follow the project from day one to delivery. Down to catering, Toller’s team wanted to ensure diverse suppliers and hired a minority-owned restaurant for catering.

“What I’ve realized is one, if you're with a large firm and use your bully pulpit, you have something and two, if you're not one of the larger firms, you can still share your passion. Because passion is contagious, and people will go along with you. We never set a goal. We never told someone what percentage of diverse suppliers we wanted. We just said let’s go do it, not just talk about it.”

"That intentional aspect is key," added Ehman, the moderator. “The report card speaks for itself.”

When it comes to adding or increasing diverse suppliers to their process, panelists encouraged consistent and fair manners in their practices, leaving egos at the door, thinking about related partners in your programming, workforce training, not being afraid of what you don’t know, and pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zones.

Campus Trends in Higher Education

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 18:29:10 GMT

How can today's campuses engage and support students, attract faculty and make these institutions work financially as they expand their building footprints?

Those who attended The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) hosted a panel discussion on February 21, 2023, titled "Campus Trends in Higher Education" and got an insider's look at various campuses' perspectives.

Deborah Wylie, Master Planning Director with Cordoba Corporation at BUILD LACCD, moderated the discussion. Panelists included Jay Bond, Senior Consultant at Brailsford and Dunlavey; Sarab D. Singh, CCM, PMP, CEFP, Associate Vice President, Capital Programs & Facilities Management at Cal State Fullerton; Lauren Friedman, Executive Director, Design & Construction, University of California, Office of the President; and Matthew Bibbens, Vice President of Campus Planning and Capital Projects, and Special Counsel at Claremont McKenna College.

Key Trends

Campuses, like businesses, have seen a lot of changes since the pandemic and are making shifts, including in classroom technology, sustainability efforts, outdoor space, and even the use of office or shared workspaces for faculty as some campuses are coming back full time and others are still hybrid.

State Budgets, Infrastructure and Campus Populations

State budgets dictate what projects progress and at what rate as campuses increase their footprint and enrollment.

"We have expanded to 10 campuses across the state with medical facilities and three research facilities, including our agriculture natural resources, which has a presence throughout the state. We now have over 227,000 faculty and staff and 280,000 students and are the third largest employer in California. One of our biggest drivers is an agreement with the state of California with the governor and the legislature to increase our enrollment by 23,000 students by 2030. You can see that that will have great impacts on the work that we do and the facilities that we need to provide. It goes everywhere from housing to educational buildings to support buildings and student spaces," said Friedman.

Sharing this sentiment, Bibbens pointed out that the increased need for student support space to create a sense of belonging on campus is critical, in addition to addressing student housing needs.

"We're a residential college, and we had to assess how students would react to COVID and post-COVID transition; it's been fascinating. There's a huge desire from our students to be back on campus in our market. From what Lauren mentioned, this whole process has reinforced the value of the on-campus experience."

Design Developments

The campus of the future is changing. The panelists cited everything from constructing a new sports bowl, surgery center, and aquatics center to using panelized systems and mass timber.

"It's great to see that college campus buildings are evolving to meet the needs of their student community. We've had good luck with dimensional analysis systems, which we've been looking into for a while. So many things can really help us with our sustainability efforts. We are interested in researching mass timber based on a project at Berkeley," said Friedman.

Connections

No matter the infrastructure or design developments utilized, at the heart of it, Wylie brought the conversation full circle and pointed out the actual point of the campus: connection.

"You can learn on a computer but can't get to know someone without going to school with them. It's these connections that you make. It's burning popcorn in your dorm room together. Only seeing people on a screen affects your ability to be as creative, inventive, and collaborative."

Economic Outlook 2023: Commercial Real Estate

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 18:19:32 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) is an organization that brings together a community of leaders to discuss the latest trends, strategies and projects in the real estate industry. The organization hosted a discussion on Jan. 26, 2023, to analyze the economy of California and provide an outlook on the current climate of development and construction opportunities across the U.S.

The two presenters were Nathan Adkins, senior economist of CBRE, and Brad Ross, managing director and head of originations of Parkview Financial.

Commercial Real Estate Market Forecast

Key findings from Adkins’ presentation included:

- Industrial: The industrial market within fast-growing cities is predicted to remain strong. E-commerce bolsters the industrial market demand as well, through an increase in online purchases by consumers.

- Office: Class A office spaces are popular in the U.S. as people begin returning to the office following the COVID-19 pandemic.

- Retail: Retail centers’ performances are expected to accelerate beyond pre-pandemic levels. Also, well-located retail centers are expected to benefit from steady disposable income growth. Consumers will likely continue to buy more food, which benefits leisure-oriented retail centers.

- Multifamily: There is a persistent shortage of multifamily housing across Southern California and those renting will likely live in cities longer.

- Labor market: The labor market is experiencing increased costs as wages go up, forcing companies to raise prices on goods and services that consumers purchase. To afford the cost of living, employees request even higher wages from their employers. For the construction industry in particular, while labor costs do remain high, costs may go down as higher interest rates will impact employment.

- Inflation: Major contributors to overall inflation, such as gasoline and used car prices, have slowed considerably in recent months, helping to decrease year-over-year consumer price index (CPI) growth. While inflation is high, it is predicted to come down to about 3% by the end of the year.

Inflation Impact on Borrowers and Lenders

Brad Ross of Parkview Financial analyzed the current inflation effect on commercial real estate.

Ross explained that stagnation of interest rates has occurred. On the borrower's end, the ratio between the cost of a property is a higher yield than the overall value expectancy within a quarterly-annual yield rate. This brings a huge gap in loan cost expectancy that national banks can no longer adhere to. On the buyer's side, private equity companies have been able to compensate for loan equity costs that central banks are financially unequipped to supply. Additionally, the private funds increase the cap yield on interest rates but package each loan within a securitized CMBS bond.

Additionally, the offset of loan-to-cost (LTC) to loan-to-value (LTV) has created a forbearance, meaning that the agreement between the lender and the borrower will delay a foreclosure. Often a fourth-party joint venture equity partner has to step in and provide funding for the early stages of construction. This partnership is a result of rising interest rates and has had a direct result in driving up capital markets.

Real Estate Development with a Twist of Economic Uncertainty

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 19:08:42 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) is an organization that brings together a community of real estate leaders on the latest trends, strategies and projects, while also providing networking opportunities. The organization hosted a panel discussion on Nov. 7, 2022, to discuss the impact that current and forecasted economic fundamentals are having on real estate development.

Patrick Rhodes, Vice President of Development at Brookfield Properties, served as the moderator for panelists Alex Valente, Senior Vice President of Trammell Crow Company; Matt Howell, Senior Vice President of Lincoln Property Company; and Jim Andersen, Chief Development Officer of Chelsea Investment Corporation.

Underwriting and New Development Opportunities

The moderator opened the discussion by acknowledging the very real effects of COVID on capital market conditions. “There are plenty of things to be concerned about, but real estate developers remain highly optimistic,” said Rhodes.

In Los Angeles specifically, Alex Valente is confident in the market’s recovery. “We feel confident with the great sites, great market, great demographics and dynamics. Hopefully, we can overcome the challenges we’re facing now in terms of how we underwrite deals for new development,” he said.

Valente also spoke to the power of rent growth in the market during turbulent times. “There will still be rent growth, perhaps not as much as there has been year over year. As a result, everyone’s working to underwrite great growth to help companies, as well as make the deals make sense for us financially.”

The Future of Office

Howell spoke about the existing use and future development opportunities in the office market.

“We expected many tenants to slow down their operations, but many of them have reconfigured their businesses and how they will use their office space,” he said. Howell also explained that many companies are also focused on reducing their carbon footprint and subsequently, their square-footage while not terminating their leases outright.

“In terms of future builds, we’re looking at builds that accommodate online sciences, other R&D-type stations and content creation,” he said. “We’re witnessing the evolution of what the office is going to look like and how we will use it moving forward. I think there’s going to be a tremendous demand for this tenant group.”

Affordable Housing

Jim Andersen spoke to how the business surrounding affordable housing is changing given the current economic climate.

“Probably 60 to 70% of renters in Los Angeles County that are on the edge of not being able to afford the place we live. These are people we see every day in our offices and our daily lives,” Andersen said. He went on to explain that most California cities had an adequate supply of housing, the longtime pressure of high rents has allowed only the “highest possible cohort” to occupy this housing while excluding a significant number of people from access to safe and affordable housing. “Presently, the crisis is such that it was declared an emergency in Sacramento,” he said.

“Money is currently being steered towards the goal of alleviating homelessness. [Chelsea Investment Corporation] is currently building a project in Skid Row that will be 286 units. It’s taken seven years to get off the ground and we’re a year and a half into the project.”

In conclusion, though there has been some uncertainty in real estate development due to ongoing economic and structural changes, leaders believe that with strategy and resiliency, the market will rebound.

Media Tech & Studios: Meeting Tenant Needs Through Design, Amenities and Technology

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 23:19:53 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) is an organization that brings together a community of real estate leaders on the latest trends, strategies and projects, while also providing networking opportunities. The organization hosted a panel discussion on Oct. 18, 2022, to discuss the driving tenant lease demand for studio and entertainment real estate in Los Angeles in a post-pandemic world.

Trevor Shulters, a regional director for cost management with the Cumming Group, served as the moderator for panelists John Wiedner, principal of Gensler; David Malmuth, president of David Malmuth, LLC; Amy Pokawatana, vice president of development design for Hudson Pacific Properties, and Brooke Edwards, a director with Cushman & Wakefield.

Amenities for New or Renovated Movie and Television Studios

Amenities are crucial for effective studio spaces says Pokawatana at Hudson Pacific Properties. Her latest project in the U.K. includes a fitness center and a nursery which makes it easier for those who work at the studio lot that operates 24 hours a day.

“Being able to provide them with a place to eat, daycare services and other options is something that we are thinking long and hard about,” explains Pokawatana. “Our thought process is how to do as much as we can so that it is beneficial for all types of tenants.”

Wiedner with Gensler says developers and studio professionals are also looking outside the walls of the studios and focusing on the local neighborhood and what kind of projects can be supported.

Types of Studio Tenants

Edwards of Cushman & Wakefield is seeing an influx into the studio market because of streaming services. Tenants now range from Warner Bros., which has been in the industry for years, to Amazon Studios and Netflix which are trying to make their mark and pick up big pieces of space, she says.

Evolving Technology In Studio Spaces

Technology itself has changed dramatically in the last three years, which in turn impacts development, adds Wiedner. Evolutions to the studio business in film and TV production include LED walls, and there is also a big push to provide an infrastructure that is flexible and sustainable.

“We are looking at sustainability as a big asset,” says Wiedner. “Recycling programs and electrification systems are all really important aspects.”

Traditional Soundstages

Pokawatana says lighting and acoustics are traditional assets of a soundstage while elevators, a secondary structural system or electrical needs for virtual uses are additional assets.

Malmuth of David Malmuth works on traditional soundstages that have been adapted to a new environment. For instance, he has adapted the Paramount soundstage by compressing the large space, which has been in use for over 100 years, into a much smaller space.

Advice for Industry Professionals

Malmuth says you have to create something in the market that delivers a superior user experience at a price that makes sense. “We are trying to match all of those capabilities together into something that is really extraordinary because that is how you will be successful."

In conclusion, studio and entertainment real estate need as many amenities as possible to serve a variety of clients. Technology and sustainability are also key to the evolution of the studio business.

Enabling Interdisciplinary Research to Drive Tomorrow’s Economy

Wed, 28 Sep 2022 00:08:40 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) is an organization that brings together a community of real estate leaders on the latest trends, strategies, projects and provides networking opportunities. The organization hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday, September 13, 2022, discussing how the increase in institutional, private, and commercial research has driven a highly competitive landscape that attracts the best talent, and how organizations are evaluating space and facilities, funding sources, and interdisciplinary opportunities to entice researchers that will drive innovation within the markets.

Shaun Stiles, Executive Director of Cushman & Wakefield, served as the moderator for panelists Coomy Kadribegovic, Senior Manager of Caltech; Talena Williamson, Project Controls Senior Manager of Amgen; and Brian Cooper, Director of Manufacturing, Tech Transfer of Takeda.

Attracting and Retaining Talent in the Current Economy

“We hire the best of the best and give them labs, spaces, and the tools they want and need to do what they do best,” said Coomy Kadribegovic, Senior Manager at Caltech. “We are learning that these researchers are very community-oriented and want to know how their spaces function in terms of their students, who they interact with, and they also want to be surrounded by other distinguished scientists.”

The California Institute of Technology, Caltech, is a private research university in Pasadena that attracts world-renowned talent from all over the world.

Talena Williamson, Senior Manager at Amgen, says in terms of retaining talent, it’s important for companies to realize it’s not always about the job, but the career.

“It’s all about the culture and what makes you want to come to work every day,” says Williamson. “At Amgen, they really offer a sense of community and purpose of doing something better for the world.”

The Shifting Economy and Challenges it Brings

A common question asked among industry experts amidst the pandemic is how do we efficiently optimize the spaces we operate in.

“It’s not about revamping lab spaces anymore, but transforming older spaces to fit the needs of the future,” explains Williamson.

Brian Cooper, Director of Manufacturing at Takeda, says a huge change he has noticed since the pandemic is the process of building capital projects and corporate managers are more open to carrying costs.

“When they fund a capital project, they basically expect us to issue POs for the entire project as soon as we get funding,” explained Cooper. “We’d much rather have the materials sitting on the dock ready to go, rather than holding up a project because we are waiting for a shipment to come in.”

Due to the state of today’s supply chain, companies are strategically planning much further in advance to ensure materials are arriving ahead of time to make sure capital projects stay on their designated timeline.

Sustainability Efforts

Kadribegovic says Caltech has started a sustainability program where the sustainability manager hands out plaques to professors they work with during the design process. It is a small effort to get the occupants excited about sustainability in operations.

“It’s real basic stuff like turning off the lights, unplugging equipment when not in use, etc.” explains Kadribegovic. “But I think it will go a long way in starting conversations about sustainability and what that looks like.”

Digital and Automation Demand

The shift to remote work awoke a technological demand among consumers. Wi-Fi and laptops are now critical for the workforce.

“There is definitely a stronger appetite for more digital and remote work,” says Williamson. “It is more enticing to new talent when you have top-level technology and equipment that can push your company to the forefront.”

Correspondingly, Cooper says he’s noticed there is a much higher expectation among design engineers than it was just two years ago.

As the world, the economy, and the industries we work in constantly shift to adapt to the current trends, it is no secret that digital and flexible work will persist. Luckily, in terms of hiring and retaining talent, offering flexible, remote and digital work will continue to prove to be a huge advantage in attracting the best talent and expanding the talent pool which we all pull from.

Demystifying the Metaverse

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 22:06:46 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) is an organization that brings together a community of real estate leaders on the latest trends, strategies, projects and provides networking opportunities. The organization hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, discussing what the metaverse means to the architecture, design, engineering, and construction industries; how it influences the built environment; and how these industries are implementing the virtual world.  

Matt Stern, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Mira, served as the moderator for panelists Marcela Oliva, Architecture and Environmental Design Professor at LA Trade Tech; Jake Black, Co-Founder of Glossi; GuvencOzel, Founder of Ozel Office; and Kathleen Cohen, XR Immersive Strategist at The Collaboratorium.  

Understanding the Metaverse 

According to WIRED Magazine, the term metaverse doesn't really refer to any one specific type of technology, but rather a broad, and often speculative, shift in how we interact with technology.  

“The metaverse can include virtual reality characterized by persistent virtual worlds that continue to exist even when you're not playing—as well as augmented reality that combines aspects of the digital and physical worlds. However, it doesn't require that those spaces be exclusively accessed via virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR).” 

Kathleen Cohen, an XR Immersive Strategist at The Collaboratorium, explains the metaverse in three categories: worlds and environments, people and avatars, and the economy and markets we all play in.  

“It is not a single company creating the metaverse or a single device, but rather a large collaboration and convergence of several technologies,” explains Matt Stern, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Mira. “Together, these technologies create an immersive, 3-dimensional environment where users can interact with their surroundings as if they were in a shared space.”

The Extended Reality Space Explained

Augmented reality (AR) is the integration of digital information with the user's environment in real-time. Unlike virtual reality (VR), which creates a totally artificial environment, AR users experience a real-world environment with generated perceptual information overlaid on top of it. 

“It’s all about synchronizing information between the physical world and the virtual world,” says Guvenc Ozel, Founder of Ozel Office. “Previously branded as ‘cyberspace’, we all know this as a space where we all interact with each other through information technologies or some kind of technological interface.”  

Ozel believes a lot of these interfaces are very primitive and suggests a reason many people struggle with anxiety after spending too much time on their phone or staring at a screen for too long is because those environments are not very suitable for natural human communication.  

“When these environments become more spatial, they will be more occupiable by humans,” says Ozel.  

Seamlessly Blending Worlds: Digital Twinning Explained

A digital twin is a real-time virtual representation of a real-world physical system or process that serves as the indistinguishable digital counterpart of it for practical purposes, such as system simulation, integration, testing, monitoring, and maintenance.

“I think one of the long-term goals is to seamlessly dip in and out of a virtual space to real space,” says Jake Black, Co-Founder of Glossi. “By constructing digital twins of our environments and the places and buildings within them, we can do that.”

Black suggests there are two ways to look at digital twinning: one is in a professional context of how it can improve our lives from the standpoint of engineers, architects, developers, construction workers, etc., but two, how we can enhance the lives of consumers in the long-term.

Implementing the Virtual World into the AEC Industry

There is a very simple definition for the metaverse used by architects, engineers, developers, and construction workers – the devolution of space. Worldbuilding in the metaverse is synonymous with the built environment as explained by industry experts.  

“There are about 450 technologies that are going to make this ecosystem,” says Marcela Oliva, Architecture and Environmental Design Professor at LA Trade Tech. “Interoperability is the biggest breakthrough right now. We are beginning to talk to each other for the very first time in architectural engineering about moving into the gaming engine and seamlessly blending all of these worlds together.” 

Oliva believes the innovation of these technologies introduces a unique opportunity to achieve social equity and is excited to see the industry blossom into something that can be used for the good of all people.   

In conclusion, as virtual worlds and immersive online spaces continue to develop, we are enlightened with the ever-growing opportunity to enhance and share our lives, work, leisure activities, travel, and wealth in ways never before experienced. Buckle up, the ride only gets more advanced as time goes on.  

Healthcare Strategies Leading the Twenties- A Shift in Capital Priorities

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 15:39:47 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) hosted a panel discussion on healthcare strategies and shifts in capital priorities on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. Moderated by Sean Collins, Executive Director of Facilities, Planning, Design, and Construction (FPD&C) at Cedars Sinai, the discussion panelists included Eric Brown, Director of Construction for Sharp HealthCare; Sophia Lee, Associate Administrator for Keck Medicine of USC; Randy Leopold, Sr. Director of Healthcare Architecture for UC San Diego; Alicia Ramos, Senior Project Manager for Los Angeles County Public Works; and Stephen Scott, Director of Capital Projects and Facility Operations for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS).

SCDF is an association of professionals in the real estate industry, founded to provide professionals with a venue to network with other colleagues across the Southern California region.

Pressing Issues in Healthcare Development

As healthcare leaders navigate an ever-changing economy, growing population and shifting healthcare needs, the healthcare delivery systems are also constantly evolving, which directly affects the way healthcare facilities are developed. With the upcoming seismic deadline and increasing demands in care in the communities, top healthcare institutions are not showing any signs of deceleration in their capital projects.

“The demand for appropriate bed space is a critical issue we are facing right now,” said Alicia Ramos. “We’re navigating how to address these conditions, but also maintain cost-effective strategies.”

Panelists also cited factors such as rising construction costs as an obstacle in developing adequate healthcare centers that address current needs while also accounting for futureproofing. “We have to be strategic in our future planning,” said Leopold. “Will this facility be in line with the needs of healthcare in ten years?”

When it comes to forecasting and managing projects, “We are adding contingency into our schedules to account for labor, materials, and plan check delays,” said Stephen Scott.

Environmental Impacts and Sustainability Efforts in Healthcare

Health outcomes and the environment are inextricably linked. Environmental factors such as wildfires, smog and smoke –all of which are common occurrences in California--dramatically contribute to negative health outcomes, such as heat-related deaths and respiratory complications.

“There are three big things that I think are relative to construction and essential to healthcare construction,” said Ramos. “First, we must quantify spending when it comes to sustainability and environmental responses. Secondly, we must prioritize the need for a larger energy supply for central plants because energy sources are a huge component in development and an essential part of how we’re planning facilities and our approach to healthcare. Lastly, we must plan for the long-term and holistically: we have to assess needs not only from a patient standpoint but from a workforce standpoint as well. How do we take care of our own workforce and continue attracting the future workforce while maintaining a healthy environment?” Sustainability is top of mind for Keck Medicine of USC. “We will soon require all ground up construction to be LEED Platinum,” said Sophia Lee.

The Labor Market and Workplace Strategies

Labor shortages are forcing healthcare institutions to prioritize staff retention and staffing models. Meanwhile, unprecedented growth and faculty recruits are pushing healthcare institutions to be creative with space and maximize existing assets.

Additionally, healthcare workers endure significantly more stress than they did five years ago, creating additional challenges for healthcare companies to retain a full workforce in a post-COVID world. “It’s a challenge a lot of people just aren’t willing to endure,” Brown said, also citing the shift to remote work as a challenge in maintaining a fully-staffed workforce. Sophia Lee, on the other hand, noted that the shift towards hybrid work and the hoteling model has benefitted her organization by freeing up onsite space for other critical functions.

In summary, it is a very difficult climate to navigate, but healthcare leaders are working tirelessly to deliver care in a cost-effective way while meeting the needs of today and tomorrow’s society. Whether or not this current “crazy” becomes the new norm, we all need to remain nimble and smart about the way we operate our facilities, now more than ever.

What’s Developing on the Hospitality Development Front?

Fri, 13 May 2022 21:30:25 GMT

Malcolm Davies, Founder and Senior Managing Director of Way Capital, served as the moderator for panelists Doane Liu, Chief Tourism Officer for the City of Los Angeles; Jamie Cho, Director of Development for Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants; and Matt Bailly, Vice President of Real Estate for Prospera Hotels, Inc.

