REAL ESTATE
What Will the Big Beautiful Bill Mean for Commercial Real Estate and Housing?
U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed the nearly 900-page One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4. The budget reconciliation legislation extends numerous provisions included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that directly affect commercial real estate, including reinstatement of bonus depreciation and extension of the Qualified Opportunity Zone Program. It also incorporates provisions aimed at incentivizing affordable housing, including a significant expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. At the same time, the new law makes major cuts to wind and solar incentives.
https://urbanland.uli.org/capital-markets-and-finance/what-will-the-big-beautiful-bill-mean-for-commercial-real-estate-and-housing
The West’s Megadrought Might Not Let Up for Decades, Study Suggests
According to new findings published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the dry spell is no mere bout of bad luck, no rough patch that could end anytime soon. Instead, it seems to be the result of a pattern of Pacific Ocean temperatures that is “stuck” because of global warming, said Victoria Todd, a doctoral student in paleoclimatology at the University of Texas at Austin who led the new research. That means the drought could continue through 2050, perhaps even 2100 and beyond — effectively, Ms. Todd said, for as long as humans keep heating up the planet.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/climate/southwest-megadrought.html
Which floor is this? Chongqing’s maze-like environment powers its rise as a megacity
Welcome to one of Chongqing’s most iconic examples of why the municipality is dubbed China’s “8-D magical city”, where navigating its buildings feels like stepping into a multidimensional maze. With about three-quarters of Chongqing’s land covered by mountains, its urban planners have had to build differently, creating a complex, multi-layered landscape that defies conventional logic but powers a thriving metropolis. The city’s evolution into a model for megacity governance offers lessons in adapting to geographical constraints, while also serving as a cautionary tale about the risks of heavy infrastructure investment and rising local government debt.
https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/2025/07/chongqing-insight/index.html
China’s dated urban-development model must change, Beijing says at rare meeting
At a surprising meeting of China’s political elite, it was declared that a sea change is needed in the nation’s urban development – shifting from a phase of large-scale, incremental expansion to one focused on optimising and enhancing existing resources. The message, coming amid a persistent real estate slump and slowing urbanisation, was delivered at the two-day Central Urban Work Conference that ended on Tuesday. In 2015, Beijing held its first such conference in decades, and it kicked off a campaign to boost homebuying and shore up investment. This time around, Beijing has been pursuing a new growth framework for the beleaguered property sector. Leadership has also vowed that migrant workers will receive more urban citizenship benefits.
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3318305/chinas-dated-urban-development-model-must-change-beijing-says-rare-meeting
Why U.S. Office Tenants Are Becoming Buyers
JLL, which manages about 1 billion square feet (93 million sq m) of office space across the U.S., saw a 76 percent increase in bid activity from tenants in 2024 compared to 2023, according to McDonald. For some organizations, particularly those with stable growth or specific operational needs, ownership is becoming a preferred strategy. It helps tenants gain control, optimize their environment, and secure their long-term presence in a market.
https://urbanland.uli.org/why-office-tenants-are-becoming-buyers?utm_source=realmagnet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HQ%20Urban%20Land%2007%2E14%2E25
Digitizing, demystifying, & democratizing the country’s zoning codes.
Across the United States, people are struggling with rising housing costs, long commutes, flagging main streets, and environmental hazards. For decades, bad zoning has made these problems worse. But zoning can also be used to drive much-needed change. The National Zoning Atlas makes zoning data actionable and accessible, giving advocates, policymakers, and researchers a powerful tool that can inform changes to zoning that foster more and better housing, stronger economies, healthier environments, and more connected communities.
https://www.zoningatlas.org/
Factories Were Pushed Out of Cities. Their Return Could Revive Downtowns.
