Developer of the Year 2013: Vulcan Real Estate's Bold Vision

By: Ron Derven, contributing editor, Development.

Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen’s real estate development company, Seattle-based Vulcan Real Estate, is leading one of the largest urban redevelopment efforts in the U.S. Vulcan’s ability to articulate a vision; collaborate with multiple public and private entities; obtain expensive infrastructure improvements; and finance, design, deliver, and fill office, scientific, medical, residential, and retail structures turned around an underused, aging industrial neighborhood just south of Seattle’s central business district.

Fall 2013

The Mosaic District: Urban Village Grows from Suburban Wasteland

By: David R. Millard, principal, sales and leasing, Avison Young.

When retail developer Edens first began looking into the possibility of redeveloping 27 acres of land in an area known as Merrifield, VA, the property was not a pretty sight. Occupied by an aging multiplex cinema surrounded by a sea of deteriorating asphalt, as well as an equipment rental business and communications towers, the property did not seem to be a likely setting for a new urban neighborhood. Yet a county comprehensive revitalization plan for the area already was in place, and Edens recognized that all the fundamentals needed to make that plan a success were there.

396 Alhambra: Rebirth of a Midcentury Modern Office Landmark

By: Tere Blanca, president and CEO, Blanca Commercial Real Estate, Inc., the leasing agent for 396 Alhambra.

The developers of 396 Alhambra — a 282,000-square-foot mixed-use office and retail development in Miami’s Coral Gables business district — have transformed and expanded a mid-20th century landmark into modern, LEED-certified office space.

South Jordan Health Center: Developing a Sustainable Medical Facility

By: Scott Kaufmann, vice president, commercial development, Kennecott.

When the University of Utah and Kennecott Land decided to build a new health center in the rapidly growing planned community of Daybreak in South Jordan, Utah, they had ambitious goals: to provide the community with a facility that would offer the best in health care services and state-of-the-art medical technology while also limiting the building’s impact on the environment. Most full-scale medical facilities use an enormous amount of energy, which makes obtaining LEED certification a challenge. But by implementing sustainability features into the building from the earliest design stages the development team was able to exceed its expectations.

The View from I.con: Industrial Market Expands

By: Ron Derven, contributing editor, Development.

More than 500 of industrial real estate’s leaders gathered at NAIOP’s I.con: The Industrial Conference in Los Angeles on June 5 and 6 to discuss trends, debate ideas, and share news and views of the industry and where it is headed. The industrial sector continues on a strong recovery path, driven by consumption, real trade, and real GDP, according to Gene Reilly, 2013 NAIOP chairman and CEO of the Americas, Prologis, who spoke at I.con’s opening luncheon.