Today’s lenders and equity investors are often willing to fund conversions of old office buildings into newly renovated residential buildings. New York City has been the epicenter of such activity. It’s growing. For an office-to-residential conversion to make sense, some planets must align. Woody Heller, a prominent New York investment sales broker and real estate consultant with Branton Realty Services LLC, explained exactly what that means in a luncheon program earlier this month sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association of New York. The author of this article chaired the program and was a co-panelist but very much in Woody’s shadow.…

A 2022 analysis by Cushman & Wakefield estimated that in the U.S., approximately 330 million square feet of office space could become functionally obsolete or stranded by 2030. This risk arises from changing workplace behaviors and stricter environmental regulations. In Canada, similar studies indicate about 20% of commercial office spaces could become stranded within the next decade. Cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver face particular vulnerability. These spaces must be retrofitted or repositioned to meet new market trends and sustainability targets. S&P Global highlighted in their report that over 75% of global real estate investors now consider climate…

“My family lived in Altadena for decades, until our homes were tragically destroyed by the fire on January 8,” shares Lynnette West-Cater, CEO of the Pasadena Foothills Association of Realtors. “We owned four homes on our street, three of which were completely ravaged by the flames.” The family evacuated in the early hours of the morning, she recalls. “My brother was the first to return home to learn the third house had burned, and the last one was starting to go up in flames. He rushed to turn on the water at the hose bib, but there was no water…

Frasers Centrepoint Trust—a REIT controlled by Thai beer-to-property billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s Frasers Property—is taking full ownership of the Northpoint City shopping complex in the northern Singapore town of Yishun by buying part of the mall for S$1.2 billion ($896 million) from its parent. Under the deal, the Singapore-listed REIT will buy the south wing of Northpoint City from companies linked to Charoen, according to a statement late Monday. “With the acquisition, Frasers Centrepoint will have 100% ownership of both north wing and south wing that together form Northpoint City,” Richard Ng, CEO of the Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management said in…

Lala Kent, best known for Vanderpump Rules has been called many things—but a devoted mother of two is what she is most proud of. A visit to her Sherman Oaks, California home in the San Fernando Valley (yes, The Valley) reveals a side of her that the public rarely sees. Originally from Utah, the most surprising thing about Kent is that she has more in common with the suburban moms who follow her than a typical Bravolebrity, albeit with a fabulous house in the valley. Purchased for over $3 million and built in 1947, Kent’s home is a practical retreat…

Earlier this century, the Journal of Urban Health pointed out an intriguing contradiction. Humans spend more than 90% of their lives indoors. Yet the research up to that time had focused far more on the connection between ambient environmental conditions and mental health than on the links between the buildings we occupy and mental wellness. Fast forward and researchers have begun righting that wrong. In recent years, one treatise after another has discussed the linkage between the built environment and how people cope mentally. Empirical evidence has made clear based on how they’re designed buildings can contribute to or detract…

Looking for the best places to live and visit in the United States in 2025? Or maybe the most affordable spots to call home? Niche just released its “2025 Best Places to Live in America” report, and it has the answers. Each year, millions of people turn to Niche—a data-driven platform—for insights into cities, suburbs and neighborhoods across the U.S. The platform analyzes various categories, including the best cities (urban areas with a population of 100,000+), best suburbs, best neighborhoods, best places (non-rural towns with populations of 1,000+), best spots for young professionals, the cities with the lowest cost of…

Megaworld—the property arm of billionaire Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global—will spend 30 billion pesos ($523 million) over the next five years to boost its office portfolio by 25% to two million square meters by 2030.The investment also includes the upgrading and refurbishment of Megaworld’s existing offices across the country, the builder said in a statement on Monday. Megaworld currently has 1.6 million square meters of office space with 900,000 sqm in the Bonifacio Global City, an upscale commercial business district built on a former military camp just outside of the Makati financial hub.Developers are building new offices outside of Metro Manila…

Climate risk is no longer a distant threat, already forcing millions of people to change where and how they live. It’s also resetting real estate and insurance markets and disrupting local governments and the services they provide. A new Zillow report found that trillions of dollars’ worth of real estate is at major risk of damage from flood, fire or extreme wind. With risk scores from the climate financial data organization First Street, the report shows a value of $17T of U.S. homes with major wind risk, homes with major fire risk valued at $9.1T, and homes with major flood…

Central Pattana—controlled by the Chirathivat family, among the wealthiest clans in Thailand—is spending 120 billion baht ($3.6 billion over the next five years to build new office buildings and shopping malls as the country seeks to bolster its status as a tourism hub. The company plans to develop a new commercial district in northern Bangkok as well as 30 mixed-use real estate projects across the country from now until 2029, the Bangkok-listed Central Pattana said. “Central Pattana aims to elevate Bangkok and Thailand to greater global standards, and plans to invest in the development of mega projects, as well as…