New York City changed its zoning rules last year for the first time in decades to allow small-scale producers in neighborhoods where they had long been restricted. The City of Elgin, a suburb of Chicago, approved a code change last fall allowing retailers to make and sell products in the same space. In 2022, Baltimore passed a bill that allows small-scale food processing and art-studio-related businesses in commercial zones. And Seattle’s City Council will vote in September on a plan that includes changing rules to allow artisan manufacturers in residential neighborhoods. Supporters said the proposal would help create the kind of walkable mixed-use neighborhoods that were common in an earlier era.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/business/factories-manufacturing-cities-zoning.html
Family Offices Emerge as Major Players in CRE Markets
As the sector becomes more sophisticated, some are moving beyond deal-by-deal investing to build vertically integrated platforms, hiring in-house asset managers and engineers to support growing portfolios. There is also a trend toward forming discretionary funds, allowing for faster decision-making and the ability to seize opportunities without the delays of syndicating capital.
https://www.globest.com/2025/07/14/family-offices-emerge-as-major-players-in-cre-markets/
REAL ESTATE AND MOBILITY
An Auto-ethnography of Traffic in China and the emerging second-story city
As my son put it: The bike lane is the motorbike lane. The sidewalk is the motorbike lane. The street is the motorbike lane. The pedestrian overpass is the motorbike lane. (Seriously, there are bike ramps up to the pedestrian overpasses, either separate from, or in the middle of, the stairs, which people just ride up.) China’s streets are rapidly electrifying. Green license plates, indicating the vehicle is electric, now form a very visible share of the private vehicle fleet. Electric taxis, delivery scooters, and personal mobility devices abound. The combustion engine isn’t gone, but it’s in retreat. The shift is infrastructural as much as cultural — an emerging system that already feels embedded. Skyways are slowly emerging as a second-story city like in Minneapolis and a number of other cities. Given the inability to reign in the car, this seems like the next best alternative. In this case the second-story city emerges at least in part from the legacy of inconvenient pedestrian overpasses, they are slowly being connected into buildings, so in dense areas, pedestrians will be fully separated from cars and trucks and buses (though obviously not motorbikes, until this is better regulated.
https://www.transportist.net/p/an-auto-ethnography-of-traffic-in
MOBILITY
Transit Passes and the One Big Beautiful Bill
Stuart Anderson of Transportation Solutions reports that following extensive debate among Republican legislators in both chambers, the comprehensive “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” was enacted. Transit programs were under attack in discussions, including a proposal that sought to eliminate the Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefit (QTFB) that allows individuals to purchase transit passes or pay for vanpools using pre-tax income. The House version removed the benefit, but the Senate put it back in. A win! A measure from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that made transit passes a non-deductible expense for employers was extended to provide a fiscal offset for allowing private jets to be fully deductible in the first year. A loss! Similarly, a measure from the 2017 Act that imposed a 21% employee transit pass tax on non-profit employers, which was later repealed, was reintroduced by the House, this time exempting religious organizations. The Senate removed it. A win!
https://transolutions.org/
Five of the Ugliest Transportation Policies In the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill
While virtually everything in the legislation known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will touch transportation in one way or another, experts warn certain provisions will have a far more direct impact on the way that Americans move, the air they breathe, and the traffic violence they endure as a result — and mostly not in a good way. “The direct elements [impacting transportation] in this bill are designed to reinforce car dependency — especially of gas powered cars,” said Yonah Freemark of the Urban Institute. “That’s what’s been prioritized by the Trump administration already, and with this bill, they are taking advantage of changes in tax programs and the rescission of major programs to [solidify that].”
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2025/07/10/five-of-the-ugliest-transportation-policies-in-the-big-beautiful-bill
A Milestone for Front Range Passenger Rail: Intergovernmental Agreement Unites Key Partners
On June 27, the FRPRD Board adopted an intergovernmental agreement to establish the Joint Service Executive Oversight Committee, comprised of the FRPRD, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Regional Transportation District (RTD), Clean Transit Enterprise (CTE), Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO) and the Governor’s office. This agreement authorizes the partners to jointly develop a near-term passenger rail starter service from Denver to Fort Collins, referred to as “Joint Service.”
https://www.ridethefrontrange.com/about-the-district
Connecting the Northwest Metro Region: The Future of Joint Rail Service
What is the Funding Source? It’s no secret, transportation infrastructure is expensive. The estimated cost to run three daily roundtrip trains on the Joint Service model is $885 million annually. The good news is that Joint Service can be achieved by 2029 with existing funding sources. Thanks to state legislation passed in 2024, the Congestion Impact Fee (SB24-184) and Oil & Gas Production Fee (SB24-230), there is a continuous stream of revenue that will partially fund Joint Rail. The remainder of funds are anticipated to come from RTD and a federal CRISI grant awarded in 2024.