The Hospitality Industry is On the Rebound After COVID-19

The hospitality industry witnessed a significant disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, but all indications are that the hospitality industry will continue moving toward recovery in 2022 and beyond.

“The mayor of Los Angeles set a goal when he took office in 2013 to reach 50 million visitors by 2020, and we achieved that in 2018,” said Doane Liu, Chief Tourism Officer for the City of Los Angeles. “Following the disruption of the pandemic, the numbers we’re getting from the tourism board shows an increase in tourism and a positive upward trend. We’re hopeful by 2023 we will be back to pre-pandemic occupancy levels.”

Leisure Travel Makes a Swift Comeback

Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants have seen an influx of leisure travel, with more flexibility in travel plans than ever before. Cho believes this is a result of hybrid and remote work.

“Pre COVID, most travelers would check out on a Friday or Sunday, but what we’re seeing now is people leaving on a Wednesday or a Monday,” said Jamie Cho, Director of Development for Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants. “People are itching to travel again. I’ve even heard people calling it the year of revenge travel.”

Although people are traveling again, business travel is one area that has not seemed to pick up pre-pandemic paces. Liu says business travel has only rebounded about half of what it was in early 2019.

The Need for In-Person Meetings is Here to Stay

“I think the reality is, once we opened the doors and started having in-person meetings again, normalcy returned,” said Matt Bailly, Vice President of Real Estate for Prospera Hotels, Inc. “The need to do business face to face is not going to change.”

Bailley says his company uses Zoom to stay connected, but also makes it a priority to meet in person at least once a month. This, as a result, creates more travel and hotel demand.

“During the pandemic, we were all relying on Zoom, and it actually created more of a need for in-person meetings,” explained Cho. “Zoom can only take you so far.”

As the world emerges from the pandemic, one thing remains the same, the need for human connection. Although the way we do business, where we work, and how we travel might change, there will always be a demand for face-to-face interactions in our professional and personal lives. The hospitality industry is the medium that supports this, and will only continue to progress forward as we push towards the return to normalcy again.

Flying Into Our Sustainable Future: How New Technology and the Infrastructure Bill are Shaping the Aviation Industry

Fri, 22 Apr 2022 19:57:33 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) is an organization that brings together a community of real estate leaders on the latest trends, strategies, projects and provides networking opportunities. The organization hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, discussing how new technology and the infrastructure bill is helping advance the aviation industry and the challenges faced from the viewpoint of local airport authorities.

Ravi Singh, Director of the Los Angeles Region for Burns, served as the moderator for panelists Patrick Lammerding of Hollywood Burbank Airport, Michelle Brantley of Ontario International Airport, and Robert Schultz of the Los Angeles World Airports.

The Aviation Industry Looks Towards a More Sustainable Future

We are in an era of innovative technology and sustainability initiatives developing in the aviation industry, from electric aircraft to hydrogen fuel and new legislative funding. Correspondingly, airports and airlines are making significant efforts to decarbonize their operations and assets to pursue a more sustainable future.

“When it comes to impacting our environmental footprint, we see the biggest opportunity in our transportation system,” said Robert Shultz, Chief of Airport Planning for Los Angeles World Airports. “A few years ago, we developed a mobility planning unit and have really been focused on how we can embrace demand-based policies to optimize our operations.”

Emerging Technology in Southern California

As technology advances in Southern California, discussions around flying taxis, air shuttles and flying autonomous vehicles becoming very likely in the next decade, industry leaders are keeping a keen pulse on the advancing technology.

“We are definitely accounting for the future of transportation in our planning processes, but until it becomes commonly accessible and affordable to the public, it will be difficult to implement,” said Michelle Brantley, Chief Planning Officer for Ontario International Airport.

Challenges in Project Development

“We’re seeing a mass revival in travel, but it’s not sustainable to forecast that it will continue based on the last few years’ resurgences” said Patrick Lammerding, Deputy Executive Director of Planning & Development for Hollywood Burbank Airport. “The passenger statistics and revenue fluctuation make it particularly difficult to plan large projects.”

According to Uniting Aviation (ICAO), global passenger traffic recovered modestly in 2021, with the latest ICAO economic impact analysis of COVID-19 on civil aviation revealing that the number of passengers worldwide was 2.3 billion or 49 percent below pre-pandemic (2019) levels, up from the 60 percent drop seen in 2020.

Infrastructure Bill Propels the Aviation Industry Forward

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2021 will provide vital support for airports and advanced air mobility initiatives with $25 billion in new funding. This bill is one of the largest infrastructure plans in decades that will inject a total $550 billion in new spending for infrastructure in the U.S. to modernize the country’s transportation systems.

Brantley expressed excitement for the funding but fears the timing of it could push airports to send projects forward that work in the moment rather than analyzing if it’s the right for the future of the facility.

As the aviation industry navigates the delicate economy of today, airport authorities remain excited for the future and the new funding that will propel aviation forward into a more sustainable future.

Senate Bill 169 Funding Student Housing: A Commercial and Institutional Vantage Point

Tue, 08 Mar 2022 17:40:04 GMT

Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), an organization that brings together a community of real estate experts on the latest trends, strategies, projects and provides networking opportunities, hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, discussing Senate Bill 169 and the challenges universities and developers face to build affordable student housing.

Samuel Jung, Vice President of Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, served as the moderator for the panelists from The Michaels Organization, American Campus Communities, Riverside Community College District, California State University, and Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD).

SB 169 Funding Student Housing

Did you know about 400,000 community college students have experienced homelessness in the state of California? That is about the size of the city of Long Beach or Oakland, and larger than the city of Irvine and Santa Ana. This is an alarming issue that university leaders are working tirelessly to find solutions to with the support of the state legislature.

In September 2021, Governor Newsom signed SB 169, an education bill that would establish the Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program, to provide one-time grants for the construction of student housing or for the acquisition and renovation of commercial properties into student housing for the purpose of providing affordable, low-cost housing options for students enrolled in public postsecondary education in the state of California.

“SB 169 is a starting point and has brought more awareness to the issues and struggles students face, but it certainly is not the end solution,” said Raoul Amescua, Vice President of Development for The Michaels Organization.

“It’s a step in the right direction for immediate aid,” explains Jason Taylor, Vice President of Public Private Partnerships for American Campus Communities. “Affordable student housing drives students out of the off-campus market and can lower the pressure on the cost of rental housing in the area. Also, students tend to graduate quicker when they live in student housing.”

Challenges in Building Student Housing

One of the challenges in building student housing is balancing the support that the housing needs, but keeping it cost efficient and affordable.

“Student housing needs specific amenities such as dining and study spaces but how do we make housing fit the needs of the students, but still be a Buick instead of a Mercedes,” said Paul Gannoe, Chief of Planning and Design for California State University.

Homeless and Housing Insecurity

“It’s important as a district to look at the housing problem and also the insecurity, because being homeless needs immediate attention, but housing insecurity also needs to be addressed,” said Dr. Rueben Smith, Vice Chancellor & Chief Facilities Executive for Los Angeles Community College District. “Once we separate the two, we can provide an immediate impact as well as plans to move forward.”

In summary, SB 169 is moving in the right direction to provide urgent assistance to address student homelessness in the state of California but the challenge of building student housing is keeping it affordable.

2022 Economic Outlook: Where is the Built Environment Headed? Disruptions, Challenges & Opportunities

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 19:16:59 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), an organization that brings together a community of real estate leaders on the latest trends, strategies, projects and provides networking opportunities, hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, discussing where the built environment is headed in 2022.

Presented by Dave Gilmore, President and CEO of DesignIntelligence and Design Futures Council, offered a glimpse at what lies ahead in 2022 for the AEC industry amidst the global challenges we’ve been experiencing. He explored multiple asset classes of development, sharing those which will be most disrupted and may prove the most challenging. Leveraging his economic acumen and conversations with real estate leaders across the industry, Gilmore predicted a range of trends we can expect in 2022.

Trends to Expect in 2022: The Challenges

Slow Recovery

Slow recovery in the service sector is dampening growth and represents a downside risk to the U.S. economy.

Gilmore believes we will continue to see high inflation across all sectors as a result of supply chain issues and international geopolitical strains.

According to Lasse Sinikallas, an economic analyst from Fastmarkets RISI, in 2022, growth in all major regions is expected to slow as reality sets in after an initial post-COVID boost. National debt levels are high, supply-side and logistics issues persist in everything from microchips to US housing stock and inflation is rising. “In the next few months, we’ll be watching central banks closely to see whether or how they will intervene. Of course, we’ll be watching China’s economic indicators most keenly – any deviation from forecast there will have a ripple effect through the entire global economy.”

The Effects of International Geopolitical Strains

Gilmore notes it is important to be aware of rising tensions with China and several other countries.

“If there is any type of military clash, it will send signals globally that will suppress investment for a period of time,” states Gilmore. “Another major concern is cyber security.”

Cybersecurity Risks

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Australian Cybersecurity Center, and the UK’s National Cybersecurity Center have warned that hackers associated with the government of Iran are targeting transportation, healthcare, and public health sectors.

Trends to Expect in 2022: The Opportunities

The largest funds that go into the built environment are from pension funds, insurance dollars, and private equity.

The industries most poised for success in 2022 include: property technology, healthcare, hospitality and retail.

Property Technology

The property technology sector is believed to be the next trillion-dollar industry as it grows to be a point of necessity.

“We’ve been limited in property technology and we think that production will accelerate in the upcoming years,” said Gilmore. “It is far more than managing a building’s cooling or lighting system. If it’s deployed correctly, it will allow the building to have its own network and nervous system. Though, property technology opens a wider landscape for cybersecurity problems we need to keep in mind.”

Healthcare

“The healthcare industry is on its way back up, but is not believed to pass pre-pandemic levels,” said Gilmore. “So many of our healthcare institutions were damaged in the last few years that their credit score rating has dropped, making them a higher-risk target for investment. On the other hand, we are seeing a lot of capital being moved throughout that sector.”

Hospitality

As Americans are learning to live with the pandemic and emerging again, the hospitality industry has begun to rebound.

According to the Hospitality Global Market Report 2022, the global hospitality market is expected to grow from $3,952.87 billion in 2021 to $4,548.42 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.1 percent. This growth is due to the recovery after the closure of commercial activities as a result of the pandemic that resulted in operational challenges. The hospitality market growth is also on an upward swing as a result of the economic growth forecasted in both developed and developing countries, as well as hotels utilizing richer technologies to impact the customer experience, including automating processes for guests.

Retail

According to CBRE, many factors are impacting retail opportunities including the more efficient use of retail space with sales per square foot, record levels of venture capital targeting retail-focused companies, and consumer spending, predicted to rise in 2022 with a build-up of savings during the pandemic, and more inbound international travel in tourism-heavy markets.

Baby Boomers and New Construction

Another interesting transformation Gilmore noted that is pretty significant is the amount of funding being placed into senior living with over 70 billion private equity dollars that have been invested over the last couple years.

“Baby Boomers, the wealthiest demographic, are wanting to see new constructs and expressions of what senior living looks like,” said Gilmore. “I believe senior living will move to private economy versus public economy.”

There are a lot of challenges and opportunities. One thing is for sure: the built environment will continue to play a key role in all aspects of our life as it impacts every area of how we live, work, and play.

Successes and Pitfalls in New Housing Development

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 21:38:31 GMT

Bradley Cox, senior managing director for Trammell Crow Company (TCC), a commercial real estate development and investment company, served as the moderator for panelists from Hines, Mercy Housing and Watt Investment Partners.

Addressing Southern California’s Housing Crisis

There is a broad consensus that new housing is a key part of addressing rising rental rates and home prices. With the economy on the rebound from a pandemic-fueled setback, apartment vacancies remain low and new construction housing is no match for the demand. 

Jennifer McElyea, a senior managing partner for Watt Investment Partners, proposes that more inclusionary housing will be required in the future, and learning the ins and outs of affordable housing processes will give you a competitive advantage.

“Tax credit rules and funding sources change every year,” said McElyea. “When you pivot from something that’s predominantly market rate to predominantly affordable, your capital plan and return on investment changes.”

Construction Processes in Building Modular Housing

Ed Holder and his team are supporting Mercy Housing’s commitment to modular housing with several projects including two in San Francisco.

“Both are supportive housing sites that were funded by the city,” said Holder. “We really learned a lot from the builders, teams, and partners that allowed us to transmit new knowledge from San Francisco to the city of Los Angeles. It’s not fully implemented yet, but at least at a director level, people can resemble a trend.”

Holder continues on to express that in progressing housing initiatives, it’s really about changing the system, then laying down the groundwork and providing a pipeline for future developers to follow in repetition.

Moving Affordable Housing Projects Through the City of Los Angeles

There aren’t many avenues for the allocation of private capital in the production of affordable housing, thus making it a very difficult and tedious process to complete.

“The challenge is getting your income high enough to make the numbers and getting your return on the investment for private capital,” said McElyea.

Watt Investment Partners has been buying properties in the San Fernando Valley and other parts of Los Angeles and using them as candidates for affordable housing. McElyea believes there still needs to be new builds, but there’s also an abundance of opportunity to convert existing market stock at very low costs.

“We need predictability at a state level,” states Holder. “If we could get reoccurring state sourcing with certainty, we can start planning development projects with certainty.”

Holder believes having reliable state sources significantly expedites the process of affordable housing development to help people get off of the streets.

In summary, entitlement processes, tax rules, state regulations, and funding sources are consistent obstacles faced by developers. In order for industry-leaders to continue to combat Southern California’s housing crisis, innovative processes and strategic capital plans will have to evolve with the continuous changes of California’s rules and regulations.

Life Sciences 2021: Growth of the Life Science Market

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 17:08:20 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), an organization that provides networking opportunities for those in the real estate community, hosted a panel discussion on October 12, 2021, about the growth in the life science market sector. The panel provided an owner’s perspective of what is valued during the growth period as well as the implications on facilities location and design to accommodate the new technologies.

Kevin Klein, a life science specialist with over 20 years of experience who recently led Global Front End project and portfolio planning at Amgen, served as the moderator for panelists from Kite Pharma (A Gilead company), Amgen, Takeda and AbbVie.

Growth in the Life Science Market Sector in Southern California

While the COVID pandemic has created challenges, it has also reinforced the importance of the life science market sector. Growth in the sector is being driven by the introduction of new technologies such as cell and gene therapies and increased global demand.

“Takeda has a large molecule and cell therapy business where we are looking for treatments for rare diseases around the world,” said Brian Cooper, director of new product introductions at Takeda. “We also do a lot of gene therapy for our oncology group.”

As explained by Cooper, cell therapy is introducing cells into an area to treat a modality. Gene therapy is the process of extracting the material and modifying the genetic component using the gene backbone to develop a therapeutic treatment or grow cells with that modified genetic material.

“COVID has really accelerated the life science industry and everyone has been scrambling to increase capacity so that they can ensure product supply,” said David Steinberg, Director Facilities at AbbVie.

Largely, the life science industry has proven to be resilient and ever-growing. Although COVID has restricted many things, lab work and facility support has continued and become a critical segment in the expansion of research in medicine.

Supply Chain Disruptions and Implications on Capital Projects

The disrupted supply chain has made it difficult to stay on schedule for projects and manufacturers. Materials that used to take six months to obtain are now taking 18-24 months.

“Contract manufacturing is where we are outsourcing to another company to do the work for us,” said Talena Williamson, senior manager of project controls, construction, and external supply at Amgen. “COVID has changed our approach to look more in our region for contract manufacturing because of the travel and supply disruptions across the different continents and countries.”

There has been a glass shortage and companies are getting pushed down the line for materials because they need glass for vials to store COVID vaccines.

“Subcontractors and contractors are doing their best to leverage their stance in the supply chain, but ultimately, the people making the vaccines will get the materials first and the rest of us just have to fight over the scraps,” said Cooper.

Unfortunately, a lot of large capital projects were negotiated before the pandemic began, so subcontractors and contractors are having a hard time meeting the performance clauses that were put in place prior. Many companies, as a result, are restructuring their physical assets based on the supply chain tightening.

Life Science Market Looks Ahead at Sustainability and Digital Design

The life science industry is growing in Los Angeles and a common denominator that has become prevalent among industry-leading companies is sustainability.

“Sustainability is really big with AbbVie,” said Steinberg. “We have large goals to reduce carbon emissions by 25% by 2025 and 42% by 2031.”

Many companies have adopted a sustainability component in their bidding criteria. According to Cooper, each project is evaluated on its impact on the site, as well as a competitor analysis on other bidders’ sustainability records.

“We are being asked to look forward as far as design in order to reduce our carbon footprint and the amount of labor that goes into the work,” said Cooper.

Cooper explains an example of this reduction looks like a tradeoff between a traditional warehouse with forklift drivers to a robotic warehouse. You can fit the same amount of storage in a quarter of the space and retrieve it in a quarter of the speed.

Fluidity in Office Spaces

There has been a lot of discussions among companies on the right time to return to the office. Williamson says there are substantial shifts happening from pre-COVID to post-COVID.

“COVID has forced a lot of industries to rethink what is really required from an office space and in-person perspective,” stated Williamson. “I think we’re moving towards an increase in larger collaborative spaces with a more virtual approach.”

Many propose companies will migrate away from cubicle setups to larger collaborative areas and the majority of the work will be done from home. The office space will be used for gatherings to network and collaborate among teams.

In summary, flexibility, speed and agility are critical for companies in the life science industry. Those who have jumped on being more fluid in their approach to design and thought processes during the last few years are doing very well in the industry and will continue to propel the future of research and medicine.

Healthcare 2021: Future Post Pandemic Capital Strategies

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 16:49:33 GMT

Alicia Wachtel, executive director, facilities planning, design and construction at Cedars-Sinai, a nonprofit and multispecialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California, served as the moderator for panelists from Kaiser Permanente and Providence.

Partnerships are Paving the Way for Healthcare Capital Strategies

“It’s very valuable to have various contacts in the industry guiding us in forming strategies and implementing them in the early stages of development,” said Suzanne Schwab, land use and planning director, real estate strategy and director of operations for Providence.

Providence and Kaiser Permanente have joined forces to expand their reach of care and encourage the ongoing development of healthcare in Southern California; the goal is to create a robust health platform by leveraging the strengths of each institution.

“The partnership we have with Providence is one that addresses urgent community needs,” said Joseph Stasney, national director hospital center of excellence – program delivery for Kaiser Permanente. “The high desert is underserved. As we both face similar challenges, it made absolute sense for the two organizations to partner together.”

The Future of the Healthcare Built Environment

“Healthcare systems have had pandemic plans in place for many years but have had to course-correct,” said Wachtel. “Part of the course correction is closely monitoring the market changes that can affect capital strategies for large developments.”

Cedar-Sinai had plans to start construction on a larger replacement hospital in Marina del Rey, but with an uncertain market, have postponed the expansion project.

“On the outpatient side, we paused a considerable number of our medical office building developments for Kaiser Permanente,” said Stasney. “As everyone, we did a lot of rethinking on outpatient care as we experienced a large volume increase in video visits.”

Transform model of care is what Cedar-Sinai calls their outpatient clinics’ collaborative spaces. When the pandemic started, they stopped utilizing those spaces and had to make substantial adjustments in how they see and move patients through the system.

“We developed virtual waiting,” said Wachtel. “We would have patients waiting in their cars and when it was their turn, take them to their room immediately.”

These changes have brought forth conversations on eliminating collaborative spaces and common areas and utilizing video visits exclusively for outpatient care.

Utilizing Unused Space for Workforce Housing

Schwab stated Providence is working on a new initiative with their real estate department on tackling workforce housing. Instead of a sign-on bonus, you might get a special rate on an apartment subsidized through Providence. The institution is working with the development community on how they can develop vacant spaces for Providence employees.

“Home and Community Care, an extension of Providence, provides supportive housing and one thing we’ve seen come out of the pandemic is a dire need for workforce housing,” said Schwab. “Caregivers cannot afford their rents and that has been exacerbated by the pandemic over the last 18 months.”

Construction Delays and Design Changes in Healthcare

With supply, material and cost chains fluctuating, it has been difficult to acquire materials for capital projects.

“You can lock in a price for a material and the supplier will honor your $10.00 offer for a widget, but someone else will offer $15.00 and move ahead of you in the sequence,” said Stasney. “Rearranging to address the challenges that are constantly changing is like a game of chess. We make one move, the suppliers make another move, the market changes, and you have to think outside of the box on how to deal with the challenges you have in front of you.”

Many discussions have taken place concerning design in healthcare spaces to be better equipped for the pandemic. Cedar-Sinai did a study on how they plan and design future buildings to analyze and identify strategies for improvement.

“I think an important point here is we want to be able to serve all patients,” said Wachtel. “So how do we take care of highly contagious patients without compromising our other patients.”

Kaiser Permanente has introduced a national design standards council to review the dialogue between clinicians and facility workers to try and put forth an official guideline. Stasney says it is an active dialogue that will continue to be evaluated.

In summary, collaborative relationships between organizations and employees have played a fundamental role in advancing healthcare platforms and capital strategies during a global pandemic.

Return to Campus and Beyond

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 17:38:28 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), an organization that provides networking opportunities for those in the real estate community, hosted a panel discussion on June 8, 2021, about how colleges and universities will effectively return to campus this fall through the lens of the built environment. The informative session discussed lessons learned from the pandemic, distance learning, bringing back the collegiate experience, and the impact of revenue and enrollment on planning and building sequencing.

Hakim Chambers, deputy program director for the Los Angeles City College District (LACCD), a billion-dollar Capital Improvement Program, served as the moderator for panelists from Cal State Long Beach, UCLA, UC Berkley, Stanford and USC.

Lessons Learned from the Pandemic

“The pandemic has forced us to look at our behaviors and how we operate, to really reflect on how we have been doing things so far and how we can improve them. Working from home and video conferencing has allowed us to connect with one another, but we’re still missing that one connection, the human connection,” said Hakim Chambers, deputy program director at LACCD.

Chambers amplifies how important it is for student development in education to experience in-person education and the impact it has on their college experience.

Students Returning to On-Campus Learning Fall of 2021

“We’re working closely with LA County Public Health to identify what that means when we come back in the fall; our plan is to come back at 80% in-person classes,” said Peter Hendrickson, associate vice chancellor at UCLA.

