Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has made economic development a top priority with his Jobs First Pennsylvania initiative, which was designed to encourage private sector investment. These incentives are just a few of the benefits helping businesses grow in Pennsylvania.

Texas ranks second only to New York as the state with the most commercial real estate development activity. While Dallas gets much of the attention for industrial projects, Houston also has an active and growing industrial market. While the industrial real estate picture is strong today, it was bleak just six short years ago.

When Shorenstein Properties LLC acquired Lincoln Center, a seven-building office campus in the suburban Portland market of Tigard in 2007, the company already was in the process of implementing a plan to transform its nationwide portfolio of Class A office properties into an environmentally sustainable one. Sustainability has been a major goal of Shorenstein Properties for many years.

The foundation of the office — the desk — is changing to meet the needs and wants of a changing workforce. Numerous studies have shown that sitting for prolonged periods can be as hazardous to your health as smoking. Yet prolonged standing at work is not the answer; it, too, has been linked to chronic heart and circulatory disorders. The solution, for many office workers, may be an adjustable-height desk or workstation, one that can be adjusted to sitting or standing heights.

Construction began this spring on a platform that will provide the foundation for the eastern half of Hudson Yards, a new, 28-acre neighborhood in midtown Manhattan that will be the largest private development in U.S. history. The $20 billion project’s developers, Related Cos. and Oxford Property Group, faced a unique development challenge: how to construct almost 6 million square feet of new buildings above a working rail yard, where 30 railroad tracks converge into four near Penn Station?

As companies shift to having more mobile workforces and more open office environments, one critical element that may be missing is private meeting space for both small and large groups. The building that can offer such an amenity on an as-needed basis could well have a leg up on the competition.

While many retailers have embraced green initiatives and made their stores more energy efficient, Walgreens has taken the process one step further. The nation’s largest drugstore chain opened its first net zero energy retail store — defined as one that produces energy equal to or greater than the amount it consumes from the power grid — in Evanston, Illinois, last November.

Commercial rooftops come in many colors. Traditional “black” roofs absorb heat from the sun and contribute to urban heat islands, which in turn contribute to poor air quality, increased heat-related illnesses, increased energy use and more. White or “cool” roofs use reflective materials, which typically are light colored, to reflect the sun’s energy, resulting in rooftops that can be 50 to 60 degrees F cooler than a dark roof on a hot summer day.