Thesis (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, Center for Real Estate, 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-43). / This thesis examines foreclosure sales of single-family homes in eight communities in the Boston Metro area and the price appreciation from purchase of a foreclosed property through to a subsequent fair market, arms-length sale. The post foreclosure sale price appreciation of the foreclosed properties is compared with price appreciation of fair market, arms length sales to discern the effects of a foreclosure on future price appreciation. RESULTS The magnitude of the price appreciation may be positively influenced, or in part, caused by investment to remediate defects in the property or to cure problems due to endemic disinvestment. On the other hand, it is quite probable there is a negative effect due to intractable problems and or stigma which cannot be cured with money or sweat equity; i.e. socio-economic factors such as changes in crime and poverty rates, macroeconomic conditions, floods or other natural mishaps. Price appreciation, as measured through actual repeat sales, from 8 cities in the Boston Metro area, indicate foreclosed properties appreciate more rapidly than normative, arm's length transactions in those same markets. The results were unclear for sales pairs initiated in 1991-1994, during a relatively flat market. However results are significant with sales pairs initiated in 1995-1997 and 1998-2000, during the real estate recovery and over various holding periods up to five years, using repeat sales data from 1987 through 2007. The Foreclosed Sale Pairs initiated from 1995-2000 dominated the Market Sale Pairs initiated during the same years over the two to five year holding periods. / by Eric Loth Jr. / S.M.in Real Estate Development

Thesis (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, Center for Real Estate, 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references. / York's Wild Kingdom is a privately held zoo and amusement park in York, a Massachusetts based shopping center developer and investment compa Kingdom and the 150 acres that surround it. The community is culturaIl ( and York Beach, which is relevant to the entitlement process. The site is new public road to York Beach directly from the highway, thus alleviating a problem for York Harbor. This may be a point on which both groups can u This thesis examines the potential of the site in a concept level developme assessment criteria for each programming option. 1. Enhancement of cor seasonal resort uses with year round uses. 3. Broad community support. developer. Uses explored are a retail center with a 'New England Village G zoo, the addition of a non-seasonal indoor waterpark, the addition of a spa century theme of 'coming for the cure', and an extension of the existing dc argue that in order to initiate this development, the above concerns must tb / by Kimberley Whiting Rae. / S.M.in Real Estate Development

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, and (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 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. 145-150). / Public markets were once central components of the urban food system in American cities, but declined in number and importance by the middle of the 20th century. Despite a diminished role in feeding the city, public markets have persisted, and interest abounds in both existing markets and the development of new ones. In addition to creating an alternative to the mainstream commercial food system, public markets can generate a range of community benefits including small business opportunities, preservation and promotion of local foods and foodways, and a forum for public interaction. Despite these benefits, developing new, permanent, indoor markets is a unique challenge. This paper investigates development strategies for organizations seeking to create new public market halls in U.S cities. Literature specific to public market development is reviewed and contextualized within broader real estate planning frameworks. A detailed case study of the Boston Public Market Association and its efforts to develop a new public market hall in Boston illuminates the difficulties of successfully advancing a public market project. In particular, current opportunities facing that organization illustrate potentially successful strategies to develop a new public market. While developing a public market is not simply a real estate problem, the real estate world's twin criterion of "most fitting and probable use" suggests an appropriate planning structure for public market proponents. / (cont.) By planning for a market that is "most fitting" in response to a range of local contexts, market advocates can make the improbable possible by adopting an opportunistic real estate strategy and attracting support and resources from both the public and private sectors. Given the long timeline market projects may face, sustained commitment and diligent activity are essential to successful market development. / by Joshua Charles Zade. / S.M.in Real Estate Development / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning; and, (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, Center for Real Estate, 2006. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-83). / Green development has received much attention over the past decade, with the greatest interest coming from designers. However, the development and investment communities have been slower to adopt green principles, and the author claims that this hesitancy is related to an information gap around the costs and benefits of green building. When researchers do quantify cost or value differentials, they do it on a case study basis. By focusing on a few extraordinary examples that are ultimately placeless, these case studies create an information gap between the extraordinary performance of a few buildings (what is possible) and the ordinary performance of a typical green building (what is expected). Through the development of a simple real estate market model, the author argues that information on what is expected drives decision making in real estate, and market-based studies that are segmented by place and product type would provide more pertinent information to these industry players. If green buildings create greater value over a building's lifecycle, then green building owners should expect superior returns over time. However, no one has tested this hypothesis for a particular real estate market with a large number of green buildings. To that end, the author develops a methodology that could be used to complete such a study. / This methodology is then tested on the market for green single-family homes in the Austin, Texas metro area. The author finds that homes rated as green by the Austin Green Building Program sell at a 9-10% price premium over unrated homes (further research by the author has shown that this premium is likely related to a spatial concentration of green homes in high cost areas and not due to the green rating). / by William B. Bradshaw, II. / S.M.in Real Estate Development / M.C.P.