UCLA is preparing to reopen outdoor activity areas, recreation programs, and planning for a somewhat normal fall quarter. UC Berkley will be in-person this fall, similar to UCLA, but classes with over 200 students will be remote.

New learning models developed during the pandemic will be more flexible and inclusive. With hybrid models becoming more common, many businesses and schools are experimenting with different structures. UCLA is exploring the option of outdoor learning attributed to what was introduced as the “healthy campus initiative.”

As the COVID infection rate decreases and mandates come to an end, university leaders are working diligently to acclimate staff and students to new learning models, local data and regulations. A lot of experimentation is anticipated to see what works and what doesn’t as staff and students navigate unprecedented times.

Bringing Back the Collegiate Experience

“Students have felt disengaged,” said Monica Makutano, associate director of design and construction at California State University Long Beach. Student and faculty focus groups were conducted and the feedback received showed students value the face-to-face interaction, but also enjoy having Zoom to offer more flexibility. Staff, however, expressed they felt they were more effective working from home.

“It is kind of a big question. There are still a lot of unknowns, but we are headed to a positive place. We are grateful to have those focus groups to try and get back to what the future looks like,” said Makutano.

The Impact of Revenue and Enrollment on Planning and Building Sequencing

Housing and hospitality services were significantly impacted with limited numbers on campus using services during the pandemic. Hendrickson believes it will take four years to recover from the effects.

“We have about 15,000 beds on campus and at the height of the pandemic we only had around 750 students on campus,” stated Hendrickson.

USC, which lost several beds due to building closures was intending to break ground January 2020 on a new building in USC Village that has been put on hold for various reasons.

“We actually have had to lease space and add an offsite location that is not part of USC housing to accommodate the number of students we have joining us in the fall, specifically the freshman class that is about 200 over what we normally accept,” said Barbara Sladeck, assistant vice president at USC Auxiliary Services.

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly created many challenges for higher education institutions, and while university leaders are staying diligent and constantly evolving to the current issues, many suggest it will take years to come back from this crisis.

“We never go back; we are always moving forward. What is different this time around is we don’t exactly know what tomorrow is going to look like. To assume tomorrow is going to look like the last 15 months is a mistake, and to assume tomorrow is going to look exactly like yesterday is a mistake,” stated Niraj Dangoria, associate dean for office of facilities planning and management at Stanford School of Medicine.

Dangoria expressed how important a role colleges play in a student’s transition into adulthood, and how vital a robust dialogue is as they continue to serve students. The most important function university leaders provide is helping students transition into other phases of life, and it is a priority to help them navigate whatever path that may be, he said.

Los Angeles Soundstages in High Demand

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 16:51:05 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), an organization that provides networking opportunities for those in the real estate community, hosted a panel discussion in May 2021 about how Los Angeles’ television and movie production spaces not only have survived but have rebounded over the past 12 months and what this means for the future of the entertainment industry in the city of Angels.

Abbey Ehman, vice president at Lincoln Property Company, one of the largest and most diversified real estate firms in the United States, served as the moderator for panelists from RIOS, Hackman Capital Partners, JLL and VoyagerOne Studios/Virtual Production Occupier.

The Future of Soundstages Across Southern California

“Why did the studios all coincidentally migrate to this area? Within an hour's drive, you have pine tree-covered mountaintops, you have desert, you have beaches, you have every kind of set imaginable,” said Carl Muhlstein, international director at JLL.

Southern California will continue to be a prime location for soundstages echoed Bob Hale, a partner at RIOS. He believes content creation will remain centered in Los Angeles.

While the demand for soundstage space is at a peak, soundstage projects are a big commitment because it takes at least three to five years to get through the development process, said Hale. A California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review which is a law that requires California’s public agencies and local governments to measure the environmental impacts of development projects.

Typically, a soundstage is not built as a standalone product. Stages are usually 18,000 square-feet and one story.

The Transformation of Studio Space

Studios have undergone a substantial transformation, said Zach Sokoloff, vice president of asset management at Hackman Capital Partners. Before the pandemic, industry workers were seeing about 2.5 square-feet of production office and support space to every 1.0 square-foot of stage space. The ratio has been flipped on its head. Now it is more than 2.0 square-feet of production office and support space for every 1.0 square-foot of stage space. The space and cost requirements of the stages are so huge that studios are building in places where land is a bit cheaper.

“As tempting as it is to look at a warehouse and say, ‘Gosh, that could be a stage,’ there's really a lot more that goes into building a stage than simply putting up a concrete space,” said Sokoloff.

Virtual Production Is the Future

The Disney+ series, The Mandalorian, is a good example of how epic television and feature films are going to be made using virtual production, said Matt Hanna, founder at VoyagerOne Studios and Virtual Production Occupier. The program looks like it was shot around the world but in reality, the entire series was shot on a giant soundstage in Manhattan Beach in front of a giant LED wall, that tracked the movements of the actors who performed in front of the screen. The actors were able to see the environment being projected behind them.

Hanna added that his group just closed its first round of financing to build out a pilot facility in Burbank. The group hopes to book and build it out quickly and expand to more facilities in Los Angeles and other viable production hubs, both domestically and internationally.

“We plan to be in the virtual production services business and hope to find not only clients like Netflix and Disney, but also commercial production like music video production,” said Hanna. “We are going to be a content studio that is actively developing intellectual property utilizing the virtual production capabilities that we're building,” said Hanna.

His team is also planning to build an asset library, a digital catalog of the environments available to be put on the screen.

Get Involved in The Industry

Muhlstein suggested that professionals in the industry get involved in their local communities by writing a letter of support or perhaps helping the homeless. The Hollywood Chamber hosts a Homelessness Summit to have educated conversations on how to end the crisis of homelessness in Hollywood.

“I don't care if you're a renter, owner, Democrat or Republican, I think the tide is turning that we really need to do something about California’s homelessness crisis,” stated Muhlstein.

In summary, the entertainment industry will stay in Southern California and virtual production will be more common as the industry adjusts to coronavirus prevention practices.

Density in the West

Mon, 03 May 2021 22:12:48 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), an organization that provides networking opportunities for those in the real estate community, hosted a panel discussion about what makes a successful dense district, how density affects unhoused residents, and the different strategies private developers and public agencies are looking towards such as the Density Bonus Ordinance.

Greg Ames, managing director at Trammell Crow Company, one of the nation’s leading developers and investors in commercial real estate, served as moderator for panelists from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Los Angeles Chapter, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Agency, City of Long Beach Development Services Department and MacFarlane Partners. Ames began the conversation by introducing speaker Wells Lawson from LA Metro.

Density in Transit-Oriented Communities

Lawson, senior director of joint development for LA Metro, said density is about figuring out the best use of public land and going forward with joint development projects.

“Part of our joint development project is actually branding the station areas around the metro stations to make them feel attractive and identifiable, and to create places that people can celebrate,” said Lawson.

The project also calls for trying to effectively extract a variety of transportation benefits such as rebuilding portals and bike lanes. As density becomes the primary goal of transit-oriented communities, Lawson explained LA Metro’s vision for the program.

“We see these sites as gateways. We want to demonstrate and push the envelope where we can show what could be developed near transit. We are right now taking a broader look at what we’re doing,” Lawson said.

Density in Long Beach

Christopher Ira Koontz, deputy director of the development services department of the City of Long Beach, spoke about density in Long Beach and how ongoing and future projects address affordable housing.

“Density, that works, has a mix of unit sizes and a mix of affordability. In Long Beach, we are trying to add density in a lot of places, not just downtown, to address affordability and overcrowding,” said Koontz.

Many affordable projects are underway such as one next to the Metro A line in Long Beach. Koontz said that this project can deliver density even though it is not a particularly tall building, with only three to five-story elements. This allows the project to avoid some costs that would have been associated with different building typologies.

Ultra Density in Downtown LA

Kevin M. Roberts, senior vice president of MacFarlane Partners, spoke about plans to add ultra density with high-rise housing and hospitality in a downtown setting.

“The goal is to anchor what is already a growing and emerging walkable neighborhood, which many people might not think about right now. This includes the Grand Avenue cultural spine from Disney Hall to MOCA and offices on that spine, including our building, which will be a plaza leading into a wonderful Metro site connected to the rest of LA,” said Roberts.

The addition of high-rise housing will cater to a niche of luxury- to ultra-luxury operators.

Homelessness

Wade Killefer, president of the American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles Chapter, said that the first step to approach the problem of housing and homelessness will be to stabilize those on the streets by bringing them into shelters.

“There they can get clean, get fed, get properly diagnosed and get on the list for permanent supportive housing. We’ve been working on two shoulders for the county; West Athens adjacent to the 105 freeway at Normandy, and the other on a parking lot at the West LA Armory,” said Killefer.

The West Athens location, called Safe Landing, will serve about 3,100 individuals per year. It is made up of five metal butler buildings, including a dining hall and admin, clinic and community buildings.

The second shoulder shelter in the Armory will have the units but with less clinic space. According to Killefer, the north and east walls that are joined by the National Guard campus will be 12-inch thick concrete blast walls.

In summary, proposed density in the West will benefit communities and create a better living environment for those in the area.

The Future of Aviation

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 16:28:16 GMT

Justin Towles, senior policy advisor at Akin Gump, a leading global law firm providing innovative legal services and business solutions to clients worldwide, served as moderator for panelists from Gevo, Los Angeles World Airports, Joby Aviation and Urban Mobility Labs. Towles began the conversation by asking what the future looks like for sustainability in aviation.

Sustainable Solutions for Jet Fuel

Patrick Gruber, chief executive officer and board member at Gevo Incorporated, said Gevo is a company with a focus on making sustainable aviation by utilizing renewable resource-based jet fuel with a net zero carbon emission.

“I think in the future in 2050, we’re going to see a mix of solutions. Which [primarily] is going to be hydrocarbon-based jet fuel, but you might see other applications of hydrogen or electricity happening in certain places where it makes economic sense,” said Gruber.

William Goodwin, deputy general counsel for policy and regulatory affairs at Joby Aviation, talked about how Joby Aviation is in the process of developing an eVTOL aircraft, an electric airplane that will be able to take off and land vertically. This would be the first vehicle of its kind to be a quiet and emissions free aircraft.

Airport Transportation

David Reich, deputy executive director of mobility planning and strategy at Los Angeles World Airports, shifted the conversation to explore the future of airport transportation, such as electrification for not just passengers but for employees as well.

“There’s been a revolution of mobility in the last decade, and a lot of that is affecting airports and will continue to affect it,” said Reich.

Reich spoke about plans for the future to improve the airport environment and relieve congestion in the central terminal area, also known as the horseshoe.

“Our $14 billion capital investment plan, which includes a $5.5 billion landside access program, will be the new automated people mover which will be on a fixed guideway. It will be autonomous and above all electric. This will increase HOV use by connecting to our metro system, “ said Reich.

Clint Harper, advanced air mobility integrator, urbanist and economic developer for Urban Mobility Labs, spoke about working on integration within the city of Los Angeles to improve the airport ecosystem.

“We have an opportunity to break down traditional transportation silos and lead the way through intermodal planning to create a balanced, sustainable and efficient mobility system,” said Harper.

Understanding Sustainability In a Business System

Gruber explored how sustainability functions by providing a transparent understanding on how greenhouse gas emissions are problematic and how the future of aviation will implement more renewable electricity.

Topping greenhouse gas emissions in the world at 73% is fossil-based energy such as electricity, natural gas for heating and production, etc; transportation is a contributing factor at 16%. All of these factors come into play in a business system.

“We are going to build our own renewable energy sources. A business like ours is going to make both hydrocarbons for jet fuel and we will use renewable energy along the way,” said Gruber.

In summary, the future of aviation looks promising for both airport transportation and aircrafts through the implementation of sustainable practices.

Prefabrication And Modular Construction

Tue, 06 Apr 2021 22:48:16 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), an organization that provides networking opportunities for those in the real estate community, hosted a panel discussion in February 2021 about the future of prefabrication and modular construction. Any component of a building that is manufactured in a factory before arrival and installation at a building site is prefabricated. Modular construction is a type of prefab construction but it involves an enclosed space like creating a room.

Ray Boff, national prefabrication strategy leader at DPR Construction, a commercial general contractor, served as the moderator for panelists from UC San Diego, RMOD a Relevant Group Company, HCA Healthcare and UC Davis. Boff began the conversation by asking why prefabrication and modular construction are important now.

Prefabrication and Modular Construction Gaining Momentum

Darren Seary, a vp of modular operation at RMOD said prefabrication and modular construction are a necessity right now because a 2019 report by McKinsey shows that California is going to need an additional 3.5 million housing units by 2025. Seary said the industry is looking at alternative means of construction to achieve that target.

Jim Carroll, associate vice chancellor and university architect at UC Davis, is facing some challenges to constructing the number of properties needed by 2025. He is concerned about prevailing wages since the projects are extremely expensive.

“You have to ask yourself, do we really have the trades to be able to build with the speed and consistency that we really need to get some of these units up fast,” said Caroll.

Eric Smith, associate vice chancellor in the capital program management of UC San Diego, is also worried about the need for student housing. The university could deliver housing faster if it had a modular design for manufacturing and assembly techniques to bring the cycle forward, he said, which would be a huge benefit in terms of the ability to house students at a lower cost, as well as bringing revenue that comes from the housing.

UC Prefabricated Projects

UC San Diego is working on two projects. One is getting ready to start construction while the other has been interrupted briefly by Covid-19. The university is using a system-wide scale, unit-wide scale and component scale to develop housing for one of the projects. As a result, UCSD is building bathroom and kitchen pods, which help save time on construction.

UC Davis has two resident hall projects over the last five years and also has two public-private partnerships projects. Caroll said that one of the challenges is quantifying advantages to make off-site work more competitive.

“I think the contractors are giving us more repetitive build capabilities and saving the money themselves on the offsite efforts,” stated Caroll.

Healthcare Industry Use of Prefabrication

Natasha Morre, senior process improvement analyst in capital deployment of HCA Healthcare, said that the health care industry has been toying with prefabrication for years. Morre is looking at patient remodels, exterior walls and more complex MEP racks. Morre’s team is also trying to figure out how to get the maximum benefit of prefabrication for freestanding emergency rooms and has started prefabricating items that repeat in their hospitals.

“Prefabrication and modular allows us to speed to market without sacrificing the cost of quality,” said Morre.

In summary, there are prefabricated modules of all types in all places. Each location offers unique opportunities and capabilities.

Advancing Equitable Development – Viewpoints from Municipalities

Tue, 09 Mar 2021 00:48:41 GMT

Chris Rhie, associate principal of Buro Happold, an international consultancy of engineers and consultants, served as the moderator for panelists from the Mayor’s Office of Oakland, the planning department for the City of San Diego and the City of West Hollywood. Chris began the conversation by asking what it means to have equitable access to physical spaces.

Equitable Transportation

Warren Logan, policy director of mobility and interagency relations for the Mayor’s Office of Oakland, is focused on advancing racial equity in transportation. To help the city connect people from their homes to jobs, Logan wants to expand access to different types of transportation that include bicycling, scooter riding and light rail transit.

“The goal is to advance mobility justice, to change the way that we move around the region and to restore some of the really racist harms and injustices that prevailed by putting freeways where they work,” said Logan. “In Los Angeles for example, you can track where all of the lowest income people were located, based on where the freeways were placed.”

Lindsey Horvath, mayor of the City of West Hollywood, is working to bring an extension of the Crenshaw rail into West Hollywood to connect the two communities. Horvath’s team is also creating a new social justice task force, which will be comprised of residents, business owners, community members and stakeholders. To help create an equitable policy to access West Hollywood.

Housing Stability For All

Nancy Graham, development project manager of the City of San Diego’s Planning Department, believes that the city will not have equity until everyone owns a home. Graham’s department, which is working diligently to build as many homes as possible, understands that the development community needs a lot of regulatory flexibility to respond to constantly changing markets. The city is allowing developers to choose the height of the property near transit and the number of units.

James T. Butts, mayor of the City of Inglewood, has placed a 3 percent cap on rent increases per year and a moratorium on evictions to help residents stay housed during the pandemic.

Horvath is also supporting renters in West Hollywood. “I think we are the first and maybe the only city in the country to incorporate the idea of stabilizing rents,” said Horvath. “People were really looking to protect housing and I think we're seeing housing as a primary issue of equity.”

Shifting Demographics

Logan recognizes a shift in the demographics in Oakland. He claims that Oakland’s black and brown neighborhoods used to center in the downtown area, but now, Logan is seeing those residents move to places farther away.

Graham is also seeing residents moving farther out of San Diego and her team is trying to make sure that jobs follow the new housing.

Equity With A Budget

San Diego has spent about 10 percent of its budget on social services for its most vulnerable community members. Before COVID-19, San Diego had $100 million in reserves, which was about its annual budget.

“You have to be nimble with your budget and plan to make sure that you can weather a very difficult storm like COVID-19 because the people who are at the margins are even further marginalized and more at risk,” said Graham.

Equity In The Real Estate Industry

The architecture, engineering and construction industries can help advance equity. Logan is constantly pushing contractors and subcontractors to hire people from Oakland.

In West Hollywood, Horvath is encouraging larger development projects to include public space on private land.

“If you make land more open, you start building community,” said Horvath. “You can make a better project if you bring equity onto the table.”

Feel free to use these equitable strategies to support your community.

The Future of Student Housing

Wed, 03 Feb 2021 18:28:44 GMT

Jason Taylor, vice president of American Campus Communities, one of the nation's largest developers of high-quality student housing apartment communities, served as moderator for panelists from The Scion Group, Brailsford & Dunlavey, UCLA and USC. Taylor began the conversation by asking what changes they see in student housing.

Student Housing Is Still Thriving

In most university markets, occupancy levels outperformed expectations for the fall of 2020. Students in their freshman year view on-campus living as a rite of passage.

Colleges and universities are faced with financial challenges. Current short- and long-term financial strategies must be redirected to address potential cash flow shortages, financial solvency and future viability.

The drop in enrollment at community colleges ranges from 10 to 30 percent, said Kim Wright, a senior associate with the program management firm of Brailsford & Dunlavey. She noted that many low income and first-generation students choose not to enroll this year and that international student enrollment had also seen a significant decline. But Pearlman anticipates higher student enrollment at the community college level in the near future because of the unavailability of beds at four-year state institutions which have seen double-digit increases in applications. He said that community colleges are adding housing during the pandemic to compete with other community colleges.

USC welcomed about 720 spring admit first-year students, who started their college careers in January 2021, while UCLA saw record enrollment for its current freshman.

“We could have been close to 100 percent occupancy based on demand. Our students wanted to be here,” said Brian MacDonald, director of residential education for UCLA. He doesn’t expect a change in occupancy for the winter quarter and he is optimistic about the spring.

New Student Housing on Demand

UCLA and USC have put their RFPs for student housing projects for 2021 on hold but Wright predicts that there will be an uptick in the freshman and sophomore classes for 2021 and 2022, and suggests that colleges should plan to move forward with the RFPs so they will have enough housing for the next couple of years.

She added that students prefer to live in studios or one-bedroom units where they can live by themselves. Cost, location, and WiFi are key elements for students when considering housing.

The Evolving College Campus

Since the 2008 recession, nearly all universities in the U.S. have been forced to evolve their funding sources to be competitive. They have adapted to reduced public funding, maximized other revenue streams or simply created new revenue opportunities. Many schools are cash poor, real estate rich and are looking to monetize their land to help diversify their sources for income. This approach is being used for student housing but not for active multi-family housing projects or retirement villages. Other mixed-use projects can alleviate financial pressures on a campus, while surrounding the campus with productive uses of space.

“Arizona State University Mirabella is moving forward with multiple construction projects around the Tempe area including a research facility, public transportation and a retirement center. The project can generate a lot of revenue to help with other campus projects and priorities. It will diversify the revenue stream that is outside of student housing to support student housing and other campus life aspects,” said Wright.

In summary, there will continue to be a need for student housing. Four-year state institutions and community colleges should continue to build new housing.

Forecasting the Future: Covid-19 and Its Impact on the Real Estate Industry

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 17:35:23 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), an organization that provides networking opportunities for those in the real estate community, hosted a virtual town hall with Dave Gilmore, President and CEO of DesignIntelligence and Design Futures Council, about the pandemic’s impact on the real estate industry and the economy. Here’s what Gilmore is expecting in 2021:

Consumers Driving Construction

Consumers will drive further declines in the construction of new retail, entertainment, commercial office, aviation and higher education spaces. People are not buying and consuming the way they used to and if the political and social conflicts continue in the United States, economic distress will remain.

“Ultimately, everything comes down to how consumers consume. So, if you and I are feeling good about ourselves, we spend. If we're not feeling good about ourselves, we pull back and the markets falter,” said Dave Gilmore.

Commercial Office May Not Grow

The commercial office space will continue to see minimal activity for the first half of 2021. A study by Cisco Systems interviewed 1,500 executives across the United States and found that 90 percent of the companies would not bring back their employees into the office. Alternately, they are leaning toward a remote worker infrastructure.

Commercial real estate investor confidence continues to be subdued as well. People aren't paying their loans and the loans are defaulting. Institutional term loan defaults are estimated to exceed $100 billion through 2022. To make matters worse, the total commercial debt combined with multifamily debt has now approached $4 trillion at the end of the second quarter.

Residential Investments at Risk

The CARES Act placed a ban on all of the mortgage holders so that they could not take action on late payments, until August 31. 15 million residential mortgages are now at risk of foreclosure. Gilmore expects these homes to foreclose in the next 12 months.

Schools and University Cling to Safely Standards

K-12 schools and college universities need to standardize policies and processes to ensure the safety of those who are attending in-person classes. Higher education depends on the effectiveness of the vaccine and if people feel comfortable attending in-person classes. But many students are making the switch to online courses.

There will be an increase in K-12 construction with building designs that adapt to a pandemic. More kids will go back to school.

“We think that public bond money is going to be made available because people don't want their kids at home working from a screen, which is different than the higher education context,” said Gilmore.

Hospitality at Risk

Until the vaccine is distributed, the hospitality industry such as hotels and resorts will remain flat. 50 percent of current assets in the hotel market are now moving into default. There might be a series of fire sales of assets in 2021.

