Silver linings amid foreclosures

Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2009, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute, grimly predicts: “The credit crisis and ensuing recession promise to drag commercial real estate markets into a difficult period marked by value losses, rising foreclosures, and reduced property revenue.” Yet the report offers encouraging prospects for urbanism: • “Higher-density residential projects with retail components will gain favor in the next round of building.” • “Core urban markets with mass transportation alternatives to the car solidify their advantages over far-flung car-dependent suburban areas, and more investors and developers target infill locations for future mixed-use residential projects, especially near transit stops.” • “Metropolitan areas nationwide realize they need to build or expand mass transportation systems in order to overcome road congestion, which strangles economic growth and increases carbon footprints.” • Smart developers of apartments will “focus on infill areas in suburban markets with traffic problems. Mixed-use construction in urbanizing suburban nodes almost always include residential components to help create more attractive 24-hour environments.” The top five markets, the report says, will be Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, DC, New York, and Los Angeles.