Thesis (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, Center for Real Estate, 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-160). / The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program is designed to promote investment and economic growth in urban and rural low-income communities across the country. Created in 2000 as one of the last acts of the Clinton Administration, the NMTC program has allocated $16 billion of tax credits to date to Community Development Entities (CDEs), who in turn use the credits to make investments in target communities. Through the final authorized round of allocations, which is currently projected to be end-of-year 2008, the program will have allocated $19.5 billion in tax credit authority. This thesis investigates how NMTCs work, why they are structured as they are, and who uses them. It reviews the origins as well as the current status of the program, and investigates how one of the most active, innovative CDEs in the country, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC), uses NMTCs in practice. Finally, this thesis provides a case study of Pittsfield, a small city in western Massachusetts where NMTCs have been used as part of the community's efforts to redevelop the downtown as a cultural and entertainment destination. Pittsfield, once home to a large General Electric manufacturing plant, experienced a rapid economic decline following GE's gradual closure and sale of its operations in the city over the last several decades. This thesis investigates Pittsfield's efforts to redefine itself through a combination of strong leadership, vision, and the effective use of available capital resources such as NMTCs. One of the primary questions raised about NMTCs has involved how to evaluate the impacts of the tax credit investments on their target communities. Especially in an environment in which the re-authorization of the program is not assured, understanding the impacts of NMTC investments is critical if the program is to continue. / (cont.) This project lays out an innovative evaluation framework based upon 'theory of change' logic modeling in order to offer a potential guide for NMTC impact evaluation that could be used in practice. In particular, this thesis argues that NMTC investments must be evaluated within the context of broader community redevelopment initiatives and not as stand-alone initiatives. Ultimately, the value of theory of change models both for planning community development initiatives and for evaluating NMTC impacts is demonstrated by constructing such a framework for Pittsfield, Mass. / by Daniel J. McGrath. / S.M.in Real Estate Development

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning; and, (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 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. 122-126). / The inner-city neighborhoods of America continue to struggle with the economic blight they have faced ever since American urban growth began to abandon the urban city core fifty years ago. One of the most salient characteristics of the American inner-city is how it is constantly overlooked by private investment. This has many negative effects on the economic livelihood of these neighborhoods, including leaving these areas of the city void of much of the retail its residents need for their own purchases and for local economic activity. Recent theories have focused on the idea that one of the reasons there is a lack of investment is because of an information gap that exists in the inner-city, through which inner-city economic and demographic conditions are not accurately represented in the market data used for retail development market analysis. This thesis researches how improved retail market analysis data can help spur more inner-city retail development, with a specific focus on how Social Compact!s 2009 Neighborhood Market DrillDown report for the City of Miami can support increased inner-city retail development in the city. The research looked at the history of inner-cities, the retail development process, and the use of DrillDown reports in Cleveland, Ohio and Houston, Texas, and then studied Miami!s economic development context and its developing strategy for the dissemination of the DrillDown report. It is concluded that the Neighborhood Market DrillDown reports have the potential to be an important enabler of increased inner-city retail development. / (cont.) However, this success is completely contingent on the data!s passage through the Retail Market Information Flow framework that this thesis stipulates that actionable market data flows through in a city!s development process. The essence of the flow framework is that it is a series of networking and collaboration steps that determine how effectively a city!s public, private, and non-profit actors work together to support the use and acceptance of improved data and apply it effectively to retail development deals. / by Dickson Benjamin Power. / S.M.in Real Estate Development / M.C.P.

Thesis (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, Center for Real Estate, 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 63). / This paper examines a second home market near Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe, CA to understand historical pricing behaviors and to forecast future prices using an econometric model derived from economic, demographic, and climate data. In order to do this study, we gathered historical residential sales data from 1988 to 2008 for the study area, which is limited to residential houses located within a one-mile radius of the resort. Moreover, other external variables, such as Tahoe skier visits, natural snowfall, San Francisco Bay Area income and employment, and mortgage interest rates, were collected for the same time period to determine how these variables influenced the prices. First, using approximately 550 residential sales data, a price index was created and subsequently historical residential home pricing behaviors were analyzed. Typically, evaluation of house prices is difficult since each residential property is a composite of goods that contain varying amounts of attributes. Therefore, the hedonic house price model was applied to recognize and remove effects of the housing-specific attributes on pricing. As a result, the real price index tracks only real prices as a function of time. Over the 20 years of study period, two distinct trends were observed. The real prices remained flat for the first 10 years and increased substantially in the second 10 years. Overall, the real price index linearly trended upwards. Employing the real price index and the external variables, a series of equations was developed as the foundation of an econometric model. The econometric model utilizes the following equation: New Permits (a measure of supply) and Tahoe Skier Visits (a measure of demand), to forecast future supply and demand. / (cont.) The future projections with relevant economic variables then were put into Stock and Real Price (a measure of residential prices) equations to establish future prices. Using the econometric model, we employed three scenarios portraying future economic conditions to examine the pricing behaviors: realistic, optimistic, and pessimistic. In reaction to moderate snowfall and economic growth in the realistic scenario, the real prices slope downward immediately and then upward. With a higher economic growth and a phenomenal snowfall, the optimistic scenario predicts the highest price appreciation through increase in demand. The pessimistic scenario is the only one in which the significant price decline is predicted. This study concludes that residential home prices will continue to increase in all cases except for the pessimistic scenario, in which there are poor economic conditions and a light snowfall. Another conclusion is that the existing housing stock is confined and outdated due to the maturity of this market as well as new development restrictions imposed by the local authority. / by Sean Lee. / S.M.in Real Estate Development