Healthcare Will Receive Funding

Hospitals and healthcare facilities will receive adequate financial support from both the state and federal sources to ensure their facilities are best provisioned for ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks. Nevertheless, many of the hospitals are radically under-optimized. There is an opportunity for those asset owners to improve their space.

Sports, Entertainment and Mass Transit in Danger

Even when the vaccine becomes available, will people be willing to sit close to one another? The pandemic has made it difficult for people to gather in large groups. The entertainment and sports industry are predicted to be flat for two years. Also, about 50 percent of the airport projects that were planned or started got postponed or canceled.

Key Takeaways for RE Leaders

Real estate leaders must refresh and transform their brand identity to create new value offerings and to initiate new financing structures. This is a period for redefinition since this is not a normal recession. We have been living through a series of crises and we are still in the middle of them. Healthcare, economic, political and social sectors are hitting us all at once.

Identify and secure the essential people in your organization that you depend on and will generate value for the firm. Invest in an authentic internal relationship. Consider getting creative about new models for recognition, rewards and compensation.

Reduce your physical footprint because you do not need it anymore. Adopt a mantra of less is more. If you're in charge of the money prioritize your top 10 spend and then reduce it to seven. Operate like every dollar counts because it does.

“It's time to reconsider the art and science of business development. If you've been doing business development based on the old paradigms and the world is radically shifted around you, maybe there is a new way to consider business development for the future of your firm,” stated Gilmore. “It is time to get crazy about environmental and social responsibilities. It's time to get crazy about doing the right thing for the good of all.”

Feel free to keep these helpful tips in mind to refresh your real estate firm to support the industry in 2021.

Social Justice in the Real Estate Environment: Empowering and Advancing Change

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 19:54:20 GMT

The Southern California Development Forum (SCDF), an organization that provides networking opportunities for those in the real estate community, hosted a panel discussion in late September about opportunities for social change in our industry. While the conversation wasn’t real estate related, racial injustice does affect the industry. SCDF invited several members of the Los Angeles business community to share their views on how positive change can be advanced and what some businesses are doing to champion this cause.

Tre Borden, principal of Tre Borden Co., a company focused on building creative communities, served as a moderator for panelists from LA Mas, 2nd Call, Homeboy Industries and ACE Mentor Program LA/OC. Borden began the conversation by asking how panelists have adapted their organizations to support racial justice over the last six months.

Feeding and Healing So Cal

Homeboy Industries is considered one of the front runners in an organization that is committed to pushing social change. The organization continues to rehabilitate former gang members and felons which has been its mission for the last 30 years. In fact, fifty percent of its staff are former clients, which lends a great deal of credibility to its mission.

“We can't rely on government programs or any of the foundations. The business community needs to take on this responsibility of creating jobs and providing good jobs because that's how we make long term structural change,” said Thomas Vozzo, Homeboy’s CEO.

The organization is also providing food for those struggling during the pandemic. The food program, which has served thousands of seniors, now has a city contract.

“So not only are we keeping people working but we're also feeding people at the same time,” Vozzo said.

In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, LA Mas, an organization that designs initiatives to promote neighborhood resilience, has narrowed its mission to support individuals living in Long Beach, South LA and East LA rather than the entire LA Region. LA Mas has a diverse leadership team and supports working-class communities of color, explained Elizabeth Timme, co-executive director.

“We have started feeding 700 residents of northeast Los Angeles, most explicitly in Elysian Valley,” she said, adding that her staff will complete anti-racist training in the next few weeks.

Skipp Townsend, executive director for 2nd Call, an organization that offers parenting, anger management, domestic violence and re-entry programs, also began food distribution in South Los Angeles. 2nd call hopes the program will began the healing process between Black and Brown residents of the area.

Backing the Next Generation

The ACE Mentor Program LA/OC supports youth with after-school classes and scholarships because it believes that higher education is a strategic way of changing the lives of the next generation. Ricardo Zendejas, mentor and board member for the organization, said they were able to adapt their program into a virtual environment during the pandemic. ACE annually serves about 10,000 students of which about two-thirds are minorities. The program has awarded approximately $20 million in renewable scholarships over the course of 26 years.

“I went through the program back in 2003 as a senior in high school and I've got the program to thank for staying with me throughout college,” Zendejas said. “I got my undergraduate degree at UCLA, my master's at Stanford, and throughout the whole program the sponsor companies provided internships.”

In summary, you can make Southern California a more prosperous place by supporting scholarship programs, donating food to those in need or creating jobs that will provide long-term structural change.

The California State University System and the Impact of COVID-19

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 21:07:52 GMT

Like so many other business sectors, higher education has had to make massive adjustments to remain sustainable during the pandemic. For many of us going virtual and working remotely is relatively seamless. In the higher education field, going remote is nothing new. Online education has been offered for at least twenty years. However, it was rarely offered as the sole method of learning. The conundrum for higher education going completely online is that there are so many facets of college life that must take place in the real world, not a virtual one. This is especially true for the many facilities that comprise a university campus in order to create synergy among students, faculty, athletes, alumni and more. For the month of June, we spoke with designers and construction planners from three California universities, as well as a member of the California State University Chancellor’s Office, for some inside information regarding the adjustment of our university system to the new normal.

New Normal, New Budgets

Paul Gannoe, chief of facilities planning and design at the CSU Chancellor’s Office, opened the conversation with a reminder that many of these decisions are often, or perhaps always, a direct result of a budget.

“The CSU was slated to get a little less than what we had asked for, but it was manageable,” he said. “Then when COVID-19 came, we had to make revisions to accommodate for the changes.”

Gannoe also mentioned the difference is that if the CSU takes the budget cuts up front, then the cuts can be restored at a later time when federal funding potentially arrives in October. In regards to budgets and financing, the CSU has also sold about $600 million worth of debt and is working on allocating that funding toward projects already in the pipeline at several universities. The Chancellor’s Office is also working with the Department of Finance on approvals for those projects, while also seeking up to $650 million worth of new construction. From a capital funding standpoint, the CSU is currently in good standing due to favorable interest rates, and a forecasted softening in construction market pricing.

Project Delays

Mark Zakhour, CASp, director of design and construction at Cal State Long Beach, pivoted from the stable funding of projects, to point out that many of these projects will be delayed.

“Fortunately, we were able to keep our active projects moving forward,” he said. “We didn’t have to stop anything due to COVID-19, which was a primary concern.”

While none of the active projects at Cal State Long Beach were delayed, Zakhour did say that many of the projects in a planning or design phase are taking a pause. Among these projects is a new student union, which took a pause in the middle of a fee referendum. The university was looking into ways to navigate additional fees for students, in order to help pay for the project. Then all the students went away. Some of those projects have to take a pause, especially the student housing projects.

“We know that our revenue is tied to enrollment, and I know that's going to be something else that will cause us to expect less revenue,” said Zakhour. “Housing reserves have taken a huge hit because housing and dining plans are basically stopped. Some housing may be assessed for renovations, depending on what next year looks like.”

Most panelists agreed that probably around October, is when their campuses will begin to initiate new developments again.

New Designs for a New Normal

Catherine Kniazewycz, campus architect and director of design and construction at CSU Northridge added that on top of the proposed budget cuts to campus facilities, there may also be new design standards moving forward.

“In addition to the likelihood of new design standards which comply with social distancing, there is also an additional need for cleaning inspections, sanitizing, and other precautionary measures,” she said.

Jill Anthes, executive director of planning and design at San Francisco State University alluded to a different approach to the possibility of new designs. At SFSU, they have an architecture team working in conjunction with their campus, as well as with Cal State East Bay and Cal State Chico. However, she did add that the architecture team informed her not every campus is modifying their design. Some campuses are using a different schedule or longer cost estimates or more insurance to accommodate social distancing. Once there has been more collective experience with distance learning, the CSU will be able to take a more wholistic approach. All panelists agreed that future planning is a bit premature at this stage, as it is really too soon for anyone to make any serious long-term decisions.

Southern California Development: Urban Density, Transportation & The Opportunity Zone

Tue, 24 Mar 2020 22:47:56 GMT

The incorporation of density to the suburban-style sprawl that is Southern California’s cityscape is a topic that has been debated on repeatedly in the last year or so. With bills like SB50, SB4, and a push for transit-oriented developments, all of which seek to incentivize pro-density development at the forefront of the housing crisis, it’s hard to imagine how much longer the battle will continue. Nevertheless, opposition by NIMBYism and neighborhood groups, often seems to prevail. Those in favor of density wonder how much longer this can last. The urban landscapes of Southern California have long since run out of room to build out – when will we collectively decide to build up?

Real Estate as an Economic Driver

Moderator Edgar Khalatian, of Mayer Brown, LLP introduced the panel and opened the discussion, which kicked off by John Keisler, economic development director at the city of Long Beach pointing out that real estate development is often an economic driving force, not only for private businesses, but also for the state and local governments. John pointed out that real estate development, business development, and workforce development all work in tandem to push the economy forward. Of course, without a surplus of raw land, the development has nowhere to go but up. Keisler noted how the city of Long Beach has extensively reviewed various ways to grow GDP overall, which consists of ways to maximize every space, person and asset. This has a ripple effect of creating opportunities for workers, investors, and entrepreneurs.

Wells Lawson, senior director at Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), noted that Metro is also taking more of a community-based approach in maximizing space, but to the liking of area residents. In contrast to previous years, Metro has examined the concept of “transit-oriented communities” as a way to mitigate pressures of gentrification and evaluate what kinds of economic opportunities transit brings to a neighborhood in the context of the local workforce. Metro involves the community in new projects, by taking into account any feedback from residents that is gathered during community outreach. This feedback is incorporated into proposals and development guidelines to ensure the project facilitates economic development and stability within the community, rather than becoming detrimental, such as in the case of gentrification. What this boils down to is that communities often are in need of more affordable housing. Khalatian posed the question whether or not involving the community has resulted in less housing, or less affordable housing. Lawson informed that as a result of increased community involvement, Metro has revised it’s housing policy to ensure transit agencies are held to a level of accountability in providing affordable housing.

Preservation in the Face of Progress

In the effort to densify what was once a sea of single-family homes, opposition parties often note the preservation of the “classic California” look as a concern. Ken Bernstein, principal city planner at city of Los Angeles noted that creating places that contribute to density and economic development, while retaining the classic design, is a key factor in the effort to cohesively densify our city in a way that works for everyone. As we shift to higher transit usage, pedestrian-friendly design with active street frontage and 360-degree design takes priority, but not at the expense of how the project relates to longtime neighbors. Another concern of any new development in Southern California, whether it is pro-density or not, is the climate impact and the projected response to the unique climate of Southern California. Bernstein noted that if all of these design and sustainability guidelines can be met, the chances of a pro-density, transit-oriented development receiving community approval are much greater.

As of now, the city is operating on an outdated 1946 zoning code. Most of these updates are being rolled out through the city, while simultaneously reshaping the quality of the new design. In addition to updating the zoning code, many of the new projects in development, are able to pass through the transit-oriented community design guidelines. Bernstein also added that most new developments are using TOC housing incentives and 42% of new housing is going along new transit routes – which is exactly where the city wants to see new housing built.

Density Where it Belongs

As the sole developer on the panel, Greg Ames, managing director of Trammell Crow Company Los Angeles brought a “purist” view of development in the context of transit and density. Because Trammell Crow Company does not carry its own portfolios, but rather develops into the portfolios of its investors. Developers like Trammell Crow Company are largely concerned with the long-term feasibility of projects, and how they might stand up to the many “what-if” scenarios that loom over construction. Ames noted that transit-oriented development is especially interesting to Trammell Crow because of the versatility of these projects, but also because of the opportunity to truly shape a district in a way that is beneficial to the community. Ames cited the developments taking place in North Hollywood, in partnership with Metro, as exactly the type of neighborhood where density belongs.

Ames also mentioned the fact that adding density to a neighborhood also makes the area more of a destination – further cementing the concept of real estate development as an economic driver. Adding density brings homes and jobs, but entertainment uses are also relevant. Shopping, dining and other entertainment can create a destination for residents living in a more traditionally zoned area of single-family homes. In any case, development is necessary to further propel the economic engines of Southern California in this time when the only way we have to go, is up.

2020 & Beyond: Innovation and Future Trends for Airports and Aviation

Wed, 26 Feb 2020 20:37:01 GMT

For residents of the Los Angeles Metro Area, the recent developments at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) have been notable. The increase in construction corresponds to a surge in growth in the aviation industry. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts that the number of passengers transported by airlines will reach 8.2 billion in 2037, up from a projected 7.8 billion in 2036. The updated forecast is based on a 3.5% compound annual growth rate for the industry. When looking at the hard numbers, the actual annual growth in air travel has grown considerably more than 3.5% annually. According to Statista.com, the year 2017 saw a whopping 8.1% increase in passenger demand. As consumer demands rise for air travel, so do their standards as well as the need for speed and efficiency. Moderated by Matt Ross, senior vice president of AvAirPros, our February aviation panel explored ways in which designers and developers are harnessing technology and modernizing infrastructure in order to accommodate growing numbers.

One challenge, from a design perspective, is very similar to the challenges met on other project sites. Robert Schultz, P.E., A.A.E., and chief airport planner for Los Angeles World Airports highlight the need to design spaces for flexibility. This was noted by multiple panelists as an obstacle in aviation facilities across the spectrum. He added that in general, the focus moving forward is to add flexibility, but to also create more positive travel experience while enhancing how the airport staff interacts with customers. Designers are leveraging technology, as well as the data acquired from technology in order to curate these experiences and spaces. Patrick Lammerding, deputy executive director of Hollywood Burbank Airport added that the observation of airport visitors has been paramount the evolution of airport design. This is done by accounting for the entire experience from entering the terminal to boarding the plane. Designers use data points such as what concessions are frequently visited, how long the customer spends at a concession or dining location, what additional amenities are used and more. All of these factors shape how airports are designed.

The use of space and the efficiency of a facility is also crucial to passenger flow – important for both safety and a positive customer experience. All panelists noted that each Southern California airport has its own unique limitations, many of them involving space, or a lack thereof, for our region’s many travelers. Stephanine Gunawan-Piraner, senior civil engineer at Long Beach Airport, pointed to new ticketing lobbies, which include self-service kiosks and common-use ticketing space. These allows airlines to expand and contract service as needed and allows airports to use space more efficiently. An airline that has a large number of passengers will need more of these kiosks and can use them in order to move through the airport more quickly. For off-peak traffic times, these systems are not so urgently required, and the space can be utilized for other airlines as needed. Another development is the evolution from multiple, individual terminals serving one concourse. The direction is shifting to terminal processors serving multiple concourses. This can be done through real-time traffic monitoring by consolidating and connecting terminals to provide more operational flexibility.

Other innovations include investment into biometric identification systems, automated bag drop systems and overall improvements to security screenings and digital passenger services. A common theme across all panelists was the need to save time. Don Ostler, program manager for Southwest Airlines at LAX gave a startling statistic regarding time. He shared with the audience that major airlines such as Southwest, can save over 70 operating hours per day across their fleet by simply shaving one second off of each flight turnaround. Kaveh Dabiran, west region director for United Airlines also noted the extreme priority placed on time by larger airlines – every second counts in this industry. As demand continues to rise, the innovations in technology will no doubt continually see integration into the aviation world.

Economic Forecast 2020: Trade, tariffs and labor – how global forces impact our local economy

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 00:52:28 GMT

Kicking off the new year, SCDF hosted a panel focused on a widely-discussed topic – the state of the local economy. More specifically, members of our community have been concerned with how the factors at play internationally, will affect our local industry. Architects, general contractors, engineers and more, all joined us last week for a full house of development community professionals eager for a variety of opinions regarding the 2020 economic outlook. This particular panel differed from others in that it was smaller, and did not have any members of our community speaking. Instead, we opted for a localized view from expert sources. Joining our panel discussion was Dr. Monica Morlacco, assistant professor of economics at University of Southern California, as well as Eric Hayes, associate economist at Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation’s Institute for Applied Economics. Both panelists presented the audience with different ways global impacts translate into local effects.

Global Forces at Work in the United States

Among the key points made by Dr. Morlacco was that big, multinational business is only getting bigger, and this has many different side effects. Unfortunately, the majority of these effects are not so great for the average consumer or worker. Morlacco pointed out that since 1980, there has been a steady increase in the average markup – which is the amount companies typically charge over and above their costs, to sell their goods at retail. This is largely the case for U.S.-based corporations, where the average markup now hovers around 61 percent, compared to 21 percent in 1980. Since 1980, much of the increase in markups has come from large firms. Their growing influence and increase in size is concurrent with the diminishing power of antitrust laws in the United States, as well as the increased costs of simply doing business. Logistics, litigation, and administrative costs have seen substantial cost increases which may not be as easily absorbed by smaller firms. However, it is important to note the other cultural and geographic factors which play a role.

Technology, which has disrupted almost everything to some degree, has skewed consumer preferences toward big business as well. The effects of e-commerce and online networks tend to keep customers locked in to a specific platform or brand. A tendency for consumers to remain brand-loyal and static in their choices can translate into difficulties entering the business marketplace. This metric is referred to as turnover, or the rate at which new businesses establish entry, and conversely, old businesses exit the marketplace. Dr. Morlacco also highlighted the fact that there has been a broad decrease in turnover and a broad increase in concentration across most industries in the United States.

In addition to technology, the largest corporations are also able to establish global value chains in order to optimize business functions, and these large conglomerates quite simply have the resources to do so. These global value chains are best defined as a network of production, trade, and investments where different stages the product cycle span multiple countries. A great example of this would be shoes and apparel. The product may be designed in the United States, materials sourced in South America, manufactured in Asia, and then distributed worldwide. Many everyday consumer goods are likely the product of a global value chain.

Effects on Our Local Economy

In light of the recent trade wars, residents of Southern California are forecasted to see an increase in consumer prices across most product types – this includes housing. However, the most pertinent information to our region has to do with shifting demographics and unemployment rate. Currently, our state, and the nation, have unemployment rate of 3.7 and 3.9 percent, respectively. The national unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in over 50 years. However, all economic cycles are subject to disruption, and for California, our population may be a deciding factor. What may surprise many of us in Southern California, is the fact that our population has actually been decreasing this past year. For a continually robust economy, a steady population growth is required as it is an essential component of a strong labor force. Not only has Southern California, particularly Los Angeles, been losing residents to outward migration, but the birth rate has also dropped. Birth rate is an important metric to economists as it is an indicator of the future working population who will not only spur additional economic growth, but pay into social service programs.

A more peripheral effect of the birth rate might be the tendency for parents to become homeowners, an increasingly inaccessible milestone for Southern California families. To put this into perspective, the minimum qualifying income for a home in Los Angeles County is $127,200. The median household income in Los Angeles County is $68,093 – which is vastly less than what is required to own a home. This leaves the average renter spending approximately $31,000 in rent annually. Still, low rates of homeownership in Los Angeles are also attributed to other outside factors, such as a scarcity of housing permits issued by local governments.

Despite all of this, California is likely to continue on a path of moderate, but sustained growth throughout the year. Venture capital investments to large tech and media companies that call our state home will prevail. Lastly, the tendency for our state to be an incubator for innovative ideas and a pool for great talent will likely keep the California afloat throughout the year and many more to come.

Design & Philanthropy Awards 2019

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 17:01:07 GMT

Southern California Development Forum capped off 2019 with an exceptional awards luncheon where we recognized some of the greatest local achievements in the areas of design and philanthropy. This was truly the icing on the cake for a wonderful 2019, and leaves us excited for what’s to come in 2020. SCDF prides itself in bringing members of the development community together, while also honoring local charities who do their best to make Southern California an even better place to live. From architects to developers to business executives, and more, our events serve as a way to connect passionate and visionary individuals to one another.

This year’s 2019 Design & Philanthropy Awards were held at a local landmark, the beautiful and historic California Club in downtown Los Angeles. While many development projects took home awards, we also recognized two philanthropies, School on Wheels, and Students4Students. Both philanthropic organizations are dedicated to fighting homelessness across Southern California. SCDF awarded each organization with a $22,500 check to aid in the furthering of their charitable missions. We also recognized Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, as this year’s winner of the William Feathers Award of Distinction.

School on Wheels

Schools on Wheels is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization founded by a retired schoolteacher who witnessed firsthand the unique challenges faced by homeless students. At the time of it’s founding, up until current day, Schools on Wheels is the only organization in Southern California dedicated exclusively to the educational needs of this marginalized population. The driving force behind Schools on Wheels’ are the volunteer tutors who come from all backgrounds and professions. The common goal of all tutors is to reach out to a child, to teach, mentor, or otherwise assist in their educational life. The services provided by volunteers is intended to enhance educational opportunities for children from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Students4Students

Students 4 Students, also a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) serves a similar cause, but for college students. This organization is devoted to the establishment and promotion of collaborative shelters for college students. Each shelter is also run by college students who wish to support their peers that might be experiencing homelessness. The model is also shared with institutions of higher learning, student groups, and faith-based organizations who want to participate in the cause. The program aims to empower student volunteers to become the next generation of philanthropists and community service leaders. For those receiving services, the goal of the program is to assist homeless students in determining their own path by way of their ambition and education, rather than their unfortunate circumstances.

Homeboy Industries – William Feathers Award of Distinction

Homeboy Industries is the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world. Father Boyle formed Homeboy after witnessing the ravaging effects of gang violence and mass incarceration while serving at Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the peak of Los Angeles gang activity. Father Boyle began implementing what would later come to be known as Homeboy Industries in 1988. Through this organization, he oversees the employment, training and social services for former gang members as they reintegrate into society. Father Boyle has authored a 2010 New York Times bestseller, “Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. He also published a second book in 2017, “Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship.” In addition, Boyle has received the California Peace Prize and has been inducted into the California Hall of Fame.

And last but not least, we also recognized a number of stunning projects which serve as exemplary models of design across Southern California. See the full list of winning projects and their categories below.

