Last week Runstad Center Affiliate Faculty member Al Levine was featured in the Seattle Times discussing his work with Compass Housing Alliance and OneBuild, designing manufactured steel modular units. Read the full story here: http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/a-new-approach-build-steel-modular-housing-units-for-the-homeless/
What if our elected officials talked about ‘loving’ your city as the most important criteria? What if we focused on making a place we all love?
Tomorrow, September 27th, the Runstad Center Affiliate Fellows present:
A CITY TO LOVE
VISIONS OF A PUBLIC REALM
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
6:00-8:00 pm
Impact HUB
220 2nd Ave South
Seattle, WA 98104
Refreshments will be served, program to begin at 6:30 p.m.
What if we stopped griping about the Seattle process, empowered our leaders, moved forward with a powerful vision focused on the community of the future, implementation, education for a shared language, evaluation and feedback loops and course adjustments – we grabbed our future and advance together?
A CITY TO LOVE
VISIONS OF A PUBLIC REALM
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
6:00-8:00 pm
Impact HUB
220 2nd Ave South
Seattle, WA 98104
Refreshments will be served, program to begin at 6:30 p.m.
On September 27th the Fellows will be presenting their research from their trip to Auckland, New Zealand last spring, and what they discovered about how this innovative city manages public right of way.
Imagine a city that empowers its leaders, elected or not, to plan, lead and implement… where plans are envisioned, funded, tested, evaluated, tweaked but ADVANCE is the unapologetic ethic. Check out Auckland!
A CITY TO LOVE
VISIONS OF A PUBLIC REALM
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
6:00-8:00 pm
Impact HUB
220 2nd Ave South
Seattle, WA 98104
Refreshments will be served, program to begin at 6:30 p.m.
We are offering a new course this fall, RE 530: Corporate Real Estate. This course is eligible for 25 CEUs towards CoreNet Global MCR Professional Designation renewal credits. Professionals can register for the course as non-matriculated students through non-degree enrollment: http://www.nondegree.washington.edu/nondegree/
RE 530 – Corporate Real Estate
Tues/Thurs 12:00-1:20 pm
Instructor: Kelli Leith
Course Description
Corporations and public institutions utilize space for their workers, equipment and customer base. A critical element in the success of these corporations is the identification of ways their real estate footprint through owned and leased assets can be a factor in attaining the vision and mission they have. Corporate Real Estate requires real estate professionals’ understanding of a CEO, CFOs and COOs vision of the corporation and the development and execution of a real estate strategy which will help corporations grow and be successful based on their own set of parameters. This course focuses on an overview of corporate real estate, the functions of corporate real estate, the real estate strategies and services applied in corporate real estate decision making and understanding the: what, where, when, how and why of corporate real estate planning.
UW Today issued a press release today announcing our new director for the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies, Simon Stevenson. Simon joins the Runstad Center from the Henley Business School, University of Reading in the UK where he had been Professor of Real Estate Finance & Investment and Director of Masters program in Real Estate Finance. He previously held positions at Cass Business School-City University London and University College Dublin. We are looking forward to having Simon on board in the fall! Read the full story here along with his bio here.
The University of Washington’s Department of Urban Design and Planning and the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies are seeking applicants for a part-time Lecturer position for the MS in Real Estate commencing January 1, 2017. The position is a 50% FTE, 9-month teaching position. Salary is competitive. When hired through a competitive search, lecturers are eligible for renewable multi-year appointments and promotion, among other benefits available to full-time UW faculty members.
The position involves the teaching of one course in each of three academic quarters – Autumn, Winter, Spring— with opportunities to teach additional courses if desired. The initial appointment will be for two years, with multi-year reappointments available, depending on performance.
Applicants must have at least a Master’s degree in a relevant field. Work experience and teaching expertise in real estate development including studio courses is required. Demonstrated high-level proficiency in teaching at the graduate level is also preferred.
Applicant instructions can be found on the UW Hires website, here.
Are we planning realistically for growth in our cities? Shannon Affholter, executive director of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, Russ Hokanson, chief executive officer of the Seattle King County Association of REALTORS®, and our own Peter Orser contributed an op-ed piece to the Seattle Times exploring this question and other issues that cause home-price inflation, read the full article here.
The Runstad Center’s Washington State Condominium Report was released today. MSRE student, Center researcher, and author of the report David Leon shares his thoughts…
The City of Seattle has been experiencing unprecedented population and economic growth over the last five years. As the city’s population has increased and the number of high-paying jobs has grown, prices for housing have increased significantly. Condominium development could provide an affordable in-city option for new housing. At present, condominiums are not being built in sufficient numbers to meet demand, and those that are being built are being sold at prices that are beyond the means of the average-income individual. Reasons for this dynamic include financing and capital markets, insurance coverage, and to some degree, legal liability for condominium developers. This paper examines the current state of the housing market in Seattle, focusing on construction of new condominiums, with comparisons to six other Western cities. The paper then examines elements of the Washington Condominium Act that may bear on the heightened liability for condominium builders, and suggests some options for reducing the liability, after comparison to four other states and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Changes to the Washington Condominium Act may be necessary but not sufficient conditions for the building of more affordable condominium units in Seattle. Financial incentives may be required to create the conditions for more affordable condominiums. For the market to be incentivized to build more affordable condominiums without public subsidy, economic opportunity for builders must offset the greater perceived risks and inefficiencies of smaller scale building through lower costs. Insurance costs and the risk of litigation are factors that, if mitigated, can contribute to tipping the scale toward the delivery of more affordable for-sale condominium product.
Sales price tranches for Seattle new condominium sales, 2010-2015.
The Center’s findings were discussed further with UW Today. Click here for the full report.
Amy Hartman, MSRE class of 2017 and Runstad Center Affiliate Fellow, has just completed her first year of the Masters program, and is quickly approaching her first anniversary as a graduate intern at Heartland LLC, a Seattle-based real estate advisory and investment firm. Previously, Amy had worked at an investment brokerage firm, where she underwrote existing product. When she was accepted to the Runstad MSRE program, she actively sought new learning opportunities in both her school curriculum and work experience. According to Amy, “Learning and completing projects in class is important, but it helps a lot to work on real projects. While the Runstad Center provides education applicable to your career, as an intern, you learn things within the context of the real world.” During her interview at Heartland, she expressed her desire to learn more about development project underwriting. As a result, Amy’s primary project focus at Heartland was Scott Redman of Sellen Construction’s family legacy project, 9th & Thomas. Heartland was tasked with providing capital advisory services to the Redman family, and is also the project asset manager. This past year, Amy was responsible for underwriting this development project and is learning the role of an asset manager. “It is exciting to see a project through from idea to implementation,” she says, “In the asset management role, I also get to work closely with the project long term and see the building constructed.”
Having completed her first year and looking forward to her second, Amy offers incoming MSRE candidates the following advice: “Go into the Runstad program and understand the resources – there are a lot! There is a ton of community support and so many ways to get involved: research opportunities, fellowships, internships, etc. Ask to work on projects you want to get that practical experience.”