Thesis (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, Center for Real Estate, 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-66). / Like many great business ventures, grand successes in real estate development are often attributed to individuals with strong visions and talent, as well as a keen foresight on the future conditions which will ultimately decide the value of their projects. Even with the best forecasts and predictions, this type of a clear view of the future real estate market is typically difficult to bring into focus. By considering developments which provide the ability to react accordingly to the uncertainty of future forces, developers can better manage the risk associated with a potential weak market while also gaining the potential to benefit in a strong one. Flexibility of this type in real estate is generally known as a "real option." Even in dense urban centers with a limited amount of developable land, market uncertainty may still exist. Therefore, flexibility in that type of environment could allow a developer to be better positioned should a market improve or decline. One way to provide this type of flexibility on urban sites is to develop a given quantity of space initially with the option to add more vertically in the future. Although rare, such vertical expansions are quite feasible and the real option is quantifiable. This thesis investigates the value of providing a real option to vertically expand a structure in the future. Real option valuation is often regarded as a complex procedure and outside of typical real estate finance. This investigation will adopt a previously developed methodology based on familiar spreadsheet techniques and common valuation metrics such as net present value. To explore the use of this methodology and the potential value of vertical expansion, the Health Care Service Corporation headquarters in Chicago, IL is the basis of an analysis. This structure represents an existing building with the built-in option to expand vertically to almost twice its initial height. / by Anthony C. Guma. / S.M.in Real Estate Development

Thesis (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, Center for Real Estate, 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 88-92). / The market of existing office buildings is going green. While early adopters of green buildings were owner-occupiers, there is a current wave of nonowner-occupied office buildings seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Buildings certification. This thesis examines the current context in which this dramatic change is transpiring as well as answers the following questions as they relate to this green transformation of existing multitenanted office buildings: * Who is participating? * Why are they participating? * What is the process? * What are the costs? * How is it being financed? Research conducted included literature review and interviews with building owners, property managers, building engineers and brokers in several major metropolitan office markets in the United States. This thesis examines green building rating systems from around the world. We focus on the LEED rating system, the most widely used in the United States, as it provides a good framework for owners and managers to evaluate and benchmark the environmental performance of their building. Our research indicates that a much higher percentage of Class A office building owners and managers are pursuing LEED for Existing Building (LEED-EB) certification, while Class B owners and managers are not. Class B owners face less incentives and greater obstacles when pursuing LEED-EB certification. In chapter four of this thesis, we explore two creative ways that Class B owners and managers may be able to overcome some of these hurdles - Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). / by Tyson H. Dirksen [and] Mark D. McGowan. / S.M.in Real Estate Development

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning; and, (S.M. in Real Estate Development)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, Center for Real Estate, 2005. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-110). / Emerging mobile and digital technologies are providing individuals with greater flexibility in the way they structure their working environment. At the same time, the knowledge-based economy is growing based on ideas generated through collaborative processes. Working patterns are changing, creating a demand for physical and virtual environments that address changing preferences. The goal of this thesis is to survey and examine technology-enhanced alternatives to the old working environment that are now being developed, and to synthesize their main attributes into a set of guidelines for the creation of new real estate products. Many groups are now involved in creating such innovative alternative workplaces, but speculative real estate developers are hardly among them. Perhaps the term "real estate developer" has evolved to describe any individual or group who adapts and adds value to the built environment to meet the needs of their intended users. A Catalogue of New Workplace Typologies documents such projects at the individual, office, and neighborhood scales. At the individual scale, working environments are appropriated ad hoc and adapted to meet personal needs. New office environments are providing more services and building a sense of community through open, shared spaces. / (cont.) Entire live/work/play neighborhoods are emerging as a place for interaction and the development and testing of new technologies. Developers of these new working environments are advised to consider 1) a greater focus on accessibility to information, amenities, and partnerships; 2) the mixed-use campus as a potential model for development; 3) the hybridization of both the home and the workplace; 4) the marriage of technology with the environment; 5) the intense use of space and time; and 6) the treatment of real estate as a service industry that balances risk between the developer and the client. / by Whitney Jade Foutz. / S.M.in Real Estate Development / M.C.P.