2019 Project Winners

Adaptive Reuse / Renovation / Preservation

1. RCH Studios for The Music Center Plaza Renovation (Merit)
2. Lehrer Architects LA for the Studio-MLA Office and Plaza (Merit)
3. KFA Architecture for NoMad Hotel Los Angeles (Honor)

Civic

1. RADAR, Inc. for Libros Schmibros Lending Library (Honor)

2. KFA Architecture for Los Angeles LGBT Center, Anita May Rosenstein Campus (Merit)

Commercial Mixed Use

1. RCH Studios for FLIGHT at Tustin (Honor)

2. Gensler/AECOM Hunt for LAFC Performance Center (Merit)

Education

1. CO Architects for Cal Poly Pomona Student Services Building (Honor)

Interior Architecture

1. Belzberg Architects for USC Shoah Foundation, The Institute for Visual History and Education Global Headquarters (Merit)

2. Rottet Studio, LLC for Paradigm Talent Agency (Honor)

Multifamily Residence

1. KFA Architecture for Blue Hibiscus (Merit)

2. KFA Architecture for Pico Eleven (Honor)

Single Family Residence

1. Clive Wilkinson Architects for West Los Angeles Residence (Honor)

2. Assembledge+ for Laurel Hills House (Merit)

Technological Innovation

1. Structural Focus for May Company Façade Rehabilitation, Academy of Motion Pictures (Merit)

2. C.W. Driver and Integral Group for Cal Poly Pomona Student Services Building (Merit)

Unbuilt/Concept

1. Lehrer Architects LA for Los Angeles – Glendale Water Reclamation Facility (Merit)

2. HDR, Inc. for West Los Angeles District Power Year (Merit)

3. Moore Rubell Yudell and HED for Santa Monica High School Discovery Building (Merit)

4. HDR, Inc. for Orange County Sanitation District Headquarters Complex (Honor)

Urban Design/Planning

1. Wolcott Architecture for Von Karman Creative Campus (Merit)

How Food & Culture is Transforming the Retail Experience

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 20:01:06 GMT

It is no secret that the retail sector has undergone significant changes in the last decade, with no end in sight. As e-commerce becomes increasingly sophisticated, more consumers opt for shopping online and having the goods delivered to their home. As a result, restaurants will continue to move toward out-of-the-box experiences becoming part of people’s lifestyles. Our November panel discussed how this new focus on food and dining experiences is changing the face of retail across Southern California.

Our panel was moderated by Rachael Zanetos, Leasing Director of Mixed-Use Retail at Brookfield Properties retail group. Rachael’s 15 years of commercial real estate experience give her a comprehensive understanding of the Los Angeles market. Currently, she is responsible for overseeing notable downtown projects such as FIGat7th, Halo at Wells Fargo Center, and California Market Center. Rachael led a panel of three additional speakers, all in various roles within the restaurant and design industries. Panelists included: Mike Simms, founder of Simmzy’s and Tin Roof Bistro; Ziba Ghassemi, Vice President of Design - Airports at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, a global developer focused on making positive contributions to users and communities; and Sam Polk, co-founder and CEO of Everytable, a fresh-prepared food concept aimed at making healthy food affordable for everyone. All panelists came from different arenas of the restaurant and retail sectors, but many overlapping similarities were found in a topic that seems to unite everyone – food and dining.

What is Your Most Impactful Meal?

As each panelist introduced themselves, moderator Rachael Zanetos asked the icebreaker question “what was your most impactful meal?” Each panelist had completely different responses, but they all shared a common thread. The most impactful meal for each panelist had not only to do with an exceptional food choice, but also with the location. Panelists noted the city, restaurant space, setting and even ritual as characteristics that made their choice stand out as their most recent impactful meal. This common denominator of what makes a meal impactful was the core of the panel discussion. As retailers are turning to food to fill spaces, there is more competition than ever. Each restaurant must have a unique concept and sense of place in order to deliver a multisensory experience to remain competitive and keep customers coming back. Now more than ever, food is just a starting point. Making a meal or a dining experience truly impactful requires exceptional design, a welcoming location, and for multi-venue concepts, a robust supply chain that can replicate dishes consistently.

What Drives Consumer Demand?

Panelists noted that food culture has become more relevant than ever. The advent of social media with consumers photographing and sharing their food and restaurant experiences has not only created traffic and demand, but also shifted trends. Simms noted that his team now considers social media when making decisions about lighting design and table settings. Design is noted as a key factor in what will drive a consumer to go from a first-time visitor to a repeat customer. Beyond design or marketing strategies, panelists all seemed to share the sentiment that the most important factor in determining long-term success is to know your customer. This will take some research to not only identify who your customer is, but also their preferences and how to target them. Understanding demographics to this degree is important not only for restaurants in the mixed-use retail environment of today’s economy, but in any business across all industries. Certain “homegrown” restaurant concepts may be established with the local preferences in mind and have a keener sense of who their customer is. Once the correct customer profile has been identified, creating a sense of place is the next most important strategy in a successful restaurant concept within a mixed-use setting.

Strategizing design and curation of a restaurant concept must take into consideration the location and what the customer will be doing there. For example, in an airport, where food offerings are becoming more sophisticated, customers still want to be able to maintain contact with their gate. This requires open spaces, clear lines of sight, and the infrastructure to produce fresh, high quality meals that can be eaten on location or on the go. Other restaurant concepts might be more dependent on the leisure aspect of dining or an adjacency to a destination like the beach. The customer’s route should be taken into consideration when choosing a site, for example a location on a street that runs from parking areas to the beach ensures higher visibility via foot traffic. Despite the tendency for today’s consumers to be digitally connected, prime real estate is still heavily influenced by pedestrian foot traffic.

With new restaurant concepts becoming an ever more important part of our culture, there is a push on owners to be authentic and experiential. The potential of a restaurant lies largely in the ability to get customers to come in and to come back – that characteristic has not changed. What has changed is that great food and exceptional customer service are really just the first step into having a successful restaurant in today’s market of imaginative concepts.

October Panel: How University Leaders Drive Financial and Developmental Success in Collegiate Athletics and Recreation

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 00:19:23 GMT

During SCDF’s October breakfast panel event, we explored the connection between college sports facilities, the success of sports programs, and the overall image of the university as it relates to these concepts. Moderated by Chris Nations, president of the Nations Group, our panel consisted of five different collegiate sports professionals, all of which provided a different perspective from the usual panel made up of development and design professionals.

Speakers on our panel included: Paula Smith, director of intercollegiate athletics at University of California, Irvine; Craig Pintens, athletic director at Loyola Marymount University; Rich Mylin, director of recreation at University of California, San Diego; Andy Fee, athletic director at Long Beach State University; and Dr. Lindy Fenex, director of recreation at University of California, Riverside. The panel discussed various strategies and tactics for sport & fitness-related complexes, as well as challenges associated with not only developing these new facilities – but also with funding them. A common theme throughout the discussion was the sense of pride that athletics and their corresponding facilities create for students and alumni, as well as the manner in which athletics are a critical financial driver for universities.

Health and Wellness

Another common theme across all panelists was the versatility in their positions, almost all of them had worked at a number of different universities across the nation. Regardless of where each panelist had worked, whether past of present, they all noted the push for health and wellness-focused common areas across each and every campus. While athletics are a primary driver of the campus, athletic directors are also seeing an increase in demand from all students for health and wellness-related amenities. This is in addition to the facilities used for university spectator sports. Multiple panelists cited the demand for students of all types – not just student athletes – to have robust access to gyms and exercise equipment. Many students are seeing this as a requirement of their student housing hall, instead of utilizing a more centrally-located student gym. The old model for university gyms is changing to embrace both physical and mental wellbeing of their student body. Nap pods, massage chairs and other amenities are also finding their way into what panelists referred to as “rejuvenation spaces.” Most students – athletes or not – are coming to campus with much greater expectations for robust amenities in all spaces throughout the campus. Items such as nap pods and massage chairs are finding their way not only into recreation centers and gyms, but into more mainstream and highly trafficked areas of today’s college campus.

Mental health-related amenities are an additional item which panelists noted as having been on the wish list of students. Quiet spaces for yoga, meditation and counseling are among the biggest drivers. In order to maximize space and profitability, many of these quiet spaces reserved for mental health and relaxation uses are also intended to be multipurpose spaces. Mental health-driven amenities are not seen as desirable by today’s student population, but expected and necessary, in today’s climate of increased awareness on this topic. These program elements along with common public meeting spaces promote inclusivity, accessibility and comradery for students and athletes alike. While these spaces are essential, it is not always cost effective to devote an entire space to such a use. Today’s trend could very well be obsolete in a decade, so flexibility of uses in these spaces becomes the key factor. All panelists agreed, that regardless of whether the space is driven by a rejuvenation, mental health, or recreational use, we are more likely to see smaller spaces that are easily adaptable to suit multiple needs.

The Showpiece of the University

Athletic venues say a lot about a campus, something we can all agree on. While sports facilities are a source of pride for students and alumni, they are also a great source of pride for the surrounding community. When sports events are not taking place, these facilities create new revenue streams, serving as venues for local high school graduations, concerts, eSports tournaments, community events and more. Multiple panelists agreed with the statement that an exceptionally designed college sports facility is the showpiece of the entire campus. Another way these venues function as a “showpiece” is in the area of fundraising. Students, alumni, and other donors want to feel their dollars are well spent. Academic prestige will always remain important, but a sports venue is more external facing to the outside world. These venues are often the face of the university, the gathering place for generations of students to share a common ground.

Athletic facilities come in two forms, which is the competition venue, and then the combined form, which includes the competition venue paired with the training and recreation aspect of the building. Internally-facing training areas are all about recruitment and retention of athletes in addition to performance. Student-athletes and coaches“live” in these facilities. Athletes and their parents have an expectation that universities will offer the best in training and care to help their children reach success beyond school as athletes or leaders in society beyond sport. These spaces must demonstrate that, from branding and amenities to nutrition and performance technology. Experiential spaces in these training complexes facilitate collaboration and socialization with other student-athletes. Many of these facilities include social areas for mingling with peers, building strong bonds between players that result in mental wellbeing, teamwork, and on-court success.

This focus on experiential design in competition and performance venues, while a benefit for the student, has additional reach to the alumni and community users. Flexible, open spaces with comfortable seating and TVs are in demand by students but can be adapted on game-day. This was noted as being especially important in the area of donors, because it is emblematic of the hospitality and camaraderie spaces that these VIP alumni expect as part of their event experience. Athletic entertainment is a crowded marketplace. The concept of a “pre-function” event space is becoming more popular, as it adds to the experiential quality of the facility. Experiential elements are gaining traction across all property types, college sports facilities are no exception. From big stadiums to small venues, experiential design has an effect on college sports, and in turn the potential finances generated.

Along the Waterfront – Past, Present, and Future

Wed, 18 Sep 2019 23:14:23 GMT

September’s breakfast panel event hosted by SCDF was on the topic of an iconic natural feature of Southern California, our beloved waterfront. The conversation was thought provoking as it involved development industry leaders, each with unique waterfront development projects currently underway. SCDF President, Ann McLennan kicked off the discussion by introducing moderator David Waite, partner at Cox Castle Nicholson, LLP. As a land use and environmental lawyer with over 25 years of experience, Waite was able to seamlessly navigate the conversation with his knowledge of legislation such as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and his role as former president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Urban Land Institute.

“The Coast is Never Saved, it’s Always Being Saved”

In an environmentally-conscious state like California, one important distinction of this panel, is the fact that all panelists see themselves as stewards. Members of the development community ~~are~~ often face stringent environmental regulations as they further the progress, or even at the inception of their projects. Members of this panel are noted for balancing perseveration and responsible development with exceptional coastal access that is rich and unique for all Californians to enjoy. The precious coastline in California is publicly accessible to all citizens, with no private ownership under current law. Waite led the conversation by introducing the three panelists: Jenny Krusoe, founding executive director of AltaSea; Ryan Altoon, executive vice president of AndersonPacific, LLC; and Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen, CEO of Protea Waterfront Development.

AltaSea at The Port of Los Angeles

Jenny Krusoe introduced the audience to her latest development project, a 35-acre property at the Port of Los Angeles. Here, AltaSea is creating an urban, ocean-based campus where innovators from multiple fields can collaborate on furthering AltaSea’s mission – which Krusoe simply stated is people. By “people,” Kruose went on to elaborate that AltaSea’s goal is the acceleration of marine-related scientific research and job creation in the blue economy for the next generations. The blue economy is a term used to describe the economic activity that falls under the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth while maintaining or improving the overall health of oceanic ecosystems. In the bigger picture, AltaSea is focused on the creation of solutions to the planet’s most pressing challenges such as food security, ocean exploration, and energy.

Currently, AltaSea has a 50-year agreement with the Port to develop and operate their campus on the man-made peninsula that was formerly utilized for Panama Canal cargo in 1914. The development is also the site of a World War I-era submarine base, and is located in a historic neighborhood. The future Phase 2 of project, is to further the identity of the campus as a center of innovation. This will largely be driven by the Southern California Marine Institute, which will host 23 university organizations for research and the discovery of solutions to environmental problems.

Shoreline Gateway in Long Beach, California

Ryan Altoon, executive vice president of AndersonPacific, LLC introduced one of his latest projects, which is located in the booming city of Long Beach. The coastal city of approximately half a million residents has experienced a resurgence in recent years. As of 2018, there was more than $5 billion in both public and private development, the full figures from 2019 are expected to be comparable, or even higher. The project, is part of the Shoreline Gateway Master Plan and is a 35-story, 315 unit high-rise residential tower which will ultimately serve as the eastern gateway into Downtown Long Beach. Altoon noted that the tower’s strategic location, on the inland side of Ocean Boulevard, made for an easier approval process when dealing with the California Coastal Commission, one of the state’s most powerful regulatory groups.

The residential towers will provide unobstructed views of the ocean, as well as the city. Ground floor retail will be accompanied by a lobby with community-focused amenities, in an effort to design for both residents and non-residents alike. The development will also incorporate a public space with the addition of a new 25,000 square foot urban plaza positioned between the two towers. This space will incorporate a 1% Arts component by artist team McCarren/Fine. Shoreline Gateway is on track to be the first LEED-ND project in the City of Long Beach.

SeaPort San Diego

A great example of waterfront development is seen in our neighbor to the south, San Diego. Our panelist, Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen, CEO of Protea Waterfront Development is originally from Cape Town, South Africa, and has worked specifically in waterfront development for the majority of his career. In his latest project, which is scheduled to break ground in 2024, public spaces, nature, and ecology will all be combined into one venue to serve as an iconic landmark for the San Diego waterfront. When complete, over 70% of SeaPort San Diego will be composed of parks, urban open space, promenades, pedestrian walkways and other public spaces for people to gather.

The design also features a tower, reminiscent of the Space Needle in Seattle. This iconic tower will feature multiple layers of retail, lodging, dining as well as SeaPort San Diego’s lifelong learning center. This center will house educational workshops focused on marine sciences, maritime logistics, as well as music. Both University of California, San Diego and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have contributed to the development of plans for the learning center.

A Common Theme

While all projects are unique in their own regard, they all have one thing in common – public access. In keeping with the tradition of California, all waterfront developments are at their core, public spaces for community members to gather. These new developments will perpetuate the ideal that the coast is for everyone, for many generations to come.

Are Boutique Hotels Becoming Mainstream?

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 21:54:36 GMT

For the month of August, SCDF hosted a panel event focused on a niche concept, seemingly losing its exclusivity – boutique hotels. The discussion was led by some of the industry’s leaders, all of whom work in various executive positions of the hospitality development sector. The event itself was heavily attended by hospitality development professionals from all sectors. The panel was moderated by Bruce Baltin, managing director, CBRE Hotels Advisory. Baltin has experience across the hospitality and tourism industries including market demand studies, valuations, leases, franchising and more. The breadth of his experience encompasses properties located in large resorts, restaurants, theme parks, and national and state parks.

Panelists included: Ryan Bean, director of development for Sydell Group, a creator and manager of unique hotels with a special connection to their location and design. Bean’s portfolio includes NoMad, The LINE, Freehand and the Saguaros. Prior to Sydell Group, he spent five years as director of development for New Urban West, a residential and mixed-use urban infill builder. Amie Marben, director of development, Relevant Group, also joined the panel. Amie brings over 15 years of experience in hospitality design and development to Relevant Group’s development and construction teams. Some of Relevant Group’s most notable area projects include, Dream Hollywood, Thompson Hollywood, and Hotel Barclay. Margaux Rotter, also VP of development at BLVD Hospitality joined the panel. Rotter’s experience in hospitality development began while working on the construction team at ACE Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Other projects by BLVD include: Soho Warehouse, Hoxton Hotel, and CitizenM.

Maintaining Exclusivity

Ryan Bean began the conversation by stating that “we aren’t necessarily seeing boutique hotels becoming mainstream, but they are becoming more popular.” The rise of technology and social media has created a significantly more accessibility to information about places, things and concepts that were once considered niche or had some air of exclusivity, boutique hotels are just one example. Bean notes that when the boutique concept began in the 1980’s, it was largely unknown to the everyday traveler. Now, guests are more discerning in general and that is simply the way the market has gone, again, boutique hotels are just one of many examples of this trend. Boutique brands have become so popular, they are even popping up in some secondary, suburban markets. However, this doesn’t mean that the boutique concept is necessarily allowed to become “less boutique” in the midst of greater demand. Amie Marben notes that while the demand has grown, the challenge for developers and designers has shifted slightly. “A lot of what we do now involves how you keep that exclusivity and intrigue for the guest,” she said. All panelists agreed that while maintaining intrigue was a key concept related to keeping boutique hotels true to their form, a lot of this has to do with the placement of the hotel. Location is paramount in attracting the target market.

Location and Form

All panelists agreed that while boutique brands are popping up everywhere in terms of the type of submarket, a true boutique hotel tends to be urban. “We generally see these in more hip, or up-and-coming areas where our target market is likely to congregate,” said Margaux Rotter. The target market tends to be those who are design conscious and fashion forward. She went on to elaborate that the location is also important in giving guests a sense of locality. The boutique hotel guest tends to be a bit more discerning and will want to experience an authentic slice of the city in which they are staying. Local design, nature, shops, and restaurants all play heavily into the site selection and guest experience of a boutique hotel. As for the design, all panelists agreed that a key characteristic is that it “has a story to tell, it has a soul.”

A lot of this “story and soul” is directly attributed to the aesthetics of the establishment. Generally, the guest rooms vary in their look, they are not uniform. Also, common areas tend to either be exquisite in design, or not exist at all. Boutique hotels with minimal to no common areas and limited amenities have come to be known as “select brands” and they cater more to crowds who intend on spending very little time in their hotel rooms. Other types of boutique brands include “soft brands,” which are essentially boutique hotels under the name of a chain. Soft brands can give some consumers the sense of security and familiarity of staying at a well-known and credible chain. However, the soft brands tend to be more individualistic, which is a direct result of their ability to be more liberal and unique with design standards. The design principles of boutique hotels have also caught on to traditional (not soft branded) chain hotel establishments, as they are increasingly open to considering design shifts. Although, soft brands, in a way, provide a certain consumer with the feeling they are getting “the best of both worlds.” Still, the chain establishments will inevitably have their corporate image and standards to maintain, part of what sets them so far apart from the boutique brands they have been competing with. With a rise in boutique hotels happening everywhere, even within chain hotels, we may see the whole industry shift, at least from a design standard.

SCDF’s Annual Night Under the Stars Cocktail Mixer Features 2019’s Philanthropic Award Recipients

Mon, 29 Jul 2019 22:24:07 GMT

On Thursday, July 18, leaders in the Southern California real estate industry gathered to mix and mingle at our 2019 Annual Night Under the Stars Cocktail Mixer. We enjoyed stunning views from the packed and lively rooftop terrace of the California Club, overlooking the soft lights of downtown Los Angeles, against a backdrop of a Southern California sunset.

In keeping with the tradition of our summer cocktail mixer, SCDF was proud to announce the 2019 Philanthropic Award recipients. The two philanthropies recognized were Students 4 Students and Schools on Wheels. Students 4 Students is a unique organization as it is a student-operated charity, hosted by a church. We were joined by Reverend Eric C. Shafer and his wife, Kris Shafer of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Santa Monica. The church provides the facilities needed to host the Students 4 Students program.

Both organizations serve charitable causes related to homeless students and education in the greater Los Angeles area. Representing Schools on Wheels, was Charles Evans, the organization’s chief regional officer. As a native of South Los Angeles, Charles is familiar with the obstacles faced by students, and how to overcome them.

SCDF feels privileged to be able to grant both organizations our 2019 Philanthropic Award.

“We feel it is especially important to highlight these causes which Schools on Wheels and Students 4 Students have devoted themselves to, said SCDF President, Ann McLennan. “Our industries have a unique opportunity to collaborate with organizations fighting homelessness.”

We will be honoring the 2019 Philanthropic Award recipients at the Annual Design & Philanthropy Awards, which will also be hosted at the California Club in downtown Los Angeles in December 2019.

Higher Education - Planning for Future Generations

Fri, 21 Jun 2019 21:04:27 GMT

Higher Ed

This month’s discussion was led by six female panelists – an impressive number for the development industry, which is often characterized, perhaps rightfully so, as being male-dominated. Our event was a complete success with both individual and sponsor tickets completely sold out. The City Club was packed with people who gathered around to hear what is at the forefront of higher education design. The panel was moderated by Catherine Kniazewycz, campus architect and director of design and construction at California State University, Northridge. She brings a breadth of experience in higher education design as she has also served in similar roles at UC Merced and UC Berkeley.

Panelists included: Elvyra (Vi) San Juan, assistant vice chancellor at the CSU Chancellor’s Office; Julie Hendricks, director of design and construction services and campus architect at UC Santa Barbara; Crista D. Copp, Ed.D., director of educational technology services and support at Loyola Marymount University; Anne Eisele, director of projects and energy management at Pomona College; and Monica Amalfitano, associate director and campus engineer at Cal State Long Beach. With so many changes, both taking place, and looming in the horizon, each panelist had unique ideas about what the future of higher education facilities might look like.

Campuses in Transition

Kniazewycz began the discussion by mentioning that many campuses are changing to reflect a shift in student demand. Hendricks, who works at and earned her bachelor’s degree from UCSB noted that the campus has undergone an evolution into a research institution. This is especially notable since UCSB was originally a liberal arts school. Transforming from a liberal arts-oriented campus to a research institute doesn’t happen overnight, but it also doesn’t happen without considerable renovations. For example, UCSB is in the process of construction on its first classroom building in 50 years. The campus is also undergoing a seismic assessment, looking at earthquake maintenance and seismic retrogrades in anticipation of future disasters.