https://commutingsolutions.org/connecting-the-northwest-metro-region-the-future-of-joint-rail-service/
“We Still Want To Be Together And Still Want To Meet Face-To-Face”
You may increase the share of telecommunications and reduce the share of travel, but if physical travel is also growing at the same time, then you may not be reducing physical travel in absolute terms. In terms of conceptual relationships, I think about how the internet inspires travel by bringing interesting destinations into our living room on command. Unlike stumbling onto something on television, we can now intentionally research our vacations in advance. We can look for last-minute price bargains. So the internet is making it possible to travel more cheaply or to travel greater distances for the same price.
https://futureofwhere.substack.com/p/we-still-want-to-be-together-and
Everything You Were Afraid To Ask About the Next Surface Transportation Reauthorization
Basically, every five years, Congress is supposed to pass one big bill covering pretty much everything about how the federal government does roads, bridges, rail, transit, bike lanes, sidewalks, and more. (The “more” includes pipelines, ferries, and airports, but we don’t worry about that stuff much at Streetsblog.) And because the federal government has historically supplied about one-quarter of all money for transportation and water infrastructure across the country — and a lot of the money for the most transformative infrastructure, like highways that destroy neighborhoods and big transit projects that connect them — this bill is particularly important to how America moves day to day.
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2025/07/22/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-the-next-surface-transportation-reauthorization
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
From lumber to lighting: How Trump’s tariffs drive up home construction costs
An NBC News analysis of building materials and import data found that the total cost of building a mid-range single-family home could rise by more than $4,000 — an estimate that industry experts who reviewed the analysis called conservative. An April survey from the National Association of Home Builders estimated tariff impacts at $10,900 per home. Neither analysis included labor costs. Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, said the tariffs have an impact beyond their direct cost as they send uncertainty rippling through the supply chain and leave builders unsure how to plan for the future.
https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/house-construction-cost-tariff-change/
High-stakes battle over Opportunity Zones 2.0 will soon begin. Here’s how to get a jumpstart.
Business owners and real estate investors will have a significant new investment opportunity starting Jan. 1, 2027, but should start preparing now. That’s because the sweeping tax legislation that passed Congress earlier this month — President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill — revamps the Opportunity Zones program and launches a new, permanent version. Opportunity Zones were introduced during Trump’s first term as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The program, which allows real estate investors and developers to receive tax breaks for projects they do in specially designated low-income areas, was set to expire at the end of 2026. The new legislation calls for state governors to name new Opportunity Zones by July 1, 2026, and for the program to officially open for investment on Jan. 1, 2027.
https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2025/07/15/opportunity-zone-revamp-rural-tips-business-2026.html
Congress Made Opportunity Zones Permanent. Here’s What Happens Next
The final version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Congress passed last week and President Donald Trump signed included a provision to make the opportunity zone program permanent, as it was scheduled to sunset next year. The bill also made changes to the program intended to better steer investment toward the economically distressed communities for which it was designed. But those communities may have to wait a while: OZ 2.0 isn’t set to go into effect for another 18 months, and as the first version approaches its end date, industry players expect investment in the current zones to dwindle.
