Thesis: S.M. in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate, 2017 / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 65-66). / Over the past several decades, the real estate market has surged in Beijing. Meanwhile, Beijing suffers severe air pollution now and then. Because of the dissatisfaction of air quality, clean air becomes a highly valued factor of the overall quality of life. When people choose to buy properties, they would be willing to pay more for a unit that is located in less polluted areas than for an otherwise identical unit that is located in more polluted areas. This study aims to establish a relationship between air pollution's spatial distribution and property price by using historical air quality record and property transaction data in Beijing. Although people cannot purchase clean air directly, variations in the air quality of different areas should be indirect reflected in housing prices. Employing the hedonic pricing model, the results suggest a strong positive relationship between a unit's resale price and the air quality of the area where the unit is located, meaning that properties that are located in an area with relatively better air quality are sold at a premium and vice versa. Besides, by using a matching regression, relationship between air quality's seasonal variation and property price is discovered, although it is not statistically significant. Another matching regression confirms that compared to property buyers, property renters care less about the air quality of the area where the unit is located, but care more about the unit's other specific locational attributes and physical attributes, such as job accessibility and interior decoration. / by Sai Fang. / 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, 2017 / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 67-69). / Latin America has witnessed many upheavals and controversies in the recent past. However, the region continues to show strong and stable growth as business carries on despite political and social turbulence. Local economies are open to foreign investment. Markets have developed in both depth and sophistication as first risk-seeking frontier investors and then larger Institutional Investors entered the market. Today, open economies, increased market transparency and liquidity, sophisticated local partners, the availability of debt financing from both local and global parties and a variety of structures provide opportunities for Foreign Institutional Investors (FIls) to invest capital in assets in Latin America with attractive risk-return profiles. This thesis will assess the five largest Latin American markets for FIs, describing their economies' evolution and the formation and development of the FDI market. Investing in Latin America has become a central pillar of many international corporations' and developed countries' economic strategies. Many North American, Asian, and European firms have material investments in Latin America's real estate sector. The thesis will outline a series of best practices to follow when sourcing opportunities and managing a portfolio of assets in Latin America, along with the risks that may be encountered. / by Lisseth Enciso Huayek. / 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, 2017 / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-172). / In this thesis, we will examine robotic parking systems. This form of parking infrastructure has the capacity to park the same number of vehicles as a traditional garage in half the space. As the global population increases and waves of people continue to choose urban dwelling, it will be essential to choose the most efficient, environmentally sound, and socially responsible forms of infrastructure. In all three of these aspects, the robotic parking garage is superior to the ramp parking garage. Main topics include: i) the history of mechanized parking systems; ii) specifications for various modem-day ramp and mechanized solutions; iii) current worldwide and domestic factors of demand; iv) a personally researched and written case study; and v) a decision-tree tool that assists developers to hone in on a narrow selection of automated systems for accessory parking. The decision-tree responds to a combination factors, namely, vehicle throughput, site characteristics, and designated primary use. Above all, this thesis will seek to answer the following question: With so much riding on the successful operation of a project's accessory parking, when, if ever, is it in a real estate investor's best professional interest to risk relying on an alternative parking typology? / by Ladd M. Thorne, Jr. / 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, 2017 / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 74-76). / The value of a given parcel of land is determined by a multitude of factors based on its location and physical characteristics. No two parcels are alike, making direct comparison between parcels and the study of underlying land values difficult. Further, in locations where land is most valuable, there are often existing improvements on the land. In order to determine a land-only value, the value of the existing buildings or infrastructure must be estimated. This leads to the potential for errors and other issues. There has been a great deal of research conducted on land value for specific real estate uses, such as residential or office. However, little research has been conducted on industrial land. This study will focus specifically on industrial land value and the individual factors that drive it. This study analyzes a database of 1,000 transactions in 10 of the largest industrial real estate markets in the United States. / The data set is unique because most of the data points are land only, lessening the impact of appraisal and estimation techniques. Additional variables were added to each data point to account for local land use regulation, as well as spatial location. A regression analysis determined how these variables influenced the underlying land values. From this analysis, the following conclusions emerged: First, land use regulation is a strong driver of industrial land values. Using index values from the Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index (WRLURI), the analysis showed that land values increased when the stringency of land regulation increased. Second, proximity to interstate highways, airports, and the central business district are also significant drivers of industrial land value. Decreased distances to these points of interest resulted in increased land value. Third, industrial land values are also positively influenced by the cumulative income of the surrounding population. / A 1 percent increase in cumulative population income resulted in an approximately 0.47 percent increase in land value. Lastly, physical land features impacted land values intuitively. Flattened, developed sites were much more valuable than raw, undeveloped sites. / by Mark F. Callahan. / 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, February, 2021 / Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 101-107). / Corporations and their employees, often referred to as talent, have historically been concentrated in gateway markets in the United States. In particular, the San Francisco and New York metro areas have become ubiquitous hubs for the technology and financial services industries, respectively. These markets, however, are becoming increasingly expensive and cost prohibitive for employers and employees alike, spurring the migration of both parties to smaller markets. Smaller markets provide corporations the opportunity to better align employee incomes and costs-of-living, often while providing cost savings to corporations and a better quality of life to employees. Corporations' propensity to position headcount and footprint growth in non-gateway markets is increasing, both driven by and driving further demographic migration to these smaller markets. The growth of firms outside of gateway markets will provide opportunities for smaller markets to participate in future corporate growth. / This thesis studies recent population and corporate migration trends to these emerging hub markets, evaluates the various factors that corporations consider when deciding how and where to physically grow their footprints, and evaluates the resulting pattern of corporate development in these new hub markets, aiming to provide a level of understanding to developers and investors performing diligence these new markets for investment. COVID-19 will likely accelerate these trends as workforce distribution becomes more commonplace, driven by the COVID-disruption-forced implementation of more sophisticated, strategic real estate planning at corporations across the technology and financial services industries. / These corporations' quickly-evolving policies regarding remote work and telecommuting, employee demands to live in more affordable and livable markets, and corporate desires to reduce personnel, operating, and tax expenses, will result in further distribution of corporations and their talent across the country. / by Barclay Macfarlane. / 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, 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