Elvyra San Juan, who brings perspective from a multitude of campuses, notes that many universities are looking into several renovations and new additions – for various reasons. With a role that oversees capital, planning, and construction, San Juan noted that the CSU system is increasingly engaging in public-private partnerships to accommodate new construction for approximately 450,000 students across 23 campuses. With so many renovations happening at various schools, Crista Copp of Loyola Marymount University, poses the question of just how we will teach in these new spaces. This question rings true for Pomona College as well, who Anne Eisele said also has a student population which is very interested in STEM fields, but attends a campus which was intended to teach liberal arts.

Rethinking Learning Spaces

One common ground that all panelists seemed to find was that in order to educate for the unknown jobs of the future, one thing that needed to be done was to rethink the spaces they are taught in. Monica Amalfitano added that rethinking spaces is clearly a priority, but it is probably secondary to building structures that will last for the next 60 to 70 years. As for the space itself, the concept of an “active learning space” is something which resonated with each panelist. An active learning space is not always what we would think of as a typical classroom. Instead, these spaces are flexible for many different types of learning. Some of their characteristics include: furniture which is easily rearranged, multiple screens, and the ability for professors change the focal point of the room. Instruction within these active learning spaces can be turned in multiple different ways. These spaces will also include non-traditional seating such as hi-tops, couches and pods.

Crista Copp gave the audience a breakdown of LMU’s active learning spaces, explaining that at the campus, which has an average class size of about 20 students and 250 different learning spaces. Of the 250, 100 of those are general purpose classrooms, out of that only 7 are currently in the active learning space category. She added that LMU’s strength was actually within a different concept called makerspace. This style of learning area, sometimes also referred to as a “hackerspace” is different from an active learning space in that it contains the tools and resources required to make specific projects. At LMU, makerspaces are separate for each distinct college, but they are developing one that is going to be available for use by all colleges. Copp points out that campus wide makerspaces have failed as they were not closely related enough to the classroom material. In her experience, these spaces are most successful is when they are very directly connected to what is going on inside the classroom.

Makerspaces are creeping into campus libraries, which are increasing getting rid of books, as their purpose is dwindling. Monica Amalfitano pointed out that Cal State Long Beach has a great makerspace which has been highly effective, but is also filling a VR space where students from any college can work. In the Long Beach example, Amalfitano’s experience differed from Copp’s in that their makerspace proved to be the most collaborative for students between all colleges and the faculty is seeing students from all colleges collaborating on projects.

Collaboration and Flexibility are the Key

Despite some differences between campuses, two things seem to be the common denominator when designing for the future of higher education – collaboration and flexibility. In order to successfully plan for students and careers of the future, designers will need to prioritize spaces with accommodate multiple learning styles and facilitate collaboration, as well as creativity. These concepts be applied to any campus, regardless of size or student population.

Destination: Experience. How modern expectations are shaping the way we travel.

Fri, 17 May 2019 21:24:37 GMT

Aviation

Our May breakfast panel on the topic of aviation was extremely well attended with approximately 170 guests who arrived bright and early for the event. The discussion tackled how airports are becoming more experiential and customer-service-centric spaces rather than strictly operational and functioning solely as transportation hubs. The panel was moderated by George Makrinos, AIA, AC Martin, who has 14 years of aviation design experience. Panelists included: Barbara Yamamoto, Chief Experience Officer of Los Angeles World Airports, the governing body for Los Angeles area airports; Katherine Goudreau, Managing Director of Facilities at American Airlines; and Kirk Demers, Airport Manager, Virgin Australia. All panelists come from different avenues of the aviation industry which are especially tailored to the customer experience aspect of traveling.

Moderator George Makrinos opened the panel with astonishing statistics highlighting the fact that aviation is experiencing a period of unprecedented growth. In this time of rapid expansion throughout the aviation sector, an estimated $1.5 trillion is needed for renovations and new construction in order to meet the demands of flying customers. Makrinos referenced 12 million passengers in the air daily on an estimated 128,000 flights. LAX, the world’s fourth busiest airport, saw 87.5 million passengers passing through their gates last year. Makrinos also pointed out that while highly utilized, LAX is currently planning up to 30 new gates at terminals 0 and 9, which is new construction of interest to many audience members.

LA Exceptional Experience Initiative

Barbara Yamamoto pointed out that while new construction is important, the guest experience is not forgotten in the face of facilities expansion. Yamamoto cited the currently underway “LAXceptional Xperience” initiative driven by Los Angeles World Airports.

“Airports receive special attention and more scrutiny under programs like this,” said Yamamoto. “This is because we are often the first and last impression a traveler will have on the entire city of Los Angeles.”

Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is very passionate and driven by the guest experience and looks to elevate LAX to a higher global standard in order to parallel the more sophisticated and highly-amenitized airports of Asia and Europe.

“Airports have gone from being just a facility to an entire experience, it is a huge culture shift into more of a hospitality mentality,” Yamamoto continued.

Katherine Goudreau agreed with the sentiment that experience is now extremely crucial to airport travel, but added that this does in fact extend all the way to the facility itself. Goudreau noted that LAX is American Airlines’ west coast hub and serves as the gateway to Asia for the airline. Among the goals for LAX at American Airlines is to bring their terminal into the 21^st century. Of course, this is the goal for the rest of the airport as well, but Goudreau noted the importance of doing so across all levels of the facility, including employee areas. LAX employs approximately 50,000 people who cater to the needs of an exponentially larger number of passengers. Goudreau pointed out her belief in a strategy which addresses the needs of this smaller, employee population, whose wellbeing facilitates airport operations and customer satisfaction.

“At American Airlines, we have adopted a mentality that if employees are treated well, they will treat the passengers well,” Goudreau said.

Goudreau also noted the importance of thinking about TSA checkpoints differently and taking logistics and emerging technology into consideration. She noted AA’s research and development initiatives focused on creating easier and more pleasant experience through security lines, while providing additional space at checkpoints.

Tech and Other Facility Concerns

Kirk Demers also highlighted the importance of facility improvements on the airside due to the need to park planes and accommodate ground service equipment between flights. Demers also addressed the need to consider any impact construction may have on surrounding communities.

“We need to be good neighbors to Inglewood, El Segundo, Westchester and other areas,” he said. “That means talking to them and explaining what our business is about and any opportunity that this might create for them,” he added.

Technology, as in many other industries, is a large part of the story of expansion and renovations. Biometrics and other innovation technologies are being implemented into the guest experience to decrease wait times and streamline processes. LAX is also a TSA Innovation Airport and boasts the most automated screen lanes of any airport in the USA. This designation is given by the TSA Task Force, an agency who works directly with airport property management staff, industry partners, and airlines to bring cutting-edge security screening technology to security checkpoints. These efforts are undertaken to not only improve the overall guest experience, but to enhance the TSA’s security capabilities through innovative methods.

Ringing true to the forward-thinking nature of Los Angeles, LAX is among the first airports to test pilot programs before further application at other airports. Recently, LAX launched an app-based pilot program for blind and visually-impaired passengers. The program provides instant access to a live person who can help them navigate through the airport. As the fourth busiest airport in the world, LAX sees a great diversity of passengers, and must cater to the unique needs of each demographic. While technology is a great tool for facilitating this, it is hardly the only tool being used to create more positive experiences. Barbara Yamamoto noted that while technology is paramount to prioritizing customer service and guest perceptions in 2019, it is really the people of LAX who are the proverbial “icing on the cake” of a great airport experience, a term which almost seems like an oxymoron.

“Technology and innovation are great, but we cannot lose sight of the human touch,” said Yamamoto. “It is very possible to do this and LAX will have new construction AND an elevated guest experience, there is no OR about it.”

Can We Build our Way out of LA’s Housing Crisis?

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 01:34:56 GMT

As our nation’s most populated state, burdened with an exorbitant cost of living, its hard to comprehend how California will emerge from our current housing crisis. The issue often becomes a sociopolitical tug-of-war, with long-time or native-born residents generally opposing development as they cling to the ideal of the old California. Our state was often romanticized as the “new world” or the “land of plenty” in generations past. Newcomers found space was abundant, and an image of suburban sprawl became the norm. A stark contrast to density-driven cities along the Atlantic, such as New York or Boston. Fast forward to 2019, and this mentality has produced a sea of single-family homes on postage stamp-sized lots, all stacked right up against each other. Congestion, soaring rents and home prices are additional side effects of this antiquated view, which is no longer sustainable. Los Angeles is in desperate need of more housing – and long overdue for a wake-up call.

The development community, and other forward-thinking individuals are eager to solve this problem, but in this land of sardine-packed suburbia, the only way is up. New building initiatives, which tend to incorporate density, are often met with opposition, mandated fees, and sky-high construction costs. In our April panel event, we hosted a group of development professionals and city officials to address the lingering question of whether or not Los Angeles can truly build its way out of the housing crisis. If the only way is up, just how willing are we to put the past aside and go there?

Not Much Left for the Middle

Kevin Keller, executive officer for the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, opened the panel by explaining how the government entity is tasked with reviewing all developments of scale, while also trying to ensure that new homes for all income types are being built. The building of new homes is widely accepted as a crucial component to ending the Los Angeles housing crisis. Moderator Edgar Khalatian, partner at Mayer Brown, a law firm specializing in real estate, added that even Mayor Eric Garcetti is in support of new development. Under Garcetti, the city of Los Angeles has implemented a goal of building 100,000 new units by 2021. Since 2013, when Garcetti first announced this intention, the city has approved permits for 92,000 new units. Khalatian added that while this number is large, it pales in comparison to what is needed to alleviate rent-burdened families across Los Angeles. In addition to the shortage of housing, there is most notably a shortage of affordable housing.

Housing permits are up 49% which is roughly 21,000 units, with affordable units increasing by almost 63%, but in terms of hard numbers, affordable housing units have increased by only 1,600 units. Approximately 1,100 of which are reserved for very low-income households. The propensity for city governments to reserve affordable housing permits to very low-income households is a noble act; however, it creates even more of a shortage and less of a solution for the majority of residents who fall somewhere in the middle of the affordability spectrum. Panelists all agreed that there is a mismatch between the housing supply and the jobs in our region, and the simple fact that affordable housing costs roughly the same amount to build as luxury housing, doesn’t seem to be helping anyone.

“Without subsidies, it is very difficult to build affordable housing,” said Khalatian. “Land costs are the same, entitlement process is the same, consultant costs are the same, the only difference is the revenue source.”

With much of the new developments being geared toward both extreme ends of the spectrum, many are asking themselves why the current development boom is not catered more toward middle-income households. Panelists agreed the incentivization of middle-income housing development needs to be prioritized in order to reach real solutions.

The Only Way is Up

The rate of return is also a major factor that either helps, or hurts development efforts – of all asset classes. Clifford P. Goldstein, founder of GPI Companies, pointed out that construction costs often have an overwhelmingly harsh effect on development.

“We are down to building on about a 5% to a 5.5% return on residential projects,” said Goldstein. “And there are some investors who simply won’t even take on a project with such a low return on cost.”

This is especially problematic for Southern California because the low rate of return threatens the flow of capital, which is essential to a healthy economy. As construction costs continue to rise, the rate of return is unlikely to increase. If this trend persists, Los Angeles is likely to see the capital necessary for development, move to other parts of the country with more promising rates of return.

“Development is inherently risky, and when looking at opportunities, we have to look at many different metrics,” said Patrick Rhodes III of Brookfield Properties. “We need to be able to develop to a percentage of yield that coincides with our cap rate, this is becoming harder and harder.”

This would only further compound the housing crisis as it would deter development even further, leaving Los Angeles with older and increasingly deteriorating units. Reducing the cost of development is a necessary step in the right direction, but accomplishing this is not an easy task. This would require the dismantling of multiple sets of systems across state and local jurisdictions which have often opposed large scale vertical developments, especially those which favor density.

“70% of people in Los Angeles agree we have a housing crisis, but around the same percentage (70%) don’t want to see more housing in their neighborhoods,” said Khalatian. “Large changes in policy will immediately spur more development, but people need to become open to it.”

A solution to the housing crisis in Los Angeles has many forces stacked against it. Cheaper development costs are a solution, although not the most feasible. What really needs to happen is Angelenos need to get out of their own way. Communities need to come together and find mutually beneficial solutions. Our 88-city nation-state needs to realize we are all in this together, and what is good for one neighborhood, is good for all. The dream of a big house with a white-picket fence, is a dream which ended decades ago – and we have run out of times to hit the snooze button. Solving this problem will take a great change, to both our urban landscape and our mentality. The solution to the housing crisis is in fact, more development. Los Angeles can build its way out of this crisis, and the only way is up.

Healthcare 2019: The Near and Far Future of Healthcare Design

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 17:03:51 GMT

Of all the various issues that can plague the development community, none is so crucial to the general population as healthcare. Ensuring our medical facilities are adequate and up-to-date is one of the most pressing items. In this month’s panel event, hundreds of architects, engineers, and more, filed into the California Club to hear from a group of panelists at the forefront of the medical facility planning and development processes. In one of our most heavily attended events, panelists discussed how the various issues in the healthcare industry will affect development, Southern California, and the nation as a whole.

Sarah Meeker Jensen, AIA, LEED AP, President of Jensen + Partners began the program by introducing the 4 panelists who work in different domains of healthcare development. Jean Mah, FAIA, FACHA, LEED AP of Perkins + Will, who is a principal and healthcare planner, has been recognized for her innovative style. The second panelist, Andrew K. Moey, AIA, is an assistant deputy director at Los Angeles County Public Works. Projects he has worked on include the renovation and master-planning of UCLA Harbor Medical Center, which is currently in development stages. Our final panelist, who was quite a rarity, was George Tingwald, MD, AIA, ACHA of Stanford Healthcare. Dr. Tingwald was able to provide unique perspectives due to his experience as both a physician and an architect, which also serve him exceptionally well in creating medical facility master plans.

Sustainability in Medical Facilities

Our panel discussion touched on many topics which pertain to sustainability, both of individual medical facilities as well as the state of the healthcare industry itself.

“Hospitals are the most challenging building type to make sustainable, but they also present some of the biggest opportunities for designers,” said Jean Mah. “The potential benefits to people and the environment are so high.”

All panelists had their own concerns regarding the sustainability of our current healthcare facility model. This is especially important to California – both northern and southern – whose metro areas face increasingly limited quantities of space. San Jose, was noted specifically as having a notable access problem with over 350,000 individuals being turned away from hospitals in 2018 alone. Other issues relate to the resiliency of structures. It is estimated that between 20% and 40% of California hospitals may be forced in to closure in the near future due to the inability to fund seismic retrofitting renovations, which are mandated by state law. While these regulations have the best intentions, they can often hamper development efforts. This can be especially precarious in the arena of structures which provide essential services, hospitals being among them.

Current Successes, Failures and Looming Crises

While the panelists delivered mostly sobering information during the discussion, not everything was laden with bad news. For instance, some of successes that were noted by panelists centered around certain progress made in the realm of behavioral health.

“Healthcare in Los Angeles has developed to place a large emphasis on behavioral healthcare,” said Andrew K. Moey. “However, for it to be truly successful on a long-term basis, healthcare professionals must adapt a model in which behavioral health is fully integrated into mainstream medical care,” he continued.

Other panelists agreed that while progress has been made, there is still abundant room for improvement. Issues surrounding behavioral health are especially pertinent in Southern California, a region notorious for being rife with homeless individuals, many of whom are suffering from mental illness, addiction, and other behavioral health issues.

“These problems affect many areas of society, we need to move into a model of behavioral health that removes those who are suffering from the vicious cycle they are caught up in,” said Moey of the current shortcomings.

Wellness, a popular concept which has taken the healthcare landscape by storm in the last decade was noted by panelists as largely being a failure. This concept is perhaps better suited towards retail environments in the form of a service provided, not necessarily healthcare. Looming crises include the current statistics of nurses and physicians.

“Around 50% of nurses and doctors are over the age of 50,” said Tingwald. “This is especially going to affect the baby boomer generation, who are the next generation to advance into the upper stages of aging.”

Panelists all agreed that while development efforts are crucial in the future of the healthcare landscape, the medical profession must also reconsider how doctors and nurses are trained. In addition to training, medical professionals must continue to work with members of the development community to provide both the best care for patients, as well as the best working environment for hospital staff.

Mitigating Disaster: Bolstering Southern California’s Resiliency

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 19:50:38 GMT

Among the various challenges associated with life in Southern California, resiliency is one that needs to be discussed with greater frequency. Surely the devastation of the recent Woolsey Fire, and the potential threat of mudslides almost immediately after serve as the most recent example of our vulnerability to the surrounding natural environment. The moments that follow a natural disaster, from realization to actual rebuilding are what seems to be when people are most concerned with resiliency. However, our February panel event speakers explained why resiliency measures need to become a continuous dialogue, rather than limited only to the moments after suffering a catastrophic loss of property or lives.

The Issue of Perception

The event was moderated by John Bwarie, deputy director at Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society. The center was founded with the intent to activate the use of science in the creation of more resilient communities. John began the conversation by pointing out that while resilience and sustainability are both topics of concern in the development community, there is an added level of difficulty surrounding them as both concepts deal with an issue of perception. What is perceived as a resilient measure in one community, may not be as applicable to another. For example, the panel’s next guest speaker, Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner, who was recently re-elected as mayor for the city of Malibu, lives in a community where truly sustainable building practices would include preventative fire safety measures. This should come as no surprise given that the recent Woolsey Fire tore through his city, destroying 670 total structures including at least 400 single-family homes. In total, the fire burned about 96 thousand acres. Given the topography of Malibu, the threat of fire is much more likely than perhaps Downtown Los Angeles where the panel was held. A community such as Downtown Los Angeles would more likely be concerned about seismic resiliency rather than wildfire resiliency. This difference in need contributes the issue of how resiliency is perceived. Like sustainability, resiliency can be open to interpretation, which means it can be difficult to incorporate when considering re-development opportunities. A second panelist, Matt Barnard, principal at Degenkolb, agreed that because resiliency is a localized experience, it is difficult to broadly define. All panelists agreed that regardless of our difficulty in defining resiliency, there needs to be more discussion to move Southern California into a resilient direction.

What Keeps You Up At Night?

Another common theme for the panel discussion was a simple question often asked of leaders and decision makers: What keeps you up at night? Carey Upton, Chief Operations Officer at Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District stated that a primary area of concern within the school district is ensuring that children will have the ability to safely attend school. Additionally, public schools are sometimes used as evacuation facilities. As schools are a cornerstone of any community, they will always need to be designed for safety as well as resiliency. School districts also have the challenge of incorporating resiliency measures into the structure not just for today, but for the generations of tomorrow.

Christian Johnston, founder of the Sustainable Building Council, added that his work has taken him to visit many communities who are freshly in the wake of coping with natural disaster. The devastation endured by residents and the overwhelming desire for families and individuals to rebuild their lives, and more importantly, the need to help these people, is what keeps him awake at night. While panelists all had different aspects of resiliency and sustainability that might stir in their minds, all agreed that the Northridge Earthquake of 1994is the Southern California natural disaster that is one of the most pronounced in their minds when considering how to better plan for resiliency to seismic activity. However Matt pointed out that the Northridge earthquake, although memorable, is not large compared to “the Big One” that threatens Southern California.

Risk

Another common connection made among all panelists was risk. Many communities are built in areas at high risk of enduring a natural disaster, and if a disaster occurs, we have seen them be rebuilt, only with the same structures and infrastructure as before. One audience member pointed out that Tejon Ranch, a master-planned community near the Grapevine in northern Los Angeles County, was approved for additional home construction sites in high-risk burn areas less than a month after the destruction of the Woolsey Fire ended on the other side of Los Angeles County. This has led many sustainability- and resiliency-oriented development professionals to question not just how rebuilding should occur but also if the risk of disaster outweighs the need to rebuild at all in specific areas especially prone to disaster. However, eliminating a community’s attempt to rebuild in the area they have known as home can be a restrictive tactic that may meet fierce opposition by recently displaced residents who want to rebuild their community.

The key takeaway is that resiliency needs to be approached more eagerly and with the entire community’s best interests at heart. Truly, resilience is the capacity for humans to survive, adapt and grow, regardless of what shocks or stressors ensue. It is an effort that will take full cooperation by developers, residents, and governments, alike.

The 2019 Annual SCDF Real Estate & Economic Forecast: California Dreaming – If the Gold is Going, will Green Save the Dream?

Tue, 29 Jan 2019 20:47:57 GMT

Whether you are a native of California or a fresh arrival, the phrase “California dream” is likely one you have heard. However, it’s meaning has changed over time. Today, our state grapples with a multitude of unique issues that affect our economy and industry in a variety of ways. As the most populous state in the nation, and also burdened with a housing shortage, developers must consider certain trends and opportunities when conducting business. Larry Kosmont, president and CEO of Kosmont Companies, partnered up with Lew Horne, division president of Southern California, Arizona, and Hawaii at CBRE, led a panel discussion focusing on these issues.

The Year of the H

Lew Horne kicked off the panel discussion by breaking down the core concepts which he referred to as the year of the “H”, or 4 key elements beginning with the letter “H” that make Los Angeles so unique. The first among them was the historic forum characteristic.

More importantly the historic forum aspect of our city is highlighted in the adaptive reuse category. Horne notes that while Los Angeles is lush with adaptive reuse projects, they are most apparent in Downtown Los Angeles and the Arts District. The Apple Store going into DTLA is a prime example of adaptive reuse. There have also been speculations that Apple’s selection of this space may be a signal that the tech company may venture into becoming a major Hollywood content creator.

The second “H” pointed out by Horne is high density, which is somewhat of a divisive issue among Angelenos. Horne also alluded to the fact that Los Angeles hosted 50 million visitors last year alone. A high demand for space by both the hospitality industry, as well as local residents continues to create issues centered around real estate development in a time where space is at a premium. To put it simply, when talking about Downtown Los Angeles, the only way is up. The region was home to approximately 50,000 residents 2 years ago, present day figures show the number has surged to slightly over 70,000 residents.

High-tech is the third “H” as pointed out by Horne. “Tech quite simply, is changing everything,” he said. “It is changing offices, changing industrial and changing retail. Tech is the new industrial revolution.”

Horne also mentions that tech tenants, which are innovative and forward-thinking in nature, view adaptive reuse as a way to attract and retain talent.