https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/opportunity-zones/congress-made-the-opportunity-zone-program-permanent-heres-what-happens-next-130101
The Biggest Myth About the YIMBY Movement
The Democratic YIMBY movement argues for reducing restrictions on building in order to increase the number of homes and lower housing prices. This has inspired a furious backlash within the liberal coalition. These critics paint the YIMBY vision as a centrist, pro-business scheme that betrays progressive values. Some of the loudest complaints have come from anti-monopoly advocates, who warn that the abundance agenda is a stalking horse for libertarianism. The fight has been framed in a way that is almost perfectly designed to split the Democratic coalition. But this fight shouldn’t even be happening. Antitrust policy and housing abundance are natural allies.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/07/housing-abundance-antitrust/683504/
How States and Cities Decimated Americans’ Lowest-Cost Housing Option
Low-cost micro-units, often called single-room occupancies, or SROs, were once a reliable form of housing for the United States’ poorest residents of, and newcomers to, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and many other major U.S. cities. Well into the 20th century, SROs were the least expensive option on the housing market, providing a small room with a shared bathroom and sometimes a shared kitchen for a price that is unimaginable today—as little as $100 to $300 a month (in 2025 dollars). In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, landlords converted thousands of houses, hotels, apartment buildings, and commercial buildings into SROs, and by 1950, SRO units made up about 10% of all rental units in some major cities. But beginning in the mid-1950s, as some politicians and vocal members of the public turned against SROs and the people who lived in them, major cities across the country revised zoning and building codes to force or encourage landlords to eliminate SRO units and to prohibit the development of new ones.
https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2025/07/how-states-and-cities-decimated-americans-lowest-cost-housing-option
Investors snap up growing share of US homes as traditional buyers struggle to afford one
Nearly 27% of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors — the highest share in at least five years, according to a report by real estate data provider BatchData. Between 2020 and 2023, the share of homes bought by investors averaged 18.5%. All told, investors bought 265,000 homes in the January-March quarter, an increase of 1.2% from the same period a year earlier, the firm said. ~ Investors bought 1.2 million homes in 2024, up from an average of 1.1 million homes a year going back to 2020, according to BatchData. Even so, investor-owned homes account for roughly 20% of the nation’s 86 million single-family homes, the firm said. Of those, mom-and-pop investors, or those who own between 1 and 5 homes, account for 85% of all investor-owned residential properties, while those with between 6 and 10 properties account for another 5%. Institutional investors that own 1,000 or more homes account for only about 2.2% of all investor-owned homes, the firm said.
https://apnews.com/article/real-estate-investors-home-sales-affordability-housing-7aa2bc78c87bfb1f292fe4321fe658cb?
National Affordable Housing Report – July 2025
Federal stipends are the most widely spread, with 11,221 communities benefitting from such subsidies, followed by state incentives (2,170 communities) and local contributions (583 communities). These allotments can take on many forms, including tax credits and deferrals, low-cost financing, grants, density bonuses and direct renter subsidies. At a federal level, tax-exempt private activity bonds fund the largest number of properties, amounting to 3,288 communities. This type of financing is often packaged with 4 percent LIHTC, most commonly used in the preservation and rehabilitation of affordable housing assets. Other notable federal programs aim to assist public housing authorities through annual HUD grants. Some 1,850 properties leveraged such funding. HUD also issues Section 8 vouchers, which are subsequently distributed to qualified PHA residents, covering part of their rents.
https://www.multihousingnews.com/national-affordable-housing-report-july-2025/
Cutting five words from this law could make houses cheaper
The target is an obscure regulation that requires every manufactured home to be built on a “permanent chassis” — a steel trailer frame that can attach to wheels. The idea was that the chassis was necessary — even after the home was installed and the wheels taken off — because manufactured houses, which trace their roots to World War II trailers, could theoretically be moved. Yet by the mid-1970s, most never left their original site, and the chassis remained unused, notable only as a design feature that made the homes stick out. Getting rid of this “permanent chassis” mandate could make manufactured homes — already home to 21 million Americans, most of whom earn under $50,000 a year — more attractive, more socially accepted, and even more affordable than they already are.
https://www.vox.com/policy/420254/housing-reform-congress-manufactured-homes-chassis-rule
Denver Mayor Wants To Convert 4M SF Of Vacant Office
The initiative offers tax exemptions to developers who build rental units for households earning between $60K and $100K — a segment often left out of traditional affordable housing models. ~ The office-to-residential push builds on the $570M downtown investment package approved by voters this past November. Johnston said that package, which required no new taxes, has already helped boost foot traffic, restaurant revenues and retail leasing interest — particularly along the long-renovated, newly rebranded 16th Street, which received more than 100,000 visitors at its grand reopening in May.
https://www.bisnow.com/denver/news/infrastructure/state-of-the-city-speech-mayor-mike-johnston-130251
