Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, February, 2021 / Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 80-81). / With a large, growing, and young population, Brazil suffers from a chronic shortage of affordable housing. This crisis, in particular, negatively affects new and economically ascending entrants to the housing market. This economic crisis is unfolding concurrently with the global environmental challenges associated with climate and sustainability. This thesis explores the application of modular construction in an affordable housing project in Cuiaba, Brazil. This thesis is comprised of three distinct sections. Section I provides a historical overview of offsite construction with a particular focus on precast concrete in modular construction. It describes the forces and some of the most notable projects and figures that shaped precast construction - especially in its European cradle. It further provides a comprehensive classification of current modular construction and discusses its benefits and limitations. Section II analyzes Brazil's ongoing housing crisis and Brazil's economic trends and realities. It discusses Brazil's National Housing Policy and its flagship program - Minha Casa, Minha Vida. Section III takes the reader to Cuiaba, Mato Grosso's capital, and proposes a 528-unit affordable housing development project there. It explores the establishment of a mobile concrete precasting plant and analyzes the production and application of a novel modular concrete system in the project. Particular attention is paid to the financial viability of the project. / by Daniel Smicka. / S.M. in Real Estate Development / S.M.inRealEstateDevelopment Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate

Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, 2016. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 66-69). / This thesis documents new methods for gauging supply and demand of data center capacity and addresses issues surrounding potential threats to data center demand. This document is divided between a primer on the composition and engineering of a current data center, discussion of issues surrounding data center demand, Moore's Law and cloud computing, and then transitions to presentation of research on data center demand and supply. / by Laird Bennion. / S.M. in Real Estate Development

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in Conjunction with the Center for Real Estate , 2009. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 63). / This analysis explores the feasibility of sorting UK funds into three different styles, which are widely used in the US. In an overview of major factors' impact on the expected risk of a fund, the analysis shows that leverage is by far the most influential factor, followed by the subtype diversification. In a preliminary style-classification, the study uses Loan-to-Value ratio (LTV) as the dominant factor, defining funds with no debt as core, funds with LTV lower than 40% as value-added, and funds with higher than 50% LTV ratios as opportunistic. Then the study makes some adjustments to this classification based on the observation of the funds' attributes other than LTV, and the adjusted classification ends up with 19 core funds, 22 value-added funds and 21 opportunistic funds. After that, three major differences between the UK and US funds are found. First, the core approach represents a smaller portion of the UK funds than the US funds and the opposite is true for the value-added approach. To improve the feasibility of researchers comparing funds within these two countries, the thesis suggests using a fourth style, core-plus. Second, the average LTV for core and value-added approaches is much lower in the UK than in the US. Third, the US opportunistic funds seem to have better performance than their UK counterparts with similar leverage ratio, while future studies would help draw more precise conclusions about the performance comparisons. / by Guoxu Xing. / S.M.

Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, 2014. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 50-52). / Korean institutional investors comprise one of the major investor groups in the financial market. Given their characteristics and constraints, asset allocation of such institutional investors is dominated by 'traditional assets' such as stocks, bonds and cash. The recent global financial crisis increased uncertainty, and corresponding low interest rate trends have made it difficult for institutions to meet their own required returns. To accomplish higher and more stable return profiles, major institutional investors in Korea have begun restructuring asset allocation strategies, moving toward greater exposure in the real estate sector. In the context of this trend, where do Korean institutional investors stand on real estate investment? This thesis attempts to cast light on the current and future approaches to real estate investments by the major institutional investors in Korea, including major pension funds and insurance companies. To achieve this goal, the thesis is largely composed of two parts: (i) a prior investigation of real estate and Korean institutional investors with academic literatures and industry data and (ii) comprehensive interviews with Korean institutional investors and their external partners. As a prior investigation, academic literatures show that despite drawbacks, investments in real estate have clear benefits for institutional investors. The industry data clearly demonstrates that the growth of Korean investors' assets under management, intensifying competition in domestic markets, and recent low-interest market environments have all led Korean institutional investors to pay more attention to the global markets. Their real estate investment practices in the global market have been diversified in terms of the destination and property types. Analyzing key interview findings, the study reorganizes practical industry applications and compares them with the prior investigation. The thesis concludes that Korean institutional investors have attempted to establish their own asset allocation strategies based on each unique investment appetite and liability. / by Sangwook Nam. / S.M. in Real Estate Development

Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, 2015. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 79-82). / On September 6, 2008, at the start of what would amount to the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, the U.S. Government took two publicly traded Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and placed them into conservatorship. Operating losses by these entities had created strong market concerns about their ability to function, threatening to adversely affect the US housing finance market. Over the last two decades, the GSEs have played a major role in the multifamily industry, routinely accounting for approximately 30% of annual multifamily financing; at the height of the financial crisis in 2009, GSEs accounted for 86% of all new multifamily loans. Although GSEs account for a substantial portion of multifamily financing, very little research has been conducted in order to examine the future of the multifamily industry post-GSE conservatorship. In part, the reason for minimal research and a lack of media attention on this issue is that GSEs play a far greater role in terms of total dollars in the single-family residential market. This thesis helps to fill this void by closely examining the GSEs role in the multifamily market and surmising the impact to the multifamily sector post-GSE conservatorship. In order to examine this issue, this thesis focuses on the history and role of GSEs in the multifamily market; examines the guidelines, structure and securitization process of GSE multifamily loans; examines current multifamily market conditions and trends; provides a performance comparison of GSE securitized loans to other multifamily loans; and examines proposed GSE legislation. This thesis then synthesizes and prognosticates the current and potential future multifamily market conditions utilizing the 4-Quadrant model and the role the government should play in the multifamily finance market post-GSE conservatorship. This thesis concludes and surmises that reduced government involvement in the multifamily finance market will affect the multifamily industry, causing increased borrowing costs, decreased property values, and increased property value volatility. The extent to which the multifamily industry is affected depends upon the outcome of the GSE conservatorship, although it appears that increased multifamily demand due to favorable demographic trends may help to negate the impact of decreased GSE involvement in the multifamily industry for the foreseeable future. / by Robert Matthew Wallace. / S.M. in Real Estate Development

Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, September, 2020 / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 81-87). / Commercial real estate is at a crossroads; continued global population growth will necessitate significant additions to the current building stock, and new commercial space, if delivered using traditional construction methods and materials, will further increase the embodied carbon emissions of the built environment. However, there is an opportunity to mitigate the environmental impact of new development while also increasing value by employing new mass timber technology to meet the growing demand for new buildings. At the same time, approved changes to the 2021 International Building Codes (IBC) and increased investment in new production facilities will improve the scale and usability of mass timber, further reducing costs and environmental impacts. This dynamic presents developers with a unique opportunity to capitalize on changing tides and revolutionize the building industry. / This paper will explore the similarities and differences between mass timber and traditional timber construction before discussing the best ways to leverage mass timber's advantages over traditional steel and concrete building systems and how to apply lessons learned from existing projects to reduce costs in the context of an evolving industry. In order to prove the viability of mass timber, this paper will utilize construction cost analyses from an existing case study that compared mass timber development to traditional cast-in-place concrete development, and it will analyze these total cost estimates on a time-adjusted returns basis. Subsequently, it will analyze consumer and corporate trends based on demographics and sustainability preferences in order to demonstrate the proven willingness of individuals and companies to pay a premium for sustainability. / Based on that demand, it will then utilize leasing and valuation figures from LEED and Energy Star buildings as a basis of analyzing the superior returns mass timber delivers. Finally, a discussion of the current limitations to wide-spread adoption of mass timber will be identified, as well as means for owners to mitigate those limitations and identify the best potential markets for mass timber. With an understanding of the products, market, and existing challenges, this paper concludes with views on how the mass timber industry will evolve to facilitate wider use.. / by Andrew Thigpen [and] Benjamin Masselink. / S.M. in Real Estate Development / S.M.inRealEstateDevelopment Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate

Thesis (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in Conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, 2013. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (page 44). / The idea of a pure-play property portfolio is simply to replicate the returns of a specified target real estate sector without any exposure to other sectors by taking an optimal mix of long and short positions in listed real estate securities, combined with bonds to de-lever the traded equity shares. The goal of this study was to explore the possibility of applying the pure portfolio methodology in Europe, similarly to the way it has been recently launched in the United States, by constructing various demonstration sets of country and sector indices for the major European real estate markets. We used data for the three-year period 2010-2012. We find that the pure-play methodology yields reasonable results for the European-wide office, retail, residential, industrial and multi-use indices. The all-sector country indices for the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden seem to relatively accurately reflect the underlying economic trends in each country, while the Dutch index produced exaggerated negative results during the sample period. The performance of the computed Eurozone and Other-Europe indices are in line with reasonable expectations, among other things mirroring the events in the single currency area during 2011. A number of country-specific sector indices were also constructed. For the UK, office, retail, residential, industrial and multi-use indices were estimated. For France, office, retail and multi-use indices were computed. For Germany and Sweden office and residential sector indices were calculated. While the results for the majority of the country-specific sector indices seem reasonable and reliable, some of them suffer from high volatility or negative autocorrelation. In summary, this study suggests that the currently available data on European REITs and other real estate investment companies may well enable the construction of a number of sector, country, as well as country-specific sector indices for the key European real estate markets. / by Kristian Elonen. / S.M.in Real Estate Development

Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, September, 2020 / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 58-59). / We founded T-Space in response to the underutilization of transit stations and the opportunity it presents itself being a high volume, small footprint space with a strong network to residential neighborhoods and employment centers. As a team, we found ourselves asking: Can transit stations be an alternative space for retail service? Can we bring convenience to commuters? Can we add to the neighborhood identity through modernization and wayfinding strategies? Can we help transit agencies improve their real estate source of income? This thesis articulates the T-Space business model developed through MIT's DesignX accelerator program. T-Space, short for Transit Space, is a real estate company focused on modernizing stations and improving the quality of life for commuters. Our mission is to revitalize these untapped assets and incorporate innovative retail technology for convenience. By modernizing transit stations across the United States, we have an opportunity to better connect transit stations to its community while increasing the real estate revenue source for the transit agency. At the same time, retailers can test new markets, while commuters benefit from automation and self-service. In our efforts of developing a business model that works for transit agencies, retailers, and commuters, we hope the success of projects contribute to an increase in ridership. / by Manuel Velazco. / S.M. in Real Estate Development / S.M.inRealEstateDevelopment Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate

Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, September, 2020 / Pagination: 1-123, 142-146, 124-141. Cataloged from student-submitted PDF of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 144-146). / This paper examines the historic, current and future state of luxury residential amenities and the popularly-called "Amenity Wars" in luxury multifamily housing. The research is based on U.S. urban markets with a special focus on Boston, Massachusetts, where the recent building boom and overall healthy economy have created an active and competitive multifamily development environment. It also aims to answer the question: how has/will COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) impact the thinking behind and programming of residential building amenities? The discussion of recent Amenity Wars trends incorporates themes such as catering to resident needs on a lifestyle level; the draw of physical amenities vs. service-oriented amenities; and demographic and market conditions that have resulted in the current state of multifamily demand. / Following is an exploration of how, as of summer 2020, the coronavirus's rapid person-to-person spread has proved particularly disruptive to the way multifamily housing operates, and how it has challenged existing perceptions about what makes for a desirable multifamily housing experience. The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic will represent a profound moment in collective memory with the power to alter not only the planning and programming of multifamily features and amenities, but luxury urban residential demand in general. As such, it is now time to rethink what the future of the Amenity Wars will look like in both the evolving new normal and long-term new normal. This paper demonstrates how, during the pandemic, innovative designs and other creative solutions have already begun to infiltrate multifamily design and construction. / It also establishes that a healthy demand for luxury urban multifamily housing is poised to remain in the long term, along with which additional notable shifts in multifamily feature and amenity programming will occur. Going forward, we should expect to see changes to physical space in the form of more spatially-adaptable buildouts that enable flexibility of use in addition to more private areas and less community focus, as well as a shift toward service over some physical amenities. Additionally, some of the most lasting effects of the pandemic will be in regard to how multifamily buildings are designed to accommodate new demands of teleworking. / by Elise Dubuque. / S.M. in Real Estate Development / S.M.inRealEstateDevelopment Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate

Thesis (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in Conjunction with the Center for Real Estate , 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 64). / The purpose of this research project is to examine the market pricing behavior of vacation homes in resort property markets. To accomplish this a price index is constructed to track real price fluctuations from 1981 to 2010 for the 3 localized ski resort markets in Park City, Utah. The resulting price indices reveal a history of cyclical price movements, and surprising long-term real price depreciation of 12% to 25% between 1981 and 2010. To determine the causes of the cyclical movements in the price indices, time series analysis is performed, and a model created to predict market behaviors based on past levels of price, construction, and skier days. The results of this exercise reveal that the number of annual skier days in the area is an effective representative of demand for housing, and that the local ski business has a considerable effect on real estate prices. Additionally, it is revealed that Park City's ski business is largely affected by national economic conditions, more so than by both regional economical conditions and local snowfall. The analysis concludes that despite the thirty year decline in real prices, the Park City resort market behaves as a well functioning, healthy market. The model indicates that while increases in prices do stimulate new construction, the growth in the total number of dwelling units reveals a relatively inelastic supply market. This suggests that any growth in demand should be accompanied with long-term price appreciation. Market forecasts based on various demand scenarios indicate that except in the most pessimistic cases, prices in Park City should experience healthy appreciation in the near to mid future. It is believed that these findings can be applicable to various resort markets. / by Brady W. Larsen. / S.M.in Real Estate Development