Whether brand new or redeveloped, Los Angeles is the number one target for foreign investment. Horne cited an approximately $170B in foreign investment capital being poured into the metro area over the course of the last 5 years. To the shock of much of the audience, Canada is largest foreign investor in Los Angeles, and the United States as a whole. About 50% of class-A buildings are the result of, or supplemented by Canadian investments.

Homelessness was cited as the final “H” in Horne’s dialogue. Los Angeles a city with approximately 58,000 homeless residents on any given night, has often been described as “ground zero” for homelessness in the United States.

“This situation is here for 2 reasons, we are not passing the correct laws and also it’s a real estate issue, pure NIMBY’ism,” he said. “No one wants to see it.”

Horne has taken this issue on as a corporate social responsibility initiative for CBRE. Regardless of any private efforts, the homelessness crisis must be solved at the legal level through cooperation of local governments.

California’s New Direction

Larry Kosmont, chairman and CEO of Kosmont Companies continued the conversation by noting that many of the trends identified by Horne currently affect decisions made by California real estate and development professionals.

“It’s a very complicated and diverse economy, which is exciting,” said Kosmont. “The reality is that California is looked at as place that seems to want to make changes, and do it right, but doesn’t always get it right, however, this is a common characteristic of any leader.”

Kosmont Companies is a real estate, financial advisory and economic development services firm offering a full range of services for both the public and private sectors.

“We are always at the convergence of public and private transactions, it’s an interesting perspective as to how public and private investment work, whether it be collaboratively or competitively. In our state, there is a little bit of both in the equation,” said Kosmont.

Kosmont pointed out that policy makers in California are taking our state into a green economy.

“As real estate investors, we need to get on board with this idea because these ideas are not going to go away,” said Kosmont.

Much of the sustainability-minded changes are driven by Millennials, who are also having less children, meaning demographics in our state are changing.

“California is also getting older, we don’t have as many children here anymore. We import and we transport,” said Kosmont in reference to California’s youth and workforce

Economically, the middle-class in our state is shrinking as the affordability crisis deepens. Our new governor, Gavin Newsom is prioritizing housing, homelessness and healthcare. Kosmont feels that our current balance is not sustainable to continue growth in our economy.

However, there is no single solution to solving this problem. Our state needs more housing, but housing trends are changing. Urbanization is taking a different form.

“Millennials want an ‘urban suburbia’ where they can walk freely, but also have access to good schools and other suburban comforts,” he said.

While Millennials demands might be a driving force for real estate and development professionals today, they are only one piece of the puzzle in our state’s complex economy. While the California Dream may have changed drastically, the idea persists. As our state struggles to deal with a set of complex issues, real estate and development professionals will be tasked with keeping the California Dream alive.

Design & Philanthropy Awards 2018

Sun, 23 Dec 2018 19:16:53 GMT

Bill Feathers Award

Each year, SCDF awards an industry professional with the William Feathers Award of Distinction. This award was created in honor of William (Bill), the founder of SCDF and his influence on our community.

A man of humble beginnings, Bill's greatest desire was to help others succeed. Bill was highly personable, kind, compassionate, & extremely generous with his business knowledge. He loved Los Angeles and all that it had to offer its citizens and visitors.

Each year SCDF honors an individual who, like Bill, shares that same passion for Los Angeles and has made significant contributions in our industry. This year's Bill Feather's Award goes to Dan Rosenfeld.

Dan Rosenfeld

In addition to the Design Awards, Southern California Development Forum has thoroughly enjoyed hosting monthly events throughout 2018, click here for a one minute recap video. We have been able to bring together members of the development community across all segments of our industry. From architecture to developers to business executives, and more, our events serve as a way to connect passionate and visionary individuals to one another. This year’s 2018 Design & Philanthropy Awards were the perfect sign off to a great year. Held at the beautiful and historic California Club in downtown Los Angeles, we honored a number of exceptional organizations for their work. Most notably, we recognized two philanthropies, New Earth Organization, and USC Veterans Association. We also recognized Gensler with a “development team of the year” award for their work on Banc of California Stadium project.

New Earth Organization

Located in Culver City, New Earth provides youth with mentor-based creative arts and educational programs. Currently, New Earth serves approximately 700 young people on a weekly basis. What makes this philanthropic organization unique is that the youth they serve are incarcerated in Los Angeles County detention facilities, and the Orange County Juvenile Hall. Mentors enrich the lives of incarcerated and at-risk youth through programs including: construction, poetry, music production, gardening, and fitness.

Harry Grammer, founder of New Earth, receiving award (click here for video)

Upon release from incarceration, youth may attend meetings at the New Earth Arts & Leadership center in Culver City. However, the meetings at the philanthropy’s Culver City center vary greatly from the programs they receive while incarcerated. At the central location, program attendees receive career training and jobs. There are also opportunities for youth to obtain a fully accredited high school education, as well as mentorship, case management, and other wrap-around services that equip them for success as they become reintegrated into society after release from incarceration.

Since 2004, New Earth has been dedicated to improving the lives of incarcerated and at-risk youth. From humble beginnings, working out of a coffee shop, to a currently 14-site organization serving nearly 2,000 young adults per year, New Earth has thrived. They have not strayed from their mission of transforming the lives of youth in vulnerable populations.

“These kids get labeled young. And it's hard to pull themselves out of that," said Harry Grammer, founder of New Earth. “We're doing everything we can to keep them out of the adult system. That's what drives us."

USC Veteran’s Association

Since 2008, the University of Southern California has been offering various types of support for student veterans. At its inception, the USCVA was formed due to the influx of veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, the student organization consists of men and women from all branches and ranks of the Armed Forces, who have served in a variety of military events. The members include undergraduate and graduate students from a rich diversity of majors. Together, the combination of experiences and perspectives – some in common and some strikingly different – all create an environment where student veterans are able to access opportunities and resources.

USC Student Veterans Association (click here for video)

The USCVA provides members with a sense of belonging that is synonymous with the “esprit de corps” that is found among both veterans and Trojans, alike. This feeling of pride and fellowship from being associated with USCVA not only gives USC student veterans a sense of feeling seen and heard, but also a community which they can call their own. Among the many services that USCVA coordinates for members, housing may be the most crucial. Veterans face significantly higher risk and rates of homelessness. This year, the USCVA was able to launch a housing program for student veterans who are in need.

Brandon Wexler, current president of USCVA is no stranger to the challenges faced by veterans as they re-enter civilian life. Having veered close to homelessness, Wexler, a Navy veteran is now a double major in cognitive science and linguistics. His own experiences and commitment to service suit him well in his current position as resident adviser of a USCVA property.

“Now I have the tools to help other veterans at USC,” Wexler said. “I can tell them ‘the university’s providing affordable housing for us. You have a place to stay.’”

Development Team of the Year

We also recognized a new category for Development Team of the Year. Architectural powerhouse, Gensler, along with PCL Construction and Los Angeles Football Club design and construction teams, took the first win for their work in Banc of California Stadium. Located directly off the I-110 Freeway, the sleek, silver design has caught the eyes of many commuters. Covering 15 acres in the shadows of nearby Exposition Park, which is home to L.A. Memorial Coliseum, the structure is home to the Los Angeles Football Club, a new Major League Soccer franchise.

The 22,000-seat stadium is the first open air sports venue to be built in Los Angeles since Dodger Stadium in 1962. Built to foster a personal relationship between players and fans through experiential architecture reminiscent of European stadiums, the stadium also contains a conference center, restaurants and a soccer museum.

All in all, it was a fantastic event and a great display of support by the SoCal A/E/C community to SCDF’s mission and continued efforts to bring together the best minds in Southern California.

TECH Downloads Real Estate at High Speed: A Discussion of SoCal Market Trends for Media/Tech

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 18:38:53 GMT

The creative media industries have long been synonymous with the Los Angeles metro area. It is estimated that about 1 in 6 citizens in Los Angeles County work in the creative industry in some capacity. More recently, tech has also made a lasting impression on the state of California, in more than one major city. While the bulk of the tech industry remains concentrated in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco metro area, Los Angeles has seen an influx of these companies arriving to conduct business operations. Both the tech and creative media industries attract a talent pool of highly skilled and creatively inclined workers from which to hire.

The effects that these industries have on our real estate market are well documented and often a source of discussion among California residents. The high-paying jobs in the tech industry are often scapegoated as the primary force driving up rents and home prices. On the commercial side, many of the streaming services, most notably Netflix, are buying and leasing large commercial spaces for content creation purposes. Not only do these endeavors require a large amount of space, but they often aim to develop in highly desirable and already densely populated locations.

On November 13, SCDF hosted a Creative Media in Real Estate panel at City Club LA. The panel consisted of 4 real estate and development professionals who weighed in on what it takes to secure a prominent tech or creative media tenant in a commercial space in the Los Angeles market. Moderated by Michael White, AIA, Managing Principal at Gensler, the panel discussion touched on tariffs, construction challenges, and the ripple effects of these industries when they enter a market. Panelists included: Christopher J. Barton, EVP of Development and Capital Investments at Hudson Pacific Partners, Dean B. Rostovsky, Managing Director and Acquisitions Officer at Clarion Partners, and Ryan Smith, EVP of Investments, Western US at Hackman Capital Partners.

The Effect of Tariffs on Development

Dean Rostovsky opened the discussion by touching on the effect of the trade wars on development as a whole. He noted that the first set of tariffs to arrive affected the cost of aluminum and steel, which was about a 20% increase. The second wave of tariffs came in the middle of the year and affected secondary building materials such as tile, granite, and other materials used in the production of household fixtures like countertops and cabinets. The Chinese government subsidized many American companies who were being subjected to these tariffs, so the effects of these taxes have been minimal so far. This offset by the Chinese government has ensured that most negative impacts have remained largely unfelt, especially for those major tech and creative media enterprises who usually have significant construction or real estate budgets. However, labor has also been affected. Certain segments of development are able to pass along higher labor costs to tenants, which is more common in commercial and industrial real estate. This “passing the buck,” so to speak, in labor costs, is far more difficult to do when dealing with residential real estate. While these challenges regarding labor costs are much more difficult to mitigate, Chris J. Barton of Hudson Pacific Partners shared one simple yet highly effective strategy for dealing with tariffs.

“We bought large amounts of material, and stored it for future use,” said Barton. “However, this is not a permanent solution as we will eventually run out of stored material and have to purchase new. The labor shortage is a far more pressing issue for our industry,” he continued.

Creative Media and Tech Tenants

Barton continued the conversation by revealing that much of the new development for Hudson Pacific Partners has been directly associated with the demand for new content by Netflix. He noted that streaming services, or new media companies are spending over $24B in content creation, of which Netflix comprises over 50%. Currently, Netflix is at about 2.1 million square feet total space in their portfolio. May 2015 is when Netflix really began to grow, and in this timeframe, Hudson Pacific Partners was able to strike a 10-year-deal with Netflix for studio and production space. Barton noted that while promising, a deal of this magnitude is highly atypical, especially for the creative media industry, which typically signs one-year leases.

Netflix has an advantage in the eyes of developers due to their unique need for major and diverse property types such as soundstages, creative offices, and support space. The addition of studio lots and content creation space has made them even more enticing to developers. Tech and creative media companies, especially those that are newly built, tend to have more inventive architecture, with a mix of indoor and outdoor spaces, as opposed to a traditional high-rise structure. This requires developers to collaborate with architects for innovative designs. Gensler was noted as being the architect of record for both Icon Venue Group and EPIC, two creative office campuses located in Downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood, respectively. EPIC is currently in the early stages of construction. Digital renderings showcase multiple outdoor terraces, flanked by modestly-sized trees. In addition to Netflix, Dean Rostovsky, of Clarion Partners pointed out that there is a huge demand for commercial space from a mere six or seven companies. Among them are household names like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft.

“This demand encompasses both leasing and controlled floor area ratio (FAR), which is happening most prolifically in the Bay Area,” said Rostovsky.

The Ripple Effect on Housing and Development

One negative side effect of the tech and creative media boom, is the housing crisis. However, the actual root causes can vary from city to city. Los Angeles is noted as being much more difficult to build in than other cities, where tech and creative media left not only a large footprint, but a positive impact.

“There can be a supply response in Seattle or San Francisco, but it’s much harder to get that supply response in Los Angeles,” said Rostovsky.

Rostovsky also shared renderings of the upcoming Culver Studios project, which will be different than the usual “live-work” model. This project will exemplify a “work-work and work-play” mixed-use facility. Projects of this magnitude often take up multiple city blocks, which can further limit available housing in the neighborhoods surrounding the development. In some cases, housing will be repurposed for studio, creative or tech office space. The reduction of the housing supply directly affects the value of homes and apartment rentals, which further perpetuates the housing crisis for all residents. The lack of both usable space and housing, has pushed developers to persuade tech and media companies to seek spaces outside of the traditional industry centers. Culver Studios and Sony, both located in Culver City, are prime examples of creative media moving out of Hollywood and into less dense and under-utilized neighborhoods.

Another unique characteristic of many tech and creative media companies seeking new developments is the tendency for them to favor transit-oriented-developments, or TOD, in densely populated urban centers. While this sounds ideal for most large businesses, tech and creative media differ in the sense that they often favor TOD but also demand ample parking spaces due to the nature of their trades. Meeting such demands requires developers and architects to adopt extreme levels of creativity and resourcefulness. This is especially apparent in Southern California, where mass transit has not fully arrived in terms of widespread public usage. Panelists all agreed that while mass transit may be the way of the future, a reluctance on the part of tenants to rent a space without sufficient parking is still a very real obstacle.

“Development is spurred by these transport hubs, but parking is still a requirement, so all of our projects begin with parking structures,” said Michael White of Gensler.

“Whether they remain parking structures in the future is yet to be seen,” he added.

The P3 Spectrum: Which P3 Model Should I Use?

Tue, 16 Oct 2018 22:03:52 GMT

The Public-Private Partnership (P3) model is a complex method of financing construction projects that has many considerations when identifying the variations. This intricate arrangement has been gaining traction in the US as a preferred method for financing, building and operating public sector developments with private sector resources and partners. The model has been used in Canada, Europe, Australia and elsewhere for some time.

A P3 relationship is comprised of several relationships between public clients and the private development community to design, build, finance and maintain projects. There are many different variations of P3 relationships, so navigating this spectrum can often be challenging for organizations who are new to P3. In fact, the complexities of the P3 spectrum can often leave experienced individuals in a state of confusion.

On Oct. 9, SCDF hosted a P3 Spectrum panel at City Club LA in which a number of industry professionals with substantial P3 knowledge and experience shared insights on how these types of relationships can be managed. Moderated by Paula Stamp, Director of Business Development at PCL Construction Services, Inc., the panel discussion addressed planning and approaches related to the P3 spectrum. In addition to Stamp, speakers included: Sam Jung, VP of Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions; Colin Donahue, CFO and VP of Administration and Finance at California State University Northridge, and Michael Owh, Chief Procurement Officer at City of Los Angeles.

Complexities Involved in the P3 Method

All panelists agreed that P3 projects are significantly more complicated than conventionally built projects. Much of this seems to be sourced from the differing worlds of public and private entities and finding a common ground on what success and achievement means to all parties involved.

“Developments that involve collaboration between public and private entities take a lot of planning upfront to examine what the final outcome should be,” said Michael Owh. “There is always a concern about the internal expertise, and there are numerous complexities throughout the life of a project.”

P3 funded projects also tend to have varying cycles of partner involvement, typically around 30 years but sometimes longer. This can present a number of challenges especially for certain projects in which the industry is rapidly changing. Higher education was cited as a sector in which development can be especially tricky due to a rapidly evolving landscape. Colin Donahue of CSUN noted that any P3 funded project he oversees is developed on a 50 to 60-year life cycle, and require arduous planning processes which are a result of heavy investment capital.

“We don’t know what higher ed is going to look like in five years, let alone thirty years, so planning has to be very well thought-out,” said Donahue.

Panelists also noted that the extensive life cycles of these project arrangements can create a knowledge gap. The span of a P3 funded development often sees high employee turnover which can create voids in much needed institutional knowledge.

A True Partnership

Another consensus between all panelists was the absolute need for all P3 funded developments to be authentic partnerships. Trust was mentioned as one of most important factors in establishing lasting relationships.

“It’s very important to trust your partners,” said Sam Jung of Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions. “Having an open discussion about what both parties will gain from the partnership, as well as any incentives that will pave the way for long-term success are also crucial.”

While the need to form an authentic and lasting partnership is paramount, it is also important to understand that not all partnerships are meant to be. An effective P3 partnership is made up of parties who not only have the same goals but also complement one another, just like any other ideal business partnership. The complexities seem to arise when the issue of money is brought into focus.

“A lot of times we won’t find it sensible to consider a project unless it’s at least $100 million,” said Donahue. “However, we occasionally consider projects that are well under this number if there is an opportunity to create a meaningful partnership with an organization that has a project we believe will provide a value to the community.”

Panelists shared examples of what makes for a great partnership in a P3. Creativity, flexibility and total transparency were all noted as vital characteristics that potential partners should seek out from one another.

“Another important thing to remember is that not every partner is a match for a client,” said Jung. “As procurements become more complicated, what clients look for in a partner does too.”

Since P3 developments exist on a spectrum both parties need to have the same understanding of what it means to be in a public-private partnership.

Final Takeaways

Since the use of P3 methods can be perplexing to many, panelists seemed to agree that there was no “magic formula” for success in using the P3 method. The consensus was that trust, partnership, and flexibility are vital tools to have in order to have success throughout the life of a P3 funded project. Due to the complexities involved in this funding method many small businesses are often reluctant to engage in P3 developments. However, the fear of loss and risks involved were noted as being at the forefront of any developer’s conscience, whether large or small.

All panelists agreed that becoming real estate savvy and having a precise vision before initiating execution are also key components to success. When businesses, large or small, implement these practices, they find greater success in using the P3 method.

Higher Education – a Facilities Arms Race?

Mon, 01 Oct 2018 21:34:49 GMT

California has the largest number of higher education institutions in the United States and a diverse student population that has continued to grow exponentially over the past several years. Real estate developers have taken a significant role in helping colleges and universities prepare for this growing student base.

Our “Higher Education – A Facilities Arms Race?” panel took place on September 25, 2018 at City Club LA and comprised of an esteemed group of individuals from the higher education sector. Moderated by Warren S. Jacobs, Associate Vice President at California State University Los Angeles, panel speakers included leaders from a diverse collection of private universities: Lance Bridgesmith, Associate Vice President of Public Safety and Planning at Pepperdine University; Rollin Homer, Vice President of Facilities and Campus Planning at ArtCenter College of Design; Anne Eisele, Director of Projects and Energy Management at Pomona College and William Marsh, Director of Capital Construction Development at University of Southern California.

Panelists shared insights about how private higher education intuitions are financing renovation and construction projects, commented on sustainable practices and provided a glimpse of what projects are to come.

Building for Future Generations

Among all panel speakers, a common topic of discussion was how universities are effectively designing for future generations. In addition to the building of new structures, there is an added challenge of renovating older campus structures. Bridgesmith acknowledged the need for new facilities as enrollment has significantly increased at Pepperdine University.

“Most of the construction was completed in the early 1970’s, but there is still a need for capital improvements,” said Bridgesmith. “Throughout all the costs incurred, our students are at the heart of our work,” he continued.

Bridgesmith also discussed the new recreation center that is planned for the Pepperdine campus in Malibu. The new recreation center, like all other Pepperdine capital improvement projects is financed through the utilization of smart capital building strategies, corporate funds and private donors. All panelists discussed the need for capital improvements to stand the test of time.

“Every decision we make takes future students into consideration,” said Homer. “We have to make ’50-year decisions’ when mapping out what metrics to anticipate.”

“We really look at the holistic cost of existing at a higher education environment for several years,” said Homer. “We look at costs beyond just tuition.”

Oftentimes there is a popular misconception, particularly among students and parents, that tuition dollars are being used to fund campus renovations. Reasons for rising tuition cost are often due to a variety of factors from inflation to supply and demand.

Despite the heightened concerns among the student population and their families, Homer debunked the popular myth that tuition dollars are allocated to fund campus construction.

“We do not use tuition dollars to fund projects,” he said.

Student Housing

As developers design higher education facilities that cater to current and future generations, availability of student housing is often a primary concern for much of the higher education community. As student populations continue to rise, the panel discussed the importance of developing student housing projects to meet the needs of the growing student base and how their institutions are suppling to this demand.

Marsh commented on how USC, traditionally a commuter school, is undergoing an increase in its on-campus student housing. Marsh mentioned the mixed-use aspects of the new housing complex at University Village, which includes retail on the first floor with units located above. Marsh also shared insights on additional housing projects that are in the works, such as a new on-campus hotel and additional student housing for the university’s science program.

Homer added to the conversation by commenting on ArtCenter College of Design’s recent groundbreaking for the college’s first-ever on-campus housing complex to cater to their growing student population.

Bridgesmith also expressed excitement about Pepperdine’s new Seaside Residence Hall, which opened this fall, just in time for the new school year.

Sustainability Practices

Similar to Pepperdine, Pomona College is undergoing construction for a new athletic center. Eisele mentioned how her team is being mindful about building the center for the future and planning for changes. She expressed the exciting challenges of efficiently and effectively designing a new facility with sustainable practices in mind.

Eisele’s main goal has been implementing Pomona College’s path to carbon neutrality, which she hopes the college will reach by 2030. Rather than looking at sustainability from a cost perspective, Eisele states the payback comes from what exactly is being tracked.

“Some of this is just minor, new ways of thinking, and how resources are used,” she said. “It’s amazing what you can do when you look at how you’re using the resources you’re given how you use energy.”

Pomona College is a great example of a college that has been growing in student population while effectively shrinking their carbon footprint. Eisele cites the creative uses of the favorable climate in Southern California, which has aided engineers greatly.

Rollin Homer of ArtCenter agrees that sustainability, like affordability, is at the forefront of the conversations surrounding capital improvements.

Financing Strategies

The panel also discussed the ways in which smart capital is being used to find higher education projects. Smart capital has a value-add when working with a sophisticated network of investors that have experience, knowledge of the industry and contacts. Normally, smart capital investors are not involved in the daily business but can help with insights that will make a difference in key areas. To put it simply, these are donors with experience, not just money. Utilizing their experience is pertinent when planning for a university’s capital improvements. However, as with all donors, university officials must tread carefully. All panelists commented on the fine line between maintaining relations with donors while also ensuring the design doesn’t reflect too much of the donor’s influence.

“Most donors respect this process,” said Marsh. “They will usually just request their name to be on something.”

Room to Grow: The State of LA's Hospitality Industry

Mon, 13 Aug 2018 15:47:43 GMT

As one of the largest travel destinations in the world, Los Angeles is a premier target for hospitality development. Some may argue that with the surge in short-term rental services, such as Airbnb, the need for hotel development is obsolete. However, not only is the hospitality sector thriving, but there is a shortage of hotel rooms throughout various sub-markets of the greater Los Angeles region.

Our State of the Los Angeles Hospitality Market panel on August 7, 2018 was a lively discussion comprised of speakers from various arenas within the hospitality industry. Moderated by Steven Sharp, editor and co-founder of Urbanize L.A., the panel included: real estate developer Ricardo Pagan, CEO of Claridge Properties; Hari Jun, director of development at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, and Jessica White, vice president of HVS, a hospitality-focused consulting firm.

Panelists discussed a range of hospitality-focused topics, such as challenges associated with the Los Angeles hospitality market, how the Los Angeles hospitality market compares to other markets, the shortage of hotel room options in certain sub-markets, what hotel guests are looking for in their experience and Los Angeles’ Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT).

Challenges Associated with the Los Angeles Market

Several of the most notable questions asked by the audience centered on the lack of hotel developments in Los Angeles. All panelists agreed the largest factor contributing to the scarcity of new hotels boils down to costs. The cost per square foot to build a new commercial development is simply too high for many developers and investors. The Los Angeles market was compared to its East Coast counterpart, New York City, which is also burdened with sky-high construction costs. New York City has seen a steady decrease in new developments of any kind, simply because the cost is significant. Construction costs, the price of building materials and labor, as well as recent tariffs, have all contributed to the decline in new hospitality-related developments in both Los Angeles and New York City in recent years.

Panelists noted the reluctance of the metro area to catch up to speed with the rest of the nation in terms of facilities and development practices.

“The city of Los Angeles has a hole in the sophistication of its development practices,” said Pagan, referring to his experience working in New York.

Pagan commented on his latest development, Angel’s Landing, and how the public has responded to the new development’s lack of parking spaces. The development will contain just 465 parking spaces for 675 residential units, two hotels, dining locations, an elementary school, plus an additional 45,000 square feet of retail space.

“The square footage that would have been used for parking would be better served as commercial or retail use,” Pagan said. “The development team and possibly the city may be looking for a way to encourage people to use public transit or ridesharing.”

Shortages across Greater Los Angeles Area Sub-Markets

Panelists agreed that while the metro-area has been able to adapt to taxes and rate increases, it has created a gap in the market. Many current hotels cater to either a higher-end and luxury-oriented consumer, while most others serve no-frills budget travelers, with not much in between.

“There is definitely a gap in the market,” said Jun. “We at Kimpton have identified this gap and we are working to fill it,” she continued.

Jun highlighted the recent completion of the Kimpton Everly Hotel in the Hollywood Hills, what she describes as a casual, yet sophisticated establishment that is designed to meet the vibe of the surrounding neighborhood and environment. With a light and airy ambience, modern décor and “upscale-casual” dining options such as Jane Q, the hotel provides guests a chance to feel what it would be like to be a resident of Hollywood Hills, rather than just as the typical hotel guest experience.

While the addition of hotels such as Kimpton Everly are meeting needs of hotel guests, there is still a shortage of hotels at the mid-level price point and a shortage of rooms in general.

“There are several pockets in Los Angeles County and Orange County that are simply under-utilized,” said White. “The area between Huntington Beach to Redondo Beach, which encompasses many square miles, is lacking in hotel options and has great potential.”

The panel touched on the upcoming Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics. White mentioned neighborhoods in Los Angeles such as Long Beach that have the potential to become hotel meccas. She said developers are already preparing Long Beach for the upcoming Olympic Games since the majority of the water sports will be hosted in the area.

Pagan addressed the fact that developers must be cautious when preparing for Olympic Games and not overbuild, leading to an oversupply of developed properties that could potentially lead to “ghost towns.”

Designing For Guest Satisfaction

The panel discussed what the most important factors are when designing hotels for guest satisfaction. Although the panel touched on the fact that no hotel is built for the same guest, they agreed that convenience is key.

“Room design is the bottom line when it comes to a successful hotel development,” said White. “This can be as simple as designing a hotel room that has charging outlets in convenient locations.”

The panel discussed the rise in mixed-use hotel developments and the importance of integrating amenities such as rooftops, bars and restaurants that all cater to a successful hotel development. The panel mentioned how 24/7 operations such as JW Marriott in Koreatown are becoming the norm, with condos and hotel rooms all under one roof.

“Being thoughtful about the programming behind hotel rooftops is important,” said Jun. “It is crucial that developers be creative in amenity choices to ensure guests actually come and utilize these spaces.”

Transient-Occupancy-Tax (TOT)

Another topic the panel touched on was the issue of transient-occupancy-tax (TOT). According to the Los Angeles Office of Finance, this tax is best described as a rental tax that is paid by the hotel guest for short-term rentals up to 30 days. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a tax on the business operator. Rather, this tax is passed down to the consumer and also applies to all internet-rental services such as Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO.

“Many people are misunderstanding this,” said Pagan. “Essentially it is revenue you are creating through the sale and usage of rooms.”

Currently, the TOT rate in the city of Los Angeles is 14 percent and is applicable to all properties rented to transients. By this legal statute, transients are defined as any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy for 30 days or less. Surely, this added 14 percent tax will drive up the total cost of staying in a Los Angeles hotel, which might seem problematic to the untrained eye.

SCDF’s Annual Night Under the Stars Cocktail Mixer Features 2018’s Philanthropic Award Recipients

Fri, 27 Jul 2018 23:52:12 GMT

On Thursday, July 19, leaders in the Southern California real estate industry gathered to mix and mingle at our 2018 Annual Night Under the Stars Cocktail Mixer. We enjoyed stunning views from the rooftop terrace of the California Club in downtown Los Angeles.

In attendance were this year’s 2018 Philanthropic Award recipients, Brandon Wexler, President of the USC Veterans Association, as well as New Earth’s Founder & President, Harry Grammer and Executive Director, Yana Simone.

USC has a long history of supporting the United States military, veterans and their families. With over 1,200 enrolled veterans per semester, USC supports the return of veterans to civilian life through the assistance of the USC Veterans Association, among other programs.

New Earth is a nonprofit that provides mentor-based arts, educational, and vocational programs that empower juvenile justice and system involved youth ages 13-25 to transform their lives. The organization is committed to significantly reducing the youth recidivism rate in Los Angeles (Los Angeles County locks up more kids than any other metropolitan area in the world), by providing transformative programs and enrichment opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth that nurture self-expression, stimulate positive growth and address emotional barriers. New Earth serves 700 people a week in youth detention camps, juvenile halls and placements throughout Los Angeles and Orange County.

“We are honored to support the USC Veterans Association and New Earth in their mission to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for underserved communities in the Southern California region,” says SCDF President, Carolina Tombolesi. “Organizations such as these are not only making a difference by providing robust programs for the community, but are spurring long-term growth and generating future leaders.”

We will be honoring the 2018 Award Recipients at the Annual Design & Philanthropy Awards, which will be hosted at City Club LA in December 2018.

Generating Cultural Capital for Communities across Southern California

Tue, 19 Jun 2018 16:39:46 GMT

Cultural districts are catalysts for the revitalization of communities. Museums, performing arts centers and universities, among other cultural establishments, provide continuous revenue, making them not only a great return on investment for developers and lenders, but also benefit the city as a whole. These districts also increase financial, educational and recreational opportunities to residents of the surrounding area.

The Cultural Districts panel included a diverse range of leaders in the Southern California arts industry, including Rob Creighton, Principal at Red Cape Studio; Brian Pratt, Assistant Vice Chancellor & Campus Architect at UC Irvine speaking about the Institute and Museum for California Art; Sel Kardan, President of The Colburn School; Judy Kim, Deputy Director of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and Diana Vesga, Chief Operating Officer of Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Some of the hot topics that were addressed by the panel included accessibility, community outreach and green building practices of cultural facilities.

Accessibility

The panel discussed various challenges cultural districts face, such as accessibility. “One of the biggest impediments to bringing people to cultural institutions is access,” said Creighton.

Since transportation is such a hot button issue in Los Angeles, panelists explained how they are approaching this issue for cultural institutions. Kim mentioned that The Lucas Museum will be located off Vermont Avenue, just south of Exposition Boulevard, and will be a short walk from the Expo/Vermont Station of the Metro Expo Line.

Vesga mentioned that LACMA purposefully places a lot of their major sculptures, such as Urban Light and Levitated Mass, outdoors as a magnet for engagement. Placing artwork outdoors makes the museum more accessible and approachable and provides an opportunity for the general public to enjoy art without having to step inside a museum.

Vesga also shared how the LACMA team took into consideration the surrounding community when expanding into South Los Angeles. The South Los Angeles region is in need of access to cultural institutions, so the museum is hopeful the presence of a new LACMA building in the region will encourage further revitalization of the area.

Pratt explained how UC Irvine is creating strategic partnerships to connect better with the community and to collaborate with other nearby institutions such as the Orange County Museum of Art.

Community Outreach

Involving members of the community is a critical component to the design and construction process and having a positive impact on the community is key to the success of cultural institutions. Panelists discussed the ways in which they take into consideration the needs of the surrounding community, as well as the entire Los Angeles population, when undertaking expansions and construction projects, among other ventures that may have an impact.

The audience asked how the panel is creating ways to bring people into their spaces. Vesga mentioned how LACMA is creating ways the museum has incorporated Friday Night Jazz and Saturday Night Latin Sounds as public events to expand the museum’s reach and draw new crowds into the space. “We’re LA’s living room, a place to hang out,” proclaimed Vesga.

Kim explained how her and her team incorporated community outreach. “We performed months of community outreach to learn about what people are looking for from the new museum and to truly be mindful about the surrounding community.”

Kim also explained how the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is joining Expo Park as a valuable addition to an already existing cultural district. “We considered placing the museum in Treasure Island in San Francisco, but given the established museum environment in Expo Park, we decided it was where we could build the quickest and could plug into an already existing ecosystem and have the most impact in the community,” Kim stated.

Pratt talked about the new theater being a hub for the entire campus and mobilizing the university professors to get involved. “It’s a very campus-driven initiative,” said Pratt. “Most universities are seeking to connect with the community, whether it be through incubators or partnerships.”

Green Building

Kim shared her team’s approach to making green spaces at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. “There is a very small percentage of green space in Expo Park, so we are making sure to fill this need by creating communal, natural spaces for people to gather at the museum.”

More cultural facilities are emphasizing the importance of designing a building that has a connection to the world outside the space to establish a more humane environment. Kardan addressed the challenges that come along with incorporating natural, outdoor lighting into performance venues, which are typically dark and windowless. He explained how it is an intricate process to create a balance. Many issues arise when attempting to achieve this balance, including the issue of being able to control the lighting and avoid distractions during performances that require specific lighting and visual effects.

Kardan mentioned what a pleasure it has been to work alongside Frank Gehry in the Colburn School’s expansion due to his depth of knowledge, particularly when it comes to designing interactive spaces.

Vesga commented on how LACMA utilized glass in the museum’s expansion project as a strategy to create a more inviting atmosphere with a connection of the indoor and outdoor.

Specialized Housing: Mitigating the Southern California Housing Shortage

Fri, 11 May 2018 19:28:13 GMT

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that over half a million people living in LA are in danger of falling into homelessness.

On May 8, 2018, city officials and developers, among others, met at City Club LA to discuss how to cultivate developments that mitigate the housing drought across multiple demographics.

The panel, moderated by Otis Odell, AIA, LEED AP, Associate Principal at HED, spoke about a variety of housing types, including: homeless, seniors, veterans, special needs, mixed-income, mixed-use, cohousing and more.

Homeless Housing

Panelists discussed Measure HHH, which recently passed with more than a 76 percent vote. The measure authorized $1.2 billion in bond funds, allocated to homeless housing in LA. Sean Spear, Assistant General Manager for the City of Los Angeles, discussed how wonderful it is that the initiative is underway and discussed how it is aiding to solving the homeless crisis in LA.

“The first thing I should say about HHH is: thank you voters,” said Spear. “Because HHH is a bond, we can access those funds immediately. We’re already looking at providing 2,700 units by the end of the year at about $220,000 per unit. At this rate, the funding will be used within about five years.”

Veterans Housing

Dora Gallo, CEO of A Community of Friends, addressed the current lack of veteran (VA) only housing.

When asked what some of the unique design elements are for VA housing, Gallo mentioned that “the main things veterans desire in their housing spaces are open, social spaces such as clubhouses, as well as gyms.”

She spoke about the passing of California Proposition 41, Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond, a few years ago and how helpful it has been. The measure authorized the state to provide local governments, nonprofit organizations and private developers with financial assistance, such as low-interest loans, so they can construct, renovate and attain affordable multifamily housing for low-income veterans and their families.

Gallo discussed what the qualifications are for getting accepted to low-income VA housing.

Gallo also expressed how excited she is about November, 2018’s Legislative Housing Package, which places a $4 billion general obligation bond on the ballot. If approved, it will allocate $1.5 billion to low-income multifamily housing and $1 billion to veteran’s housing assistance.

Senior Housing/Assisted Living

Craig T. Fukushima, Partner at The Fox Group, LLC, spoke about how the senior housing market has faced many challenges recently and addressed the significant lack of affordable senior housing facilities, with emphasis on the LA region.

Fukushima explained that “the strategy for delivering effective assisted living, which must be driven by the needs in the market.” He raised spoke about how to program assisted living in addition to the cost of assisted living units, which The Fox Group, LLC’s typically sees as $170-210 per square foot.

Mixed-Income/Mixed-Use/Commercial

Tony Salazar, President of McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc., says “we’ve got too many people and too many cars in LA, so we either have to increase the density around transit stops or build outside of LA.”

Salazar believes there is no clear, separate concentration of income. When it comes to financing developments, there are varied levels. While the government contributes 100 percent to homeless housing, the other housing classes have very in-depth and diverse financing processes.

Salazar also explained the variation in inclusionary requirements for each city and state. “Each city has different initiatives, so we have to adjust our developments accordingly,” said Salazar. “Affordable housing is done through the private sector. Each state has the right to layer different requirements for the development. And when it comes to developing in San Francisco, you must have fortitude.”

Gallo emphasized the importance for architects to understand the wide-range of requirements and regulations for each city they plan to develop in and the entire panel and room agreed how vital this is.

Cohousing

The panel also commented on cohousing spaces, which are communities of private homes, clustered around a shared space. The attached or single-family homes have standard amenities, including private kitchens as well as shared spaces, which typically include a common house that may include a large kitchen and dining area, laundry room and recreational spaces. The panel and the audience expressed how exciting this newer market is and the great potential it has, however, they also discussed the challenges of finding the right model for this type of housing, especially in the LA region.

The Intersection of Public and Private Financing for Transportation in Los Angeles

Fri, 13 Apr 2018 19:45:45 GMT

With rapid urbanization and population growth in Los Angeles, there is an increased strain on the public infrastructure and transportation.

At our Transportation panel on April 10, 2018, leaders from three different agencies convened to share insights as to how they are implementing creative finance strategies to plan and build the future of transportation in Los Angeles. Panelists raised the question – can Los Angeles catch up with its transportation needs to improve urban mobility?

“Among housing and employment, transportation is one of the biggest challenges Los Angeles is currently facing,” says Stephen Polechronis, Regional Business Line Leader, Transportation at AECOM, who moderated the panel discussion.

From left to right: Stephen Polechronis, AECOM; Jenna Hornstock, Metro; Samantha Bricker, Los Angeles World Airports; Darin Chidsey, Southern California Association of Governments

Darin Chidsey, Chief Operating Officer of Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), an organization that undertakes a variety of planning and policy initiatives to build a more sustainable Southern California, believes “we have a responsibility to look ahead at the next 20 years of transportation and to consider the foundation of what the demographics will look like.” He recognized the fact that no one wants to sit in traffic concluding that if we don’t come together to solve transportation issues now, we’ll have bigger problems in the future.

Fortunately, things are looking up for Los Angeles as Measure M, a half-cent sales tax that will fund an unprecedented $120 billion in transit projects in the next 40 years, recently passed in the county. This measure will allow the Metro Board of Directors to improve the traffic in Los Angeles, repair potholes and sidewalks, repave local streets, improve connections and more.

Jenna Hornstock, Executive Officer at Metro, expressed how excited her team is about the current opportunities. She provided insights on current projects throughout the county and highlighted Metro’s purchase of Union Station in 2011, for which they have done some major restoration, preserving its historic characteristics while also improving its functionality.

Chidsey reemphasized that, because voters have set the stage and funding is now available, the time to act is now.

Another way to be mindful of spending is to consider public-private partnerships (P3s). P3s can be an effective way to build and implement transportation infrastructure for multiple decades. In both the public and private arenas, P3s can be a mutually beneficial way to resolve important transportation issues without the financial strain on the public.

Samantha Bricker, Deputy Executive Director of Project Development, Coordination and Environmental Programs Group at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) acknowledged that pursuing P3s for the current LAX LAMP project has allowed her and her team to maintain their design aesthetic and keep costs to a minimum. Although P3s are not ideal for all transportation projects, they often reduce upfront public costs through fast-tracked, efficient delivery methods. That is because with P3s, all stakeholders collaborate early in the process, allowing each team member to provide valuable insight which ultimately results in savings and a longer project lifespan.

According to Hornstock, we are the local advocates and, as a result, “we have to go out and fight for this new image of Los Angeles. We have to take the fear of change and turn it into excitement for the future.”

M&A are Changing the Healthcare Landscape

Tue, 20 Mar 2018 18:57:43 GMT

Healthcare organizations can be perceived as “tired” based on their delivery models. Because of this reality, healthcare M&A have been on the rise over the past several years. Hospitals are merging, technology and service vendors are consolidating and systems are integrating ambulatory centers, physician practices and oftentimes clinics.

At our Healthcare 2018 panel, pre-eminent health system leaders discussed the surge in healthcare M&A and how they improve delivery of care and lower costs. Moderated by Sarah Jensen, president of Jensen + Partners, panelists provided a background history of their respective companies in addition to their insights on what the rise in M&A activity means for healthcare facilities. They each discussed how they are preparing for the future as technology continues to transform the way healthcare facilities function. Jay Gellert, former president and CEO of HealthNet, “a combination of technology and opportunity” is changing healthcare.

Gellert explained that some of the rationales for M&A, include “demographics, economics, technology and delivery.” Jeff West, senior regional director of Providence St. Joseph Health, pointed out that “healthcare M&A allow for increased market share, keep the market relevant and accelerate transactions.”

Gellert mentioned some of the largest healthcare M&A in history that took place over the past year, including UnitedHealth Group and DaVita Medical Group, Aetna and CVS, Cigna and Express Scripts, Anthem and Florida Medicare Acquisitions, Centene and Community Medical Group and Humana and Kindred Healthcare, to name a few. In an effort to become one stronger, more valuable company, better suited to achieve market success, this trend in healthcare will continue to be on the rise. Gellert also explained several factors companies must consider in the M&A process, such as new entrants versus incumbents, policy, capital/facilities, transition versus disruption, timing and prudent planning.

Panelists called attention to the current state of healthcare in the U.S. and Gellert remonstrated that “the U.S. spends more money on healthcare than any other country and the least on social care,” but still does not meet the needs of the nation. Jared Langus, director of strategic initiatives at Cedars Sinai Health Systems, added that “the gap between what employees are paying for healthcare and the price of their plans in widening.” It’s clear there is an imminent need to restructure our healthcare system, but only time will tell what the future of healthcare will look like in the U.S.

According to West, “maintaining infrastructure, increased regulatory environment and seismic compliance” are just a few of the challenges healthcare facilities will have to overcome in the next few years.

The panelists could all agree that the healthcare industry has plenty of hurdles to overcome, but with the number of big-name health systems headlining the year in M&A and the advancement of technology, the future of healthcare looks bright.

Emerging Technologies and Industry Leaders Changing the Status Quo

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 19:52:50 GMT

Technology is influencing the world with everything from virtual reality to 3D printing. Emerging technologies are presenting progressive developments, providing competitive advantages and changing the status quo for the built environment and reshaping commercial real estate as we know it. At our Emerging Technology, over 175 industry leaders mobilized to discuss cutting edge technologies, how such technologies are being used in the industry and what the future of technology looks like.

The panel included a diverse group of experts, moderated by Stan Chiu, AIA, LEED AP, Principal at HGA. Speakers included Jose Sanchez, Professor at USC School of Architectureand Director of the Plethora Project; Erik Narhi, Computational Design Lead at BuroHappold Engineering; Paul Martin, Director of Engineering Sales at A. Zahner Company and Jen Hawkins, Product Development Manager at Digital Building Components.

Key takeaways from the event include:

Google Cardboard: Each table was given a pair of Google Cardboard glasses, allowing guests to explore various design models, such as Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Virtual Reality: Guests participated in an interactive VR activity at the end of the panel discussion, provided by BurroHapold.
Digital Fabrication: Hawkins discussed her work at Digital Building Components. She explained the digital fabrication process, which uses the coordinated model that has been developed with the design team and MEP trades to drive fabrication. The shop is currently producing cold-formed steel load bearing structures, exterior wall panels, and interior wall panels.
Crowdsourced Urbanism: Sanchez detailed his experience of creating Block’hood, an interactive city planning video game that allows users to explore the notions of crowdsourced urbanism.
Handling Challenges for Clients: Martin explained how his firm develops specific technologies to handle geometry and other challenges clients may face.
Bridging the Gap: Narhi gave an overview of how he bridges the gap between software engineering developments and AEC project workflows. He and his team harness data to visualize and predict how to design spaces so they perform the way they should.

We are grateful to our panelists, attendees, table sponsors (Corgan, Haworth, PCL and Southland) and event sponsor, BuroHappold, for helping us